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Summary 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 The VA Central Alabama Healthcare System provides you with outstanding health care and trains America's future health care providers. The Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System (CAVHCS) Surgery Service provides Orthopedic Care. The mission is to serve the needs of America's Veterans by providing the highest quality care. To accomplish this mission, the Orthopedic Care needs to be: Fully integrated into the interdisciplinary health care team, providing the full scope of Orthopedic services based on education, training, licensure and competency. An emphasis on prevention and wellness as the overriding philosophy of practice. Providing care in the most cost-effective manner while assuring adequate access and maintain a high level of quality as measured by patient satisfaction. The Orthopedic physician is assigned to Surgical Services, Orthopedic Section, of CAVHCS. The physician provides comprehensive care for patients who have illnesses within the scope of Orthopedic Care. The scope of these activities covers hospitalized patients and all phases of ambulatory care. VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package. VHA Physician Total Rewards. Recruitment/Relocation Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized Education Debt Reduction Program (Student Loan Repayment): Learn more. EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact [email protected], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. 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. Duties: Leadership responsibilities: Participation in staff meetings, hospital committees, and peer review process. Demonstrate effective communication both down to staff and up to leadership, to include heads up (for acute patient bad outcomes) and issue briefs, acting as Section Chief when the Section Chief is on leave. Human Resource: Maintaining VA training requirements, timely completion of documentation and upkeep of credentials required for privileging and re-privileging. Staff Management: Participate in the FPPE/OPPE process. Adheres to employee health requirements. Participate in Clinical Pertinence Reviews (routine record reviews). Time/Leave Management: Adherence to tour of duties, timely requests for leave in VISTA and for clinical cancellations. Clinical Management: Includes indirect patient care; accurate and timely open encounter and open consult management, adheres to CPRS documentation rules and requirements and to clinical staff productivity; oversight of relevant performance measures; and participates in the development of the new focus on the Medical Home and Patient Centric Care, Utilization Management, and Patient Safety initiatives, and process improvements (system redesign). Patient Care: Practitioners are expected to provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for the promotion of health, prevention of illness, treatment of disease and care at the end of life. Medical/Clinical Knowledge: Practitioners are expected to demonstrate knowledge of established and evolving biomedical, clinical and social sciences and the application of their knowledge to patient care and the education of others. Clinical Judgment: To ensure practice-based learning and improvement, practitioners are expected to be able to use scientific evidence and methods to investigate, evaluate, and improve patient care. Interpersonal & Communication Skills: Practitioners are expected to demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that enable them to establish and maintain professional relationships with patients, families, and other members of the health care team. Professionalism: Practitioners are expected to demonstrate behaviors that reflect a commitment to continuous professional development, ethical practice, and understanding and sensitivity to diversity, and a responsible attitude toward their patients and their profession. Systems-Based Practice: Practitioners are expected to demonstrate both an understanding of the contexts and systems in which health care is provided, and the ability to apply this knowledge to improve optimizing health care. Work Schedule: 8:00am-4:30pm, Monday-Friday Requirements Conditions of Employment U.S. Citizenship; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. Must be proficient in written and spoken English. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Must pass pre-employment physical examination. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). You may be required to serve a probationary period. Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement. 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 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. Proficiency in spoken and written English. Preferred Experience: The physician should be experienced and qualified in some or all of the following; amputation surgery, arthrocentesis diagnostic, arthrocentesis diagnostic, arthrodesis, osteotomy and ligament reconstruction of the major peripheral joints, arthroplasty of large and small joints, including implants, biopsy and excision of tumors involving bone and adjacent soft tissues, bone grafts and allografts, carpal tunnel decompression, closed reduction of fractures and dislocations of the skeleton, debridement of soft tissue, excision of soft tissue/bone masses, fasciotomy and fasciectomy, fracture fixation, fusion procedures, hemiarthroplasty, laceration repair, ligament reconstruction, major arthroplasty including total replacement of knee joint, hip joint, management of infectious and inflammations of bones, joints and tendon sheaths; muscle and tendon repair, open reduction and internal/external fixation of fractures and dislocations of the skeleton, removal of soft tissue mass, rotator cuff repair, total joint replacement revision; total joint surgery. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: This position requires visual acuity, keen hearing; clear, distinctive speech; and manual dexterity. The position requires potentially long periods of continued sitting, telephone and computer usage, walking, standing, stooping, bending, pulling and pushing. Transferring of equipment/objects may be required. Education 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: Schools of medicine accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) for the year in which the degree was granted, or 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. 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. Additional Information This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment. This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.