Physician (Staff Anesthesiologist)

About the role

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.

Responsibilities

• Act as a consultant in the management of problems in acute pain and perioperative care, or as a consultant regarding related diagnostic and therapeutic measures in hospital based patient care when requested by medical or surgical staff.
• Be ready during normal working hours to provide care for the immediate diagnosis and treatment of both emergent and non-emergent situations that may occur in the operating room, PACU or other locations within the hospital.
• Be able to be recalled to the hospital within 30 minutes when performing on-call duty after hours to provide necessary care for the diagnosis and treatment of emergencies that may arise.
• Participate in the Anesthesia Service Line staff meetings and review and report Anesthesia Morbidity and Mortality Indicators (AMMI).
• Assure that all anesthesia equipment they will utilize is in appropriate state of readiness and cleaned in accordance with hospital policy and CDC guidelines.
• Prepare drugs properly for use in anesthesia administration and comply with high alert and controlled medication handling policies.
• Conduct in-person, outpatient pre-operative evaluations, including virtual Telehealth evaluations and documenting the evaluations within the VAPSHCS electronic medical record.
• Write pre-operative anesthesia and post-operative anesthesia orders as needed.
• Re-evaluate patients prior to the induction of anesthesia. This may include re-evaluation of neurological, airway, pulmonary and cardiac status.
• Supervise post-operative care of patients in the PACU.
• Be available for anesthesia service requested by other departments.
• Attend in-service and continuing education programs. Assist in in-service educational programs regarding anesthesia care. Complete annual TMS training when assigned.
• Participate in QA/QI activities which will include: (1) Morbidity and Mortality reports submitted to Quality Management; (2) Analysis of data for trends/patterns in the quality of anesthesia care; (3) Participate in ongoing evaluation of anesthesia care.
• Assist in resuscitative procedures such as cardiac arrest or respiratory problems as needed throughout VAPSHCS hospital in-patient facilities.
• Assist in the Medical Center's educational program of medical and paramedical personnel in the field of CPR and other problems which may occur and in which the anesthesia personnel are trained.
• Lead an anesthesia care team that may consist of nurse anesthetists, residents and medical trainees in delivering safe procedural care.
• Ensure that anesthesia safety regulations and procedures and infection control policies and procedures are observed.
• As a member of the Acute Pain Service, maintain competencies in regional anesthesia techniques and perform perioperative nerve block procedures where warranted in surgical and hospital based acute pain settings.
• As a member of the Acute Pain Service, act as a pain consultant for inpatients on the acute pain service, and for outpatients in the transitional pain service who may have complex acute on chronic pain management needs in the perioperative period.

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.

• 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.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English.