Physician (Anesthesiologist Acute Pain Service Director )

Position Description

The Southern Arizona VA Healthcare System (SAVAHCS) is recruiting for a full-time anesthesiologist for Acute Pain position to join our growing program. We are seeking a candidate who can provide high-quality anesthesia care to veterans undergoing a wide variety of surgeries. SAVAHCS is the principal teaching affiliate with the University of Arizona Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. Medical students, residents, and fellows rotate at our facility. Therefore, the selected candidate must also be eligible for Facility appointment with the Department of Anesthesiology of the University of Arizona.

The SAVAHCS Anesthesia service line seeks applications from talented candidates to serve as an Anesthesiologist to lead a new Acute Pain service. The Acute Pain Service (APS) physician is an anesthesiologist with specialized skills and expertise in regional anesthesia and medical management of the acute pain patient. This physician is a perioperative pain specialist who consults throughout the operative period including in the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative units.

Our team of healthcare professionals are deeply experienced and guided by the needs of our veterans, their families, and caregivers.  

The following duties include but are not limited to the following:

• Leading the activities of the Acute Pain Service (APS) will include managing clinical operations, all night calls, trainee education, quality improvement, and research.
• Provides direct patient care and supervision in the Operating Room, PACU (ECT and cardioversion), GI suite, bronchoscopy suite, cath lab, IR, and other locations as required.
• Management and coordination of care of the service.
• Alleviates human suffering from pain through integration of clinical and basic research, clinical practice, and education, focusing on the care of persons with acute pain from surgery and/or trauma.
• Candidate must be board certified or board eligible in Anesthesiologist.
• Provides pre-operative patient exam and assessment, intra-operative care utilizing monitored anesthesia care, regional and general anesthesia techniques on American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) Class 1 through Class 5 patients, and post-operative care, including in the post-anesthesia care unit.
• Providing education for trainees.
• Practice model is approximately 95% CRNA/PA/Resident supervision, 5% own cases.
• Anesthesiologist will be a part of the general pool so experience with a wide variety of cases and regional anesthesia is useful.
• At home call is required 1-2 weeks per month with rotation or peers.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, with on-call duties.

Requirements:

• United States Citizenship
• Degree of Doctor of Medicine or an equivalent degree resulting from a course of education in medicine or osteopathic medicine
• 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.
• Board certified or board eligible in Anesthesiology.
• Must have experience and expertise in regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine.
• Must be American Heart Association BLS/ACLS certified. Recertification available on site

The Tucson VA Medical Center is a 295-bed hospital that provides training, primary care, and sub-specialty health care in numerous medical areas for eligible Veterans. It is the "Flagship" for the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System (SAVAHCS), which serves over 170,000 veterans located in eight counties in Southern Arizona comprised of the medical center in Tucson, Arizona and seven Community Based Outpatient Clinics in Casa Grande, Green Valley, Safford, Sierra Vista, Yuma, Northwest, and Southeast Tucson.

It is also a Joint Commission-accredited, level 1a complexity teaching hospital, providing tertiary-level care. The SAVAHCS offers a beautiful 150-acre campus with a full range of medical and mental health services for Veterans, including a 31-bed inpatient psychiatry/substance use acute treatment unit, a 25-bed mental health residential rehabilitation treatment program for substance use disorders (SUD) and PTSD treatment, intensive outpatient programs for SUD and PTSD, homeless programs, and more. The SAVAHCS operates a 24-hour emergency department and is the host site for various regional referral centers of excellence including the Polytrauma Network Site, the Southwest Blind Rehabilitation Center, and the Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (MHRRTP). The SAVAHCS is the principal teaching affiliate of the University of Arizona Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. Annually, nearly 1,000 physicians and associated health trainees participate in health care training programs at the SAVAHCS.

Benefits

In addition to the honor of serving America’s Heroes, a career at VHA provides a robust total reward$ package (see full brochure here) and offers many benefits including: 

• Flexible work schedules and shifts

• Annual Salary Range: $340,000 - $360,000  

• Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus) may be approved
• EDRP Authorized: 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.
• Robust insurance coverage
• The ability to work anywhere in the country with one active license??  
• Stable employment with competitive salary and regular pay increases
• 50 days annual paid time off (26 days paid annual leave, 13 days paid annual sick leave, 11 paid federal holidays) in addition to other leave options including paid parental leave
• Unprecedented federal retirement benefits including a traditional pension (5 years’ vesting) and a federal 401K (TSP) with up to 5% in employer contributions

Paid Time Off:

• 26 Days paid annual (vacation/personal) leave
• 13 Days paid sick leave each year with no limit on accumulation
• 11 Federal holidays with pay annually
• 5 Days paid absence to attend approved CME courses

Insurance:

• Health Insurance: VA employees have an outstanding number of health insurance plans from which to choose (premiums are partially paid by VA) Lifetime Healthcare Insurance options available
• Dental & Vision: Our insurance options also include exceptional vision and dental plans (premiums are partially paid by VA)
• VA employees have the option to use Flexible Spending Accounts, which allow you to use tax-free dollars to pay for medical, dental, and vision care expenses that are not reimbursed by your health insurance plan
• Term life insurance, family, and additional coverage options are available with the cost shared by the Federal Government
• Long-term care insurance is available as an option

Federal Retirement Plan:

• VA employees are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). FERS is a three-tiered retirement plan composed of 1) Social Security benefits, 2) FERS-RAE basic benefits (pension), and 3) Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) which is a 401K-type plan
• How is the pension funded? VA employees automatically contribute 4.4% of their salary each pay period and the VA contributes 12.2% of the employee’s salary each pay period for a total annual contribution percentage equal to 16.6% of the employee’s salary
• Similar to the 401(k) savings plans widely available in the private sector, the TSP allows employees to tax defer a portion of their income each year, subject to the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service. For calendar year 2020, employees under the age of 50 may contribute up to $19,500, while those over age 50 are eligible to make catch-up contributions that allow them to defer up to $25,500.
• The Federal Government also provides an automatic basic contribution (1% of salary) and up to 4% of salary in matching contributions, depending on the amount of the employee contribution
• For retired military personnel, these benefits are in addition to full monthly retirement pay or pension
• In addition to FERS, VA provides health care insurance coverage for retired personnel
• Disability Retirement
• Employees are vested in a federal pension after only 5 years service