Physician - Service Chief Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Summary

The position of Chief, PM&RS, is a full-time position. A board-certified physician in Physical Medicine & Rehab, with extensive experience in the specialty, and with demonstrated administrative leadership skills, is desired. The PM&R Service is based at the Palo Alto Campus of VAPAHCS. This service supports Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) mission to promote and maintain the health, independence, quality of life, and productivity, of individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities.

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Duties

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**This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until July 13, 2026. The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applications will be May 18, 2026, with subsequent cut-off dates every 2 weeks. Eligible applications received after that date will be accepted on an ongoing basis and qualified candidates will be considered as vacancies become available.**

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

Work Schedule: Full-time. Schedule will be determined by supervisor.

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

Major duties include but are not limited to:

Clinical:

• Provide medical and rehabilitation care to patients served across the continuum of care within rehabilitation, including consultative.
• Oversee outpatient and inpatient clinical operations, within PM&R/Polytrauma, ensuring standards of care consistent with CARF, CMS, OIG and TJC
• Directly oversee PM&R care delivery of the physicians in PM&R and Polytrauma.
• Supervise, organize, and monitor duty assignments, tours of duty, leave requests of all PM&R physicians to ensure daily physician services within all clinical settings of Rehabilitation are available to provide patient care according to clinic schedules. Ensure continuous physician services are provided twenty-four hours a day, 7 days a week, inclusive of holidays within the inpatient services/units.
• Provide supervision of PM&RS physician residents on an as needed basis.
• Conduct review of referrals or consults for admission to the various programs within the Rehabilitation Service.
• Facilitate collaboration with other medical/clinical/ancillary services to ensure patient care is coordinated and interdisciplinary

Administrative:

• Ensuring that written policies and procedures are developed in compliance with all applicable VHA Central Office, PM&R and accrediting organization standards and requirements which must be reviewed bi-annually and updated as necessary.
• Ensure adequate resources are available to provide coverage of PM&RS responsibilities across the continuum of care.
• Provide ongoing communication of local and national changes impacting PM&RS.
• Work collaboratively with the Deputy Chief of Staff and the Chief of Therapy Services to address service delivery issues related to the PM&RS.
• Develop and implement PM&RS strategic plans in partnership with the VAPAHCS rehabilitation leadership, inclusive of gathering input from internal and external stakeholders.
• Contributing to the annual performance evaluations for all PM&R staff.
• Ensuring that a QI or Total Quality Improvement (TQI) committee meets at least quarterly to identify important aspects of care and to monitor areas of service delivery which are identified as high-risk, high-volume (such as preventive health maintenance program), or problem prone.
  • Ensure performance measures are met, e.g., access to care, patient satisfaction, patient outcomes, and risk management shall be addressed.
  • A systematic plan must be used for collecting and analyzing data, taking corrective action, and reporting results.
• Ensuring that the PM&RS and the preventive health maintenance program actively participate in the PI/QI Programs of VAPAHCS.

Research:

• Monitor the research activities within PM&RS and Polytrauma.
• Encouraged to participate in and promote research within the department.
• Assist and support physician/resident and staff research efforts

Educational:

• Oversee Stanford/VA PM&R residency training/supervision within VA PM&R services with residency site directors (physician) and site coordinators.
• Provide and assist with PM&R residency education/didactics to residents/medical students, as well as PM&R staff.
• Contribute and assist with Stanford PM&R Grand Rounds and Resident Research Day Conferences.
• Collaborate with the Chief of Stanford PM&R/ Dept of Orthopedics to ensure that the VA PM&R Service maintenances the integrity, standards, and development of the Stanford PM&R program

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

Qualifications

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.

Additional Requirement:

• Board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Preferred Experience:

• At least two years experience as a service chief overseeing a medical staff.
• At least two years experience as an attending physician.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit

Physical Requirements: Applicants must meet physical standards for the position. A physical examination prior to placement is required. This is a designated drug testing position. After appointment, you will be subject to random testing for illegal drug use. Requires lifting 15-44 pounds; pushing (approx. 2 hours); reaching above shoulder; use of fingers and both hands; walking and standing from 3-5 hours and kneeling. Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously. Must have depth perception and ability to distinguish basic colors and shades of colors. Hearing aid is permitted.

Education

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.

Additional information

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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