Physician (Orthopedic Surgeon)

This position serves as the Section Chief of Orthopedic Surgery located within the Surgical Service department at the Martinsburg VA Medical Center. The Section Chief will provide direct orthopedic surgical care while overseeing the clinical and administrative operations of the Orthopedic Section. This position provides clinical leadership and supervision for Orthopedic Surgeons, Physician Assistants, and other assigned staff.

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package. VHA Physician Total Rewards.
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): May be authorized
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

This position is located within the Surgical Service in the Orthopedic Section. Duties include but are not limited to:

• Ensures the highest standards of inpatient and outpatient orthopedic care, including evaluation, diagnosis, operative and non-operative management, and post-operative follow-up.
• Manages complex and emergent orthopedic cases and provides expert consultation to the Chief/Deputy Chief of Surgery and other medical staff.
• Performs a full spectrum of orthopedic surgical procedures consistent with facility capability and standards of practice.
• Completes all required clinical documentation, consults, encounters, and follow-up in accordance with VHA policies.
• Manages orthopedic departments clinical utilization and ensure all administrative actions are completed consistent with VHA policies.
• Facilitates referrals and collaborates with other specialties to ensure coordinated, timely care.
• Participates in and fulfills on-call responsibilities, including nights, weekends, and holidays; designated as weather-essential during on-call periods.
• Maintains required Continuing Medical Education and ongoing professional competency.
• Educates and mentors medical students, interns, residents, technicians, and other learners.
• Serves as first-line supervisor for assigned clinical staff; plans and adjusts daily work assignments in clinic and operating room settings.
• Manages employees' time and attendance, to include approving/disapproving employee leave.
• Recommends personnel actions, develops work standards, evaluates performance, identifies training needs, and ensures appropriate corrective or disciplinary measures when necessary.
• Provides technical leadership and models professional, ethical behavior.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday 08:00am- 4:30pm

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 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 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), b) OR
  [(2) Those approved by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA),OR
  (3) Other residencies (non-US residency training programs followed by a minimum of five years of verified practice in the United States), 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.
  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 or fee-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.
• Board Certification: Physicians are generally not required to be board certified for employment in VA; however, three circumstances in VA require physician board certification:
  • (1) If the position being filled is required to be a supervisor for medical students or physician residents (including fellows), the LCME, ACGME or AOA standards requiring a particular board certification credential will apply.
  • (2) If the position being filled will have faculty status with an affiliated medical school (for example, in joint recruitments with affiliated medical schools), then a medical school requirement for board certification will apply to the jointly recruited position.
  • (3) If the position being filled is required to be board certified by virtue of specific VHA policy (for example, as director of a cardiac catheterization laboratory or Director of Clinical Laboratory Medicine), then VHA policy requiring board certification will apply.]
• Proficiency in spoken and written English.

Additional Requirement: Board Certification by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery

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

Physical Requirements: The incumbent should be physically and mentally capable to perform the examinations, formulate the diagnosis and treatment plan, and educate residents. Physical activity includes sitting, standing (up to 4 hours), walking (up to 2 hours), heavy lifting (45 pounds or over), reaching above the shoulder, and repeated bending, the incumbent should be emotionally and mentally stable; and capable to perform the duties of the position.

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, or
2. Schools of osteopathic medicine approved by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation of the American Osteopathic Association for the year in which the degree was granted.
3. For foreign medical graduates not covered in (1) or (2) above, facility officials must verify with the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) that the applicant has met requirements for certification, and must obtain a copy of the ECFMG certificate, if claimed by the applicant. [If the applicant does not claim an ECFMG certificate, facility officials must still confirm that the medical school meets (or met) ECFMG eligibility requirements for the year the candidate 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.