ED Physician

The Syracuse VA is seeking a full time BC/BE Emergency Medicine Physician to care for the veterans of Central New York. 

Syracuse is a medium sized city located in beautiful Central NY. Easy commute to the hospital, affordable housing, country living and great schools can make this a great career move. 

Working for the Department of Veterans Affairs offers a comprehensive total rewards package. VHA Physician Total Rewards.

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

JOB DUTIES: The physician will be seeing patients triaged from walk in levels to critical. There are back up services available in surgery, psychiatry, OB/GYN, and medical subspecialties. Patients will be admitted to the in-patient wards and care will be transferred to the admitting house staff services. Some shifts will require that the physician works alone, while others are staffed with more than one physician. The shifts will be variable, but 12 hours in length. The facility is fully computerized and computer skills are required. There is minimal administrative work, but the physician will be required to attend staff meetings, M&M's and complete some peer review evaluations. Time will be provided outside of assigned shifts to complete this work.

The duties of this position include but are not limited to:

• Provide evaluation and treatment consistent with hospital policy to ill and injured veterans presenting to the Emergency Department
• Performs focused history and physical examinations and initiates treatment when indicated for acute and chronic medical conditions
• Orders diagnostic laboratory and imaging tests as needed. Interprets and applies findings to make a medical diagnosis
• Uses prescriptive authority granted by licensure to prescribe and administer routine therapeutics including medications, devices and procedures.
• Refer to specialty care when a higher level of evaluation and care is needed
• Document details of the patient visit in EDIS (Emergency Department Integrated Software) and clinical evaluation and treatment of the patient in the patient record (Computerized Patient Record System).
• Disposition patients (discharge home, refer to specialty clinic, admission) in a timely and organized manner
• Demonstrate flexibility in working a rotating schedule which may include 10-12 hour shifts on nights, weekends, and occasionally holidays and weekdays.
• Maintain appropriate training, skills, and credentials to include Medical License, Board Certification, BLS, ACLS, minor procedures, airway management, and other training as required by the VA
• Supervise mid-level providers (PA/NP) who provide patient care in the Emergency Department
• Participate in administrative duties including peer review, hospital committees, performance improvement and other duties as assigned
• Promote continuity of care through communication (face to face, telephone, patient record) with other healthcare providers as appropriate
• Provide outstanding customer service, always maintaining professional behavior and attitude.

The physician will report to the Emergency Department Section Chief.

Work Schedule: Shifts may include off tour (nights, weekends and holidays) along with weekday shifts.

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, Binghampton, 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.

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 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