Pediatric Psychologist - Comprehensive Autonomic Center (F71080)

Pediatric Psychologist - Comprehensive Autonomic Center (CAC) - (F71080)

VCU Health's Children's Hospital of Richmond - Richmond, VA

Children’s Hospital of Richmond (CHoR) is seeking a full-time pediatric psychologist to provide clinical services, research, and program development in the Comprehensive Autonomic Center (CAC). The CAC is an interdisciplinary diagnostic, treatment, research and educational service that seamlessly integrates pediatric and adult services. Key disciplines include neurology, psychology, gastroenterology, PM&R, cardiology, genetics, PT and others.  The CAC is anticipated to operate in two locations in Richmond, one on the main academic campus and one in the community.  This position will be part of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychology within the Department of Psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University. 

The goal for this position is to create an atmosphere where pediatric psychology is fully integrated into the pediatric medical subspecialty area and has close and supportive working relationships with community pediatricians and hospital-based physician specialists as well as colleagues throughout psychology and psychiatry at CHoR.  Teaching is expected and research and other scholarly activity will be encouraged and supported. The psychologist hired into this position will be considered for a faculty appointment in the Department of Psychiatry commensurate with professional experience.

As a member of the CAC team, the psychologist in this position will provide outpatient and inpatient intervention services (evaluation and treatment) to patients with autonomic disorders, including but not limited to postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS), chronic fatigue syndrome, functional abdominal pain, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), cyclic vomiting syndrome, migraine headache, fibromyalgia, and other chronic overlapping pain conditions (COPC).  A full autonomic testing laboratory is an intrinsic part of the CAC.  The psychologist in this position will work closely with adult psychologists in the adult portions of the CAC, and cross-cover pediatric GI psychological services that will include obesity, inflammatory bowel disorders and constipation/encopresis and receive and cross coverage from the psychologists in the GI program. This position includes the direction of the pediatric portion of an intensive interdisciplinary autonomic and pain day-program. Primary responsibilities include providing outpatient and inpatient consultation-liaison services, brief and longer-term intervention, consultation with medical and psychosocial teams, and development of clinical programs, including integration of psychological services into new autonomic interdisciplinary clinics. This psychologist will also have the opportunity to collaborate on an extensive research brain imaging program on the etiology and cause of POTS and COPC, and a community education program focused on pediatric pain and chronic overlapping pain conditions. 

The position requires a doctoral degree in clinical or counseling psychology and Virginia state licensure or license-eligibility is required. Board eligibility is optional. Competence and expertise with psychological assessment, family services, psychological and behavioral therapies, behavior management, and emotional adjustment to medical and health concerns are strongly preferred. The ideal candidate should have experience with assessment and treatment of mental health concerns and complex pediatric medical conditions as indicted previously.  

Virginia Commonwealth University is an equal opportunity, Affirmative Action University providing access to education and employment without regard to age, race, color, national origin, gender, religion, sexual orientation, veteran’s status, political affiliation or disability.

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The Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Pediatrics is dedicated to providing comprehensive, compassionate, state-of-the-art pediatric health care, research and education at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU, a full-service children’s hospital within the VCU Medical Center. CHoR offers a robust continuum of pediatric services, research and education, and is the region’s only full-service children’s hospital. CHoR provides emergency, primary, secondary, advanced, tertiary and long-term care. CHoR has 11 locations across Central Virginia and provides more than 42 pediatric medical/surgical services.

There is energy and momentum around advancing children’s health in Richmond, and we have marked a new milestone. Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU recently opened a multi-story, high-tech ambulatory pavilion for pediatric services.  The new facility will meet the growing need for outpatient services for children in our community.

CHoR's outpatient pavilion is the largest, most advanced outpatient facility dedicated to children in the region. The new pavilion includes diagnostic and treatment services for children, bringing together the majority of outpatient pediatric services currently on the MCV campus to one location. It is designed to meet the unique health care needs of children, and to provide Richmond the most advanced and coordinated care possible:

The facility is a 640,000 square foot, multi-story building and includes a 7-story parking deck with more than 600 spaces.
The new pavilion houses 72 exam rooms arranged in clinic pods to optimize a multidisciplinary care model. Each pod includes 12 exam rooms, a treatment room, support space and a centralized clinical team.
The new pavilion features pediatric-dedicated imaging, surgical and endoscopy procedure rooms, as well as pediatric faculty offices.
The pavilion is designed with future expansion in mind. It can accommodate additional clinic pods and operating rooms, as demand for these services increases.

Virginia Commonwealth University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. Women, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

When we break ground on a new facility, it’s about more than bricks and mortar. It’s just like we tell our children— it’s what’s on the inside that counts. Over the past three years, Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU has increased pediatric faculty to more than 130 clinicians focused on 42 specialty areas and providing access to children’s health care from more than 11 locations throughout the region. It’s these dedicated physicians and an extensive network of pediatric-trained nurses, child-life specialists, therapists, social workers and ancillary medical staff, who will continue providing health care designed especially for children.