Orthopedic Surgeon - Physician

About the role

The Staff Orthopedic Surgeon is located in Specialty Care at the VA Providence Healthcare System (VAPHCS). 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) and eligibility period (one to five years) — is determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants are ineligible to apply.

Responsibilities

• Maintains professional, technical, and administrative knowledge, competencies, and skills to provide effective care and timely, quality responses to patients' clinical needs and problems.
• Patients seen and treated range from age 18 through geriatric years.
• Complies with credentialing and privileging requirements.
• Maintains high clinical and ethical standards that inform decision‑making; takes an active role in effective teaching of residents and/or medical students when applicable, and in accomplishing the Medical Center's and Surgical Service's mission and goals.
• Promotes constructive problem resolution and the development of health care professionals through counseling, mentoring, teaching, and encouraging self‑assessment when requested.
• Complies with current standards for medical record documentation and residency supervision; assumes accountability for professional and administrative activities within the section.
• Maintains a general orthopedic surgery caseload.
• Provides service consisting of the diagnosis, care, and treatment of patients consulted to the Orthopedic Section; promotes high‑quality, effective patient care.
• Supervises and teaches residents and/or medical students.
• Utilizes electronic medical records to accurately document treatment in a timely manner.
• Participates in service‑level and/or hospital committees and in the facility peer review program.
• Assists with improving clinical access by participating in patient care activities outside normal duty hours.
• Provides call coverage as required, including taking phone calls from hospital staff and residents, coming into the facility nights or weekends to manage care in the hospital or emergency room when medically warranted, and performing surgery or appropriate surgical procedures on an emergency basis.

Qualifications

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 or osteopathic medicine.
• The degree must have been obtained from a school approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs for the year 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. Approved residencies include:
  • Those approved by 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.
  • 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, unrestricted license) in the United States.
  • Non‑US residency training programs followed by a minimum of three years of verified independent practice in the United States (performing under a full, unrestricted license) performing duties related to the position applied for; United States fellowships are creditable toward this requirement, provided the local Medical Staff Executive Committee deems the training appropriate and believes it exposed the physician to an appropriate range of patient care experiences.
• Exceptions: Residents currently enrolled in ACGME/AOA‑accredited residency programs who otherwise meet basic requirements may be appointed as Physician