Physician Assistant [Structural Heart Disease], Aurora, CO

The Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center (RMR VAMC) seeks a Physician Assistant to join our Cardiology Section, accountable to the Chief of Cardiology. RMR VAMC has a growing structural heart program with robust patent foramen ovale closure and left atrial appendage occlusion volumes. RMR VAMC is poised to start performing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and is the only VA facility with approval to do so in the largest geographic region of the United States. This position is an opportunity to become an integral member of a robust structural heart team as the program expands.

Duties include seeing patients in inpatient and outpatient settings prior to structural heart and other interventional cardiology/endovascular procedures, scrubbing into procedures as an assistant to the physician operators on all types of invasive cardiovascular procedures, and seeing patients in inpatient and outpatient settings, as a consultative service and in follow up to these procedures. Experience and training in cardiology or cardiac surgery is required.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 40-hour week, no call

Recruitment or Relocation Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): May Be Authorized
Education Debt Reduction Program (Student Loan Repayment): Position Eligible

Candidates must be: 1) US Citizen, 2) Possess a Master's degree in any discipline or a bachelor's degree in any discipline with one year of experience as a Physician Assistant from an accredited PA program, 3) Successfully passed the PA National Certifying Exam (PANCE) and 4) Possess a full, unrestricted medical license in any State.

Preferred Experience: Three+ years successful practice as a PA and evidence of experience in Cardiology or cardiac surgery.

Facility Information: 

The Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center is a 1.2 million square foot hospital and outpatient facility inaugurated in 2018, serving Veterans in the Front Range of Colorado and the wider Rocky Mountain region. The facility is immediately adjacent to the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus that contains the University of Colorado Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Colorado, and the School of Medicine. Our facility is located approximately 15 miles from Denver International Airport and 10 miles from Downtown Denver.

Community Information:

Experience popular destinations without leaving home! Between blue skies, four seasons, and low humidity, the weather in Colorado caters to most. Even life-long residents agree that in Colorado there are always new experiences to be had. Between world-class destinations for hiking, camping, rock-climbing, white-water rafting, fishing, skiing, snowboarding, and more, it’s impossible to ignore the possibility of adventure. With a pronounced fitness culture and multiple major sports teams, Colorado is a great place to live and breathe an athletic lifestyle, with professional football, hockey, baseball, soccer, and lacrosse teams. Denver is a cultural center with highly acclaimed art, theatre, musical, and scientific institutions and museums.

Benefits Information:

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package. VHA Physician Assistant Total Rewards.

Pay: Competitive salary, annual performance bonus, regular salary increases

Paid Time Off: 50-55 days of annual paid time offer 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

Malpractice: Free liability protection with tail coverage provided

Contract: No Physician Employment Contract and no significant restriction on moonlighting

The NEW Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center is a welcomed step forward in meeting the increased health care needs of today's Veteran population. This new facility replaces the Denver facility of 670,000 square feet with a new state of the art campus of approximately 1.2 million square feet on 31 acres, providing many new services to Veterans.The new Aurora, Colorado location is ideally located on the southeast corner of the former Fitzsimons Army Base just off Interstate 225, immediately west of RTD's light rail station and neighboring Children's Hospital and the University of Colorado Anschutz Health Care Campus. 

Leading edge technology is designed into every aspect of the new campus, bringing Veterans high quality health care well into the 21st century. Guiding principles for the new campus include patient safety, improving the Veteran's health care experience, promoting the family's role in care delivery, and protecting our environment through green design.

The VA and the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center exemplify President Lincoln's promise "to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan" by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans.

We are particularly honored and committed to serving Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Region Veterans. The VA Eastern Colorado Healthcare System's specialized personal care epitomizes excellence in health care. Through a unique combination of medical center-based and local community-focused medicine, we bring innovative and leading-edge care to Veterans throughout the region.  Last year, the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System supported 1,033,000 outpatient health care visits.

Click HERE to see a virtual tour video of the NEW RMRVAMC!

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

It’s no accident that Denver is called “the Mile High City”: When you climb up to the State Capitol, you’re precisely 5,280 feet above sea level when you reach the 13th step. Denver’s location at this altitude was purely coincidental; Denver is one of the few cities not built on an ocean, a lake, a navigable river, or even (at the time) an existing road or railroad.

The U.S. Mint, built in 1906, established Denver as a banking and financial center.

In the years following World War II, Denver mushroomed to become the largest city between the Great Plains and the Pacific Coast, with almost 600,000 residents within the city limits and over three million in the metropolitan area. It remains a growing city, with a booming downtown and suburbs. Denver is noted for its tree-lined boulevards, 200 city parks that cover more than 20,000 acres, and architecture ranging from Victorian to postmodern.