Physician - Internal Medicine

The Syracuse VAMC is seeking a Primary Care Physician to work at our hospital with 25 to 50% travel to our clinics in Rome and Binghamton. 

This position is eligible for the VA's Education Debt Reduction Program. 

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

Duties of the physician:

• A primary care physician will be responsible for delivery of primary care to patients enrolled at the Syracuse VA Medical Center or one of its staff model CBOCs. The provider will manage scheduled and unscheduled patients in the outpatient clinic setting.
• The primary care provider is an integral member of the PACT teamlet and is expected to work closely and coordinate patient care with other PACT teamlet members, including nursing and clerical staff. Primary care physicians will participate in daily huddles with other teamlet staff and participate in primary care systems redesign projects.
• A primary care provider in the outpatient setting is assigned a panel of patients to manage under PCMM guidelines; recommended panel size at the division level is calculated based on support staff and room availability. Each provider's panel size is specific to their practice and setting.
• Alternative or collateral duties may include management of a subsection of primary care patients, the subsection may be defined either by a disease status (e.g. spinal cord injury patients), or demographic status (women veterans, OIF/OEF veterans, employees etc.). Typically, these duties are designated at the time of joining but may be assigned in the course of employment in response to new initiatives.
• Primary care physicians may have responsibility for supervision of or collaboration with primary care mid-level providers. Physicians are expected to provide clinical oversight and to participate in peer review of other primary care providers through periodic chart reviews.
• Primary care physicians will be responsible for supervision, education and evaluation of internal and/or family medicine residents and medical students in the outpatient primary care setting.
• Primary care physicians will act as surrogates for absent primary care providers when needed, to include review of CPRS view alerts.
• Primary care physicians will regularly attend primary care staff meetings, departmental meetings and medical staff meetings.
• A full-time provider is required to work a minimum of 80 hours per pay period.
• All physicians need to follow departmental and VHA policies for leave and attendance and will work within Title 38 appointment guidelines. Leave should be requested as far in advance as possible and with at least forty-five days' notice to minimize patient cancellations. All unscheduled absences must be properly communicated, and patients should be rescheduled within time frame as specified in department's policies.
• Timely documentation (notes and encounter forms) is necessary in all areas in accordance with facility policy. All administrative work should be completed in a timely fashion.
• Clinical reminders should be addressed as medically appropriate. Quality of care should meet professional standards at all times.
• All physicians will work within their privileges at all times, unless necessitated by an emergency.

Work Schedule: Full time, Monday-Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm or as determined by the service.

About the Syracuse VA Medical Center

About the Syracuse VA Medical Center The Syracuse VA Medical Center, part of VA Healthcare Network Upstate New York opened its doors on June 14, 1953. The Medical Center utilizes state-of-the-art technology to provide a full range of patient care services, education and research. The 106-bed general medical and surgical facility provides comprehensive:

• Primary Care
• Mental Health
• Tertiary care
• Long-term care
• Physical Medicine
• Rehabilitation
• Neurology
• Oncology
• Dentistry
• Geriatrics

The Syracuse VA Medical Center also operates a Community Care Center that provides a community day program, mental health intensive case management program, homeless veteran program, and vocational services.

The Department of Veterans Affairs named the Syracuse VA Medical Center as a Center of Excellence for its Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom and Polytrauma programs. The Syracuse facility is also the principal referral center for neurosurgery and urological renal stone treatment, serving all of upstate New York and northern Pennsylvania veterans.

Syracuse VA provides primary and behavioral health care in a 13-county area of Central New York through eight community based outpatient clinics in Auburn, Binghamton, Carthage, Cortland, Ithaca, Massena, Oswego, and Rome.

The Syracuse VA Medical Center has an active affiliation with the State University of New York Upstate Medical University where over 650 of their students, residents, interns, and fellows receive training at the Medical Center each year. The Syracuse VA has eight affiliated nursing education programs and a physician assistant externship with LeMoyne College and a long-standing educational partnership with Syracuse University for field experience for audiology, speech pathology and social work students.

There is a $2.5 million research and development program that includes 95 studies on a variety of topics. The research program is fully accredited by the National Commission of Quality Assurance.

Syracuse recently completed a six-floor addition that houses a new spinal cord injury/disease center with a therapeutic pool, expanded outpatient services, dialysis program, and six new operating rooms. The Medical Center continues renovations for an expanded parking garage and recently completed construction on a new MRI suite, heart catheterization suite and a state-of-the-art emergency department. Information about the Syracuse area can be found at the Chamber of Commerce.

VA Benefits

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 employees salary each pay period for a total annual contribution percentage equal to 16.6% of the employees 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 2025, employees under the age of 50 may contribute up to $23,500, while those over age 50 are eligible to make catch-up contributions that allow them to defer up to $31,000.
• 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