Psychiatrist (Primary Care Mental Health Integration)

Veterans Health Administration • Chesapeake, VA

5d

About The Position

The Psychiatrist provides psychiatric care in Primary Care Mental Health Integration and other clinical settings at a VA medical center. The role serves a varied patient population, including male and female patients, geriatric patients, and post-deployment combat veterans who may have mental illness and psychosocial challenges such as homelessness, unemployment, or limited family support. The psychiatrist may also lead a mental health team, coordinate consultations, and triage specialty clinic referrals.

The position includes assessment, diagnosis, medication management, therapeutic interventions, crisis care, consultation, and collaboration with multidisciplinary teams. The psychiatrist also contributes to staff guidance, resident and trainee education, performance improvement, quality assurance, and research or program-planning efforts. The position requires timely medical-record documentation and adherence to applicable VA, clinical, accreditation, and regulatory standards.

This is a full-time position with a Monday–Friday schedule of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (40 hours per week). On-call work is required as needed; evening, weekend, and holiday work may also be required. A recruitment or relocation incentive may be authorized for highly qualified applicants. Eligible employees may apply for the Education Debt Reduction Program, subject to program requirements and approval.

Requirements

• Doctor of Medicine or equivalent degree in allopathic or osteopathic medicine from an appropriately approved or accredited institution.
• Current, full, and unrestricted license to practice medicine or surgery in a U.S. state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia.
• Completion of qualifying residency training in an accredited core specialty program leading to board-certification eligibility, or an applicable alternative training and independent-practice pathway described in the announcement.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English.
• U.S. citizenship, except that non-citizens may be appointed when qualified U.S. citizens cannot be recruited in accordance with VA policy.
• Meet applicable VA employment conditions, including background/security investigation, required onboarding, and seasonal influenza vaccination requirements.

Nice To Haves

• Board Certified or Board Eligible in Psychiatry.

Responsibilities

• Provide psycho-diagnostic services, including assessments and appropriate psychotherapeutic care.
• Perform psychiatric evaluations for patients with varied backgrounds and clinical and psychosocial needs.
• Provide diagnostic assessments, medication evaluation and management, suicide risk assessments, crisis intervention, and ongoing psychiatric care in outpatient, inpatient, emergency, primary care integration, and hospital settings.
• As applicable, lead a mental health team, coordinate consultations, and triage specialty clinic referrals.
• Participate in team meetings and treatment-planning conferences and collaborate with multidisciplinary team members.
• Order diagnostic tests and consultations, interpret normal and abnormal findings, and make appropriate treatment decisions.
• Ensure psychiatric practice complies with Joint Commission and CARF standards, VA policies and procedures, clinical guidelines, VISN standards, applicable statutes and regulations, documentation requirements, continuing education requirements, and HIPAA policies.
• Perform on-call duties.
• Supervise and teach psychiatry residents and other trainees, and support the psychiatric residency program.
• Provide consultation, leadership guidance, and support to medical center staff and trainees, including assistance with treatment-plan implementation as appropriate.
• Complete required clinical charting and documentation in a timely manner.
• Participate in performance improvement and quality assurance initiatives.
• Plan and oversee personal research programs to inform program planning and relevant treatment approaches.

Benefits

• Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), with potential repayment of up to $200,000 for eligible and approved applicants.
• Potential recruitment or relocation incentive for highly qualified applicants.
• Competitive salary, annual performance bonus, and regular salary increases.
• 50–55 days of paid time off per year, including 26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid federal holidays, and a possible five-day paid absence for continuing medical education.
• Traditional federal pension and federal 401(k), with up to 5% in contributions by VA.
• Federal health, vision, dental, term life, and long-term care insurance; many federal insurance programs may be carried into retirement.
• Possible $1,000 annual continuing medical education reimbursement for full-time, board-certified physicians.
• Free liability protection with tail coverage.
• No physician employment contract and no significant restriction on moonlighting.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree