Dentist (Department Head)

Summary This position is located at Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (FHCC), North Chicago, IL. This center is the first fully integrated federal health care facility combining Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of War (DOW), specifically the United States Navy (USN), under one command. The Dental Department Head is the primary subject matter expert to FHCC Dental leadership on all oral health care matters pertaining to the beneficiaries at the FHCC Hospital Dental Department. Responsibilities The Dental Department Head is the primary subject matter expert to FHCC Dental leadership on all oral health care matters pertaining to the beneficiaries at the FHCC Hospital Dental Department. This position is responsible for planning, organizing, leading, and controlling the operations of the FHCC Hospital Dental Services. Duties include but not limited to: Ensuring dental staff provide appropriate dental care to promote, preserve, and restore the oral health of Veterans. Upholding standards for the correct documentation and coding of completed dental procedures. Reviewing dental provider panels and clinical productivity goals/expectations and manage them accordingly. Monitoring, reviewing, and implementing plans to improve dental service performance on the Office of Dentistry Dental Quality Indicators. Ensuring the dental service follows FHCC policies. Ensuring FHCC medical facility-level dental service operational procedures and SOPs are consistent with national policies and guidelines. Enforcing personnel policies, ethical standards, and performance standards; and promoting the VA Core Values of Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect, and Excellence. Ensuring all staff under their supervision have an appropriate functional statement or position description. Collaborating with the VISN Lead Dentist to ensure implementation of VHA national policy and VISN policy at the FHCC medical facility. Providing regular dental service briefings to FHCC Dental Directorate leadership on all matters affecting the delivery of Veteran dental care. Carrying out fiscal and budgetary planning activities. Assisting the FHCC Dental Associate Director in following recommendations set by the VA Office of Inspector General, the Joint Commission, and other survey bodies. Ensuring all Dental beneficiaries treated at the FHCC Hospital Dental Department are eligible for care based on VA/DOW guidelines. Maintaining clinical practice within their specialty or General Dentistry at 50% capacity. Work Schedule: Monday to Friday, 7:00am - 3:30pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package. Requirements Conditions of Employment All qualified candidates encouraged to apply. Open to U.S. Citizens but non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens. 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 identification 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 Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. Dentist Basic Requirements A degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery or dental medicine resulting from a course of education in dentistry. The degree must have been obtained from one of the schools approved by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the year in which the course of study was completed. Approved schools are (1) United States and Canadian schools of dentistry listed by the Commission on Dental Accreditation(CODA), in the list published for the year in which the course of study was completed.(2) Schools (including foreign schools) accepted by the licensing body of a State, Territory, or Commonwealth (i.e., Puerto Rico), or the District of Columbia as qualifying for full and unrestricted licensure provided the licensure requirements include a written examination measuring science achievement and a performance examination measuring clinical competence certification, and must obtain a copy of the ECFMG certificate, if claimed by the applicant. ~AND~ Completed, or you are currently completing, a residency program in general practice or specialty, or comparable experience as a dentist actively involved in treating medically compromised patients. ~AND~ Currently hold, or will hold, a current, full and unrestricted license to practice dentistry in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or in the District of Columbia. Note: Dentists must maintain current registration in the State of licensure if this is a requirement for continuing active, current licensure. Preferred Experience: Incumbent of FHCC for 2 or more years. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit Physical Requirements: To perform in a fully successful manner, the individual must have the physical ability to perform job-related duties which may require light carrying (under 15 pounds), reaching above shoulder, use of fingers, both hands required, walking (up to 1 hour), standing (up to 1 hour), and both legs required. In addition, there may be exposure to the following environmental factors: working inside and outside, working closely with others, and protracted or irregular hours of work. A health examination must be successfully completed prior to this assignment and periodically thereafter as required by the Occupational Health Clinic policy. There may be intermittent exposure to blood and body fluids. Education Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: Additional Information This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. 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.