Staff Physician (Section Chief)

Summary

Staff Physician - (Section Chief, Employee Occupational Health and Compensation and Pension)

The Section Chief is responsible for overseeing all aspects of primary care delivered within Compensation and Pension and the Employee Occupational Health section.

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Duties

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The Section Chief is responsible for overseeing all aspects of primary care delivered within Compensation and Pension and the Employee Occupational Health section. Supervising staff, in collaboration with the Associate Chief and Chief of Primary Care, the Section Chief is responsible for, but not limited to, the following tasks:

1. Planning, organizing, developing, implementing, controlling and refining comprehensive patient management/clinical support within clinic.

2. Provides services, technical counsel, and leadership guidance to section staff to meet the care and treatment needs of patients within the clinic.

3. Maintaining records of meetings that include reports of conclusions, data recommendations, and collaboration with the patient advocates to address and resolve inquiries/complaints.

4. Developing policies and procedures to assure effective management, ethics, safety, communication, and quality within the section and between compensation and pension, employee occupational health and other services as appropriate.

5. Review at least annually privilege templates for each service and make recommendation to the Chief or Associate Chief as needed for modifications.

Compensation and Pension Responsibilities:

1. Primary focus of practice is the independent clinical evaluation of veterans for disability, pension, environmental hazard and/or registry examinations. 2. Collaborates with other health care resources to fully evaluate requested conditions sufficient for purposes, of disability rating.

3. Prepares a detailed report summarizing the veteran's medical history, current symptoms, exam findings, professional opinion on the severity of the disability and determination of eligibility for pension or other benefits and registry evaluations.

4. Documented using standardized formats including CAPRI, and DBQs

5. Keeps abreast of latest trends, skills, procedures, and protocols relevant in specialty and serves as a resource person for the medical center staff

Employee Occupational Health Responsibilities:

1. Performs pre-employment physicals, urine drug testing related to pre-employment assessment and other duties as assigned.

2. Evaluates workplace injuries and coordinates with workman's compensation.

3. Provides clinical support for APPs.

4. Serves as interprets VA guidance (Employee Occupational Health Guidebook) for the office of EOH and translates this information into practice guidelines.

5. Serves as the Professional Supervisor for the facilities Hearing Conservation Program, administers the EAP program, and provides fitness for duty evaluations.

General Clinic Responsibilities:

1. Provides a full range of therapeutic interventions in units/programs in the Hampton VA Medical Center to which they are assigned and has clinical privileges to practice including diagnostic assessment, medication evaluation and management.

2. Orders diagnostic tests and discriminates between normal and abnormal findings and makes appropriate treatment decisions.

3. Ensures that the practice of medicine is consistent with the Joint Commission, Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARE), VA policies and procedures, clinical practice guidelines, VISN standards, national statues and regulations, medical record documentation, mandatory continuing education, and HIPPA policies.

4. Participates effectively in team meetings and treatment planning conferences and collaborates with multidisciplinary team members in a manner that enhances coordination of comprehensive patient care.

5. Specific tasks are itemized in each physicians Credentialing and Privileging package

The Following sections are enriching elements for the staff physician Academic/Teaching/Administrative

1. Involved in performance improvement and quality assurance initiatives.

2. Provides leadership guidance and consultation to staff on units to which assigned.

3. Is involved in the supervision and teaching of house staff and other trainees assigned to unit as appropriate.

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

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

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 0730-1600.

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.

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

Physical Requirements: The incumbent must be able to perform all activities of the position without restriction. This position may involve standing, walking, stooping, bending, reaching, lifting, and turning

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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