Physician (Patient Aligned Care Team)

New Mexico VA Health Care System is hiring a Rural Health Primary Care Section Chief Physician. This is an open continuous announcement and will remain open until January 8, 2027. The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applications will be October 26, 2026. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled.

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package. VHA Physician Total Rewards.

Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized

Pay: Competitive salary, annual performance bonus, regular salary increases
Paid Time Off: 50-55 days of paid time off per year (26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year and possible 5 day paid absence for CME)
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Licensure: 1 full and unrestricted license from any US State or territory
CME: Possible $1,000 per year reimbursement (must be full-time with board certification)
Malpractice: Free liability protection with tail coverage provided
Contract: No Physician Employment Contract and no significant restriction on moonlighting

The Primary Care Section Chief Physician will oversee seven Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) throughout New Mexico. Additionally, the Section Chief will be responsible for managing a Primary Care Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT).

• Planning, organizing, developing, implementing, controlling, and refining comprehensive patient management/clinical support within clinic.
• Demonstrated success with utilization of evidence-based methodology in improving patient care outcomes and quality of care.
• Demonstrable success with implementing inter-disciplinary Telehealth Programs
• Provides services, technical counsel, and leadership guidance necessary to section staff. to meet the care and treatment needs of patients within the clinic.
• Should be a forward-thinking provider who embraces primary care delivered via Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) model.
• Maintain records of meetings that include reports of conclusions, data recommendations, responsible person, actions taken, and an evaluation of effectiveness of actions taken as appropriate.
• Develop policies and procedures to assure effective management, ethics, safety, communication, and quality within the section and between Primary Care and other services as appropriate.
• Must demonstrate knowledge and skills in interpersonal relations through appropriately and courteously relating to internal and external customers.
• Must have ability to work collaboratively with HAS (Health Administration Service) and Nursing Management
• Must demonstrate ability to lead Process/Performance Improvement (PI), and quality assurance initiatives in primary care.
• Positively support the goals of the Primary Care Services, the mission of the Hospital and the VA Health Care System.
• Maintain and promote high ethical, clinical, and administrative standards that are carried into the decision-making process.
• Responsible for developing both long- and short-term plans for his/her Section giving special consideration to the integration of the Primary Care Services programs within other Extended PACT services to ensure an interdisciplinary approach.
• Makes recommendations to the Chief, and Assistant Chief, of Primary Care regarding all resource management issues, including equipment, space, educational opportunities etc.

Work Schedule: 7:30 am - 4:00 pm, Monday - Friday

To qualify for this position, you must meet the basic requirements as well as any additional requirements (if applicable) listed in the job announcement. Applicants pending the completion of training or license requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. Currently employed physician(s) in VA who met the requirements for appointment under the previous qualification standard at the time of their initial appointment are deemed to have met the basic requirements of the occupation.

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Degree of doctor of medicine or an equivalent degree resulting from a course of education in allopathic medicine or osteopathic medicine. The degree must have been obtained from one of the schools approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs for the year in which the course of study was completed.
• Current, full and unrestricted license to practice medicine or surgery in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or in the District of Columbia.
• Residency Training: Physicians must have completed residency training, approved by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in an accredited core specialty training program leading to eligibility for board certification. (NOTE: VA physicians involved in academic training programs may be required to be board certified for faculty status.) Approved residencies are:
  • (1) Those approved by the accrediting bodies for graduate medical education, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or American Osteopathic Association (AOA), in the list published for the year the residency, or fellowship if applicable, was completed; OR
  • (2) One year of post medical school training (internship, first year of residency, or transitional year residency) approved by ACGME or AOA followed by two years of post-training independent practice (performing under a full and unrestricted license) in the United States; OR
  • (3) Non-US residency training programs followed by a minimum of three years of verified independent practice in the United States (performing under a full and unrestricted license) performing duties related to the position they are applying for (United States fellowships would be creditable towards this requirement), which the local Medical Staff Executive Committee deems to have provided the applicant with appropriate professional training and believes has exposed the Physician to an appropriate range of patient care experiences.
  • Exceptions:
    • Residents currently enrolled in ACGME/AOA accredited residency training programs and who would otherwise meet the basic requirements for appointment are eligible to be appointed as "Physician Resident Providers" (PRPs). PRPs must be fully licensed physicians (i.e., not a training license) and may only be appointed on an intermittent basis. PRPs are not considered independent practitioners and will not be privileged; rather, they are to have a "scope of practice" that allows them to perform certain restricted duties under supervision. Additionally, surgery residents in gap years may also be appointed as PRPs.
    • In rare and unusual circumstances, the Facility Director can submit a memo to the VISN Director through the VISN Chief Medical Officer, who may approve requests for reasonable exceptions to the residency training requirement for Physicians whose composite record of experience, accomplishments, performance, and qualifications warrant such action.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English.

Preferred Experience:

• A minimum of two (2) years of VA clinical experience.
• Board certified or Board eligible in a Specialty Medicine Discipline with at least 2 years of practice experience.
• Minimum of two (2) years of clinical leadership experience, demonstrating peer leadership in employee engagement and retention efforts.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Physical Requirements: VA Handbook 5019/1, Part II, Pre-Placement Physical Examinations and Evaluations.

Degree of Doctor of Medicine or an equivalent degree resulting from a course of education in allopathic medicine or osteopathic medicine. The degree must have been obtained from an institution whose accreditation was in place for the year in which the course of study was completed. Approved schools are:

1. Schools of medicine accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) for the year in which the degree was granted.
2. Schools of osteopathic medicine approved by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) for the year in which the degree was granted.
3. For foreign medical graduates not covered in (1) or (2) above, confirmation must be made that the medical school meets (or met) Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) eligibility requirement for year graduated.

NOTE: The Under Secretary of Health or designee in the VHA Central Office may approve the appointment under authority of 38 U.S.C. 7405 of a physician graduate of a school of medicine not covered above if the candidate is to be assigned to a research, academic, or administrative position with no patient care responsibilities. The appointment will be made only in exceptional circumstances where the candidate's credentials clearly demonstrate high professional attainment or expertise in the specialty area.