Primary Care Physician

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply.

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: Must be board certified or board eligible.

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

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. The work may involve going up and down flights of stairs.

Responsibilities:

This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCMENT. All qualified applicants will be referred to the hiring manager on a weekly basis.

The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this occupational series. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

This position is in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network (VISN 6), Fayetteville VA Coastal Health Care System (FVACHCS), and the Primary Care Service Line (PCSL). The successful candidate will serve as a Primary Care Physician. He/she is to ensure the quality and timeliness of the services provided, customer satisfaction, as well as compliance with the standards of accrediting bodies such as the Joint Commission and the Inspector General's Combined Assessment Program. He/she is to ensure appropriate use of the available resources, and will be responsible for the state-of-the-art standards of care. He/she collaborates with other services as appropriate.

The Primary Care Physician works as a leader of a multi-disciplinary health care team, collaborating with and directing other members of the team to provide Primary Care to care for Veterans enrolled to the team. The physician is expected to demonstrate advanced competencies and skills in assessing the physical and psychosocial status of patients and family members, play an active role in the multi-disciplinary health care team, promote preventive health measures, manage the acute and chronic conditions of his/her assigned panel of patients and those patients assigned to other team members when circumstances require.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Primary Care of a panel of Primary Care patients (male and female).
• Provide comprehensive assessment, diagnostic work-up and clinic intervention, including comprehensive patient assessment, health history, physical examination, and patient education to Veterans in the Primary Care team setting; outpatient include both scheduled and unscheduled Veterans.
• Establish a diagnosis and initiate appropriate response to emergency health problems.
• Initiate appropriate referrals and consultations to other clinical services.
• Order and evaluate diagnostic tests as appropriate, recommend treatment and/or referral.
• Validate the effectiveness of previously implemented medical treatment.
• Include patient and family in planning care and establishing realistic measurable goals for health maintenance/improvement.
• Record/document health appraisal information, clinical assessments, treatment decision, plan of care, ongoing
  management and therapeutic outcomes, order medications, diagnostic test and referral consultations where needed for every patient encounter; recording will be accomplished using the electronic comprehensive patient record system (CPRS), and will be completed on the day of the encounter.
• Follow Performance Measure guidelines, including completion of clinical reminders in CPRS; access and timeliness standards; prescription order entry, National VA formulary requirements, and customer service standards.
• Providers will act as surrogates for the patient of their assigned colleagues when their colleagues are on
  leave/travel.

The incumbent is responsible to the Chief, Primary Care, for his/her work. Administrative direction is provided in terms of broadly defined goals and missions and in conjunction with the Chief, PCSL. The PCSL Physician exercises and exceptional degree of latitude in the planning, designing, implementation and accomplishment of program responsibilities. He/she works within a framework of VA guidelines, directives, and regulations. Work is reviewed in terms of policy compliance and fulfillment of overall mission and program goals.

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

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Available to highly qualified candidates
Relocation Incentive: Available to eligible candidates.
EDRP Authorized: Contact Cheryl Lahair at cheryl.lahair@va.gov for questions/assistance. Learn more.

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 through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM.

Salary : $1,000