Summary VA South Texas Health Care System is seeking a Gastroenterology Staff Physician for the location in San Antonio, TX. Recruitment Incentive or Relocation Incentive may be available to highly qualified individual. Responsibilities This is an Open Continuous Announcement & will remain open until June 12, 2026, or until all positions are filled. The first cut-off date is January 28, 2026. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled. Applicants will remain active for 3 months after their initial application is received and/or updated. After that time, you must update your application through your USAJobs account if you would like to be made active again for possible consideration during the open period. Administrative Duties Leadership: participation in staff meetings when available during tour of duty, 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, potentially acting as Section Chief when the Section Chief is on leave. Human Resources: Maintaining Veterans Affairs (VA) training requirements, timely completion of documentation and upkeep of credentials required for privileging and re-privileging. Staff Management: Participate in the Focused Professional Practice Evaluations (FPPE)/Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluations (OPPE) process. Adheres to employee health requirements. Participate in clinical pertinence reviews (routine medical record reviews). Time/Leave Management: Adherence to tour of duties, timely requests for leave in Veterans Affairs Time and Attendance System and for clinic cancellations. Clinical Management including indirect patient care: open encounter and consult management, Computerized Patient Record System documentation rules and requirements, adherence to clinic procedures for patient scheduling and access, ensuring staff productivity, oversight of relevant performance measures, and participation in the development of the new focus on the Medical Home and Patient Centric Care, Utilization, Quality, and Patient Safety oversight, process improvement (system redesign). Clinical Duties: The staff Gastroenterologist is expected to remain privileged and practicing in their specialty field. The exact privileges and procedures for a particular provider will be approved by the Professional Standards Board. All physicians must meet the following qualifications: 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. Practitioners are expected to provide inpatient and consult service during off tours (nights, weekends, and holidays, as needed by the organization. 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 and 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. Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday - Friday, 0800 - 1630, includes weekends and on-call Telework: Ad-hoc Only Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus) or Relocation Incentive: May be authorized for highly qualified individual Education Debt Reduction Program (Student Loan Repayment): Learn more. EDRP Authorized: Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) Authorized - see "Benefits" section VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package. VHA Physician Total Rewards. 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 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. Education: 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. License: 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. English Language Proficiency: Proficiency in spoken and written English. Preferred Experience: Board certified or board eligible in Gastroenterology and Hepatology Recent experience providing in- and outpatient care of GI and hepatology patients in a complexity level 1a facility Proficient in general endoscopic procedures EUS and ERCP not required Recent VA experience preferred but not required. Recent exposure to an academic education environment. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: Moderate lifting, 15-44 pounds; Light carrying, under 15 pounds; Reaching above shoulder; Use of fingers; Both hands required; Walking (6 hours); Repeated bending (2-4 hours): Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously; Near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4; FAR VISION: 20/30; Both eyes required; Depth perception; Ability to distinguish basic colors; Ability to distinguish shades of colors; Hearing (aid may be permitted); Mental/Emotional Stability; Ability to perform privileges; Independently performs physical exam as appropriate to position; Cognitive stability. 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.
