Education and length of practice are considered through a formal pay-setting process to determine the final compensable salary (Base Pay + Market Pay)

Duties

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package. VHA Physician Total Rewards. Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): 25% of salary for 4 years 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 SUMMARY: Works under general professional direction with considerable freedom in providing treatment for a wide range of cases consulted to the Cardiothoracic Service. Follows established policies in accepting referral of patients from other facilities. Ensures all available services and treatment to care are provided to patients. Incumbent is responsible to the Executive Operative Care Line for adequacy and quality of care. MAJOR DUTIES: This full-time, Cardiothoracic surgeon position is assigned to the Operative Care Line (OCL) at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC) in Houston, Texas, one of the most complex facilities in the VA healthcare system. The division of cardiothoracic surgery at the MEDVAMC has a tradition of excellence and innovation in patient care, education, and research. We specialize in the treatment of complex adult cardiac surgery and offer coronary artery bypass, valve repair and replacements, complex re-operations, aortic aneurysm surgery, including valve sparing aortic root replacements, minimal access valve surgery with endovascular and transcatheter procedures including TAVR and surgery for advanced heart failure such as durable and temporary mechanical circulatory support, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and heart transplantation. The candidate should provide services of a Cardiothoracic Staff surgeon to patients in the Operative Care Line. They will direct and treat the course of treatment for a wide range of patients from the healthy young to the geriatric patient, or from seriously ill to the severely traumatized. They will examine patients and order appropriate tests to evaluate the patients and ascertain the medical needs and initiate action to provide needed services. The candidate should demonstrate high degree of proficiency in performing the entire range of cardiothoracic surgery. Since the MEDVAMC is a major referral center in the VA system the desired candidate should have experience with complex coronary artery bypass surgery, re-operative surgery, aortic aneurysm surgeries, total arch replacements, aortic root procedures such as valve sparing root replacements and mitral and aortic valve surgery. The MEDVAMC was one of the first programs to start the TAVR program and as such the candidate should have TA VR experience. The candidate should also have had exposure to LVAD implantation and heart transplantation. The candidate will have academic appointment with the Baylor College of Medicine and as such the desired candidate should also demonstrate potential for a prominent level of academic accomplishments. The candidate should demonstrate a commitment to research and education commensurate with the need for educating upcoming trainees in cardiothoracic surgery. Previous documented experience in teaching and training residents and fellows in cardiothoracic surgery is important as we lay major emphasis in the training of future cardiothoracic surgeons.

Requirements

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. Additional Requirement: Must be board certified/eligible in thoracic surgery. Reference: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G-2 Physician Qualification Standard. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office. Physical Requirements: Functional Requirements- Moderate lifting, 15-44lbs, light carrying, under 15lbs, reaching above shoulder, use of fingers, walking (2 hours), standing (4 hours), both legs required, ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously, both eyes required, depth perception, ability to distinguish basic colors, ability to distinguish shades of colors, and hearing (aid may be permitted).Environmental Factors-Outside and inside, working around machinery with moving parts, electrical energy, working around moving object or vehicles, working closely with others, and protracted or irregular hours of work.

Education

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.]

Contacts

• Address Michael E DeBakey VA Medical Center 2002 Holcombe Boulevard Houston, TX 77030 US
• Name: Jessica Dinicola-Ortiz
• Email: [email protected]