Physician - Spinal Cord Injury and Disorder

About the role

The Staff Physician for the Spinal Cord Injury and Disorder (SCI/D) Unit is directly accountable to the Chief, SCI/D. The SCI Physician is an active participant and leader in the SCI/D Interdisciplinary Team and involved in the coordination of care to ensure Veterans with SCI/D are receiving the best and most appropriate care.

Responsibilities

• Provide initial SCI/D care and rehabilitation, SCI/D consultations, inpatient medical care, a outpatient primary and/or specialty care to Veterans with SCI/D in a multidisciplinary environment within the SCI Service
• Admit, evaluate, diagnose and treat Veterans appropriate to the specialty of SCI medicine
• Perform specialty procedures as delineated in their clinical privileges
• Complete documentation in an appropriate and timely manner
• Develop, implement and document treatment plan for patients
• Assume professional responsibility for his/her clinical assessment, patient care decisions and documentation
• Provide education to patients, families and caregivers
• Collaborate with others to develop and implement best practices with the SCI Service
• Collaborate with other SCI/D staff physicians on clinical duties as needed
• Work with and teach residents, fellows, medical students and allied health professional trainees
• Assist the SCI Services in achieving a level of excellence related to inpatient, outpatient, telehealth, primary care, home and community care, inpatients and outpatient consultations and long-term care
• Advocate for full access to care for patients with SCI
• Collaborate with Chief, medical staff and rehabilitation specialist to ensure that all Veterans are provided with timely and patient-centered care
• Attend regularly scheduled programmatic staff meetings as may be required or directed by the Chief of the Service
• Support VA and SCI/D Service policies and procedures
• Engage in scholarly activity including research and quality improvement with evidence of annual productivity
• Provide mentorship and training to SCI/D Fellows and PM&R Residents
• Participate, on a rotating basis with other staff physicians as second on-call from home, in the after-hours and weekend call coverage of the VA SCI Service
• Administer administrative tasks and participate in committees as instructed by the Chief of SCI

Requirements

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

Qualifications

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• 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.
• Board Certification in specialty relevant to Spinal Cord Injury practice such as PM&R, Internal Medicine, Neurology, Family Medicine, or Geriatrics.
• Physical Requirements: Evaluation of physical, cognitive, and emotional fitness of candidates for appointment in VA is required prior to appointment.

Benefits

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)

Pay

Pay: Competitive salary, annual performance bonus, regular salary increases

Schedule

Full Time; Monday - Friday; 8:00AM to 4:30PM

Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP)

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.