Surgeon on Duty (Fee Basis)

Summary

The Bay Pines VA Healthcare System is seeking a highly qualified Fee Basis Surgeon on Duty (SOD) to support inpatient care across all surgical services. The SOD provides cross-disciplinary oversight, delivers urgent and emergent consultative services, and performs bedside procedures essential to the care of Veterans hospitalized at our facility. This position plays a key role in ensuring continuous, high-quality, and timely surgical care.

Duties

As the Surgeon on Duty, you will: Provide oversight and management for all inpatients assigned to the Surgical Service Line, including: General Surgery; Vascular Surgery; ENT; Orthopedic Surgery; Spine Surgery; Urology; Plastic Surgery; Surgical ICU; Eye Care; Podiatry; Gynecology. Provide STAT surgical consultations to the Emergency Department and non-surgical inpatient services in coordination with the attending surgeon on call. Respond to nursing calls and pages and other team communications for all surgical inpatients, ensuring timely clinical decisions, order entry, documentation, and escalation to attending surgeons as appropriate. Perform bedside procedures, including: Central venous catheter placement; Hemodialysis catheter placement; Chest tube insertion; Incision & drainage; Suturing and wound management. Write orders, document evaluations, and maintain effective communication with primary teams, consultants, and nursing staff. Provide assistance in the Operating Room for urgent or emergent cases when needed. Support VA standards for patient safety, clinical quality, documentation, and interdisciplinary care coordination. Work Schedule: Varied; scheduled shifts based on service needs but mostly night, holiday, and weekends. Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Contract: No Physician Employment Contract and no significant restriction on moonlighting

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 allopathic 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 accrediting bodies for graduate medical education, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or American Osteopathic Association (AOA), in the list published for the year the residency, or fellowship if applicable, was completed; OR (2) One year of post medical school training (internship, first year of residency, or transitional year residency) approved by ACGME or AOA followed by two years of post-training independent practice (performing under a full and unrestricted license) in the United States; OR (3) Non-US residency training programs followed by a minimum of three years of verified independent practice in the United States (performing under a full and unrestricted license) performing duties related to the position they are applying for (United States fellowships would be creditable towards this requirement), 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. Exceptions: 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 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. In rare and unusual circumstances, the Facility Director can submit a memo to the VISN Director through the VISN Chief Medical Officer, who may approve requests for reasonable exceptions to the residency training requirement for Physicians whose composite record of experience, accomplishments, performance, and qualifications warrant such action. Proficiency in spoken and written English. Preferred Experience: Prior VA clinical experience or experience in a similar integrated healthcare system. Experience providing cross-disciplinary inpatient surgical coverage. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: The physician must be able to perform all activities of the position without restriction. This position may involve standing, walking, stooping, bending, reaching, lifting, and turning. The work may involve going up and down flights of stairs.

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. Schools of osteopathic medicine approved by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) for the year in which the degree was granted. For foreign medical graduates not covered in (1) or (2) above, confirmation must be made that the medical school meets (or met) Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) eligibility requirement for year 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.