Job Description

Join our Team at the  Department of Veterans VA Medical Center in San Francisco, CA as a Nuclear Medicine Physician!  

The Nuclear Medicine Physician duties include the full range of diagnostic medical and/or surgical care for inpatient and outpatient VA patients including consultation, diagnosis, therapy, and treatment, and prognosis of patients referred to the Radiology Service. Duties also include the supervision and education of resident physicians and medical students from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in Radiology related matters.

The incumbent shall by virtue of training and experience is able to perform all levels of Nuclear Medicine  physician services including but not limited to:

1. Perform all Nuclear Medicine procedures, including evaluation of indication, protocol, triaging, sedation, previewing for exam quality at completion of exam, administering contrast, and obtaining informed consent for contrast/procedures.
2. Formal interpretation of the results of all Nuclear Medicine procedures within 24 hours, in accordance with Joint Commission requirements and the policies of the Radiology Service, such as “Handling of Radiography Reports Policy”, “Communication of Critical Results Policy.”, and any additional policies relating to interpretation and communication of radiographic findings.
3. Consult with other services regarding Nuclear Medicine procedures including but not limited to preliminary reports as necessary for patient care.
4. Post-procedure evaluation and clinical consultation regarding complications of Nuclear Medicine procedures.
5. Supervision of radiology fellows, residents and other medical students in accordance with Veterans Health Care Administration (VHA) Handbook 1400.1, entitled Resident Supervision, dated December 12, 2012.
6. Timely verification of all Nuclear Medicine examinations according to current published VAMCSF performance standards.
7. Shall be physically present in sub-specialized radiology area cases requiring conscious sedation.
8. Maintain work area in a safe and orderly manner and perform other related activities and special assignments as required.
9. The incumbent shall perform administrative services, which include, but are not limited to the following:
10. Completion of required clinical and medical record documentation including the use of computerized patient record systems where applicable.

1. Attend services staff meetings and perform other administrative tasks as required.
2. Maintain work area in a safe and orderly manner and perform other related activities and special assignments as required. d. Participate on clinical conferences and film rounds with medicine and surgery services are required. e. Adheres to the Radiology Service Policy and Procedural Manual, and the directives and policies set by Joint Commission, OSHA, VA, and the Radiology Service CQI Committee. 3. Employee shall perform services in accordance with ethical, professional, and technical standards of the healthcare industry, and must meet or exceed, the current quality assurance standards recognized by Joint Commission and mandated by VHA quality assurance policies and/or performance measures. A copy of these standards, policies, and performance measure may be viewed by contact personnel in the Office of the Chief of Staff. 4. Incumbent is required to report specific patient outcome information, such as complications, to the Chief, Radiology Service or his/her designee. Quality improvement data provided by personnel and/or collected by the VAMCSF will be used to analyze individual practice patterns. This data may be used by VAMCSF when renewal of clinical privileges is required. 5. Quality Improvement: Employee shall participate in Quality Improvement and Performance Improvement activities as required by Joint Commission (or equivalent), and directed by Chief of Service or Chief of Staff or designee. The Government may evaluate the quality of professional and administrative services provided, but retains no control over the medical, professional aspects of services rendered (e.g. professional judgments, diagnostic for specific medical treatment), in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 37.401(b). Employee shall be subject to Quality Management measures, such as patients appointment are scheduled within 7 working days, average outpatient wait time for imaging exam within 30 days of the requestor’s desire date for the procedure, response time to stat requests, prompt imaging interpretation, peer review, and communication of critical radiographic results. 6. Resident Supervision and Teaching: According to the guidelines dictated by the Residency Review Committee of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the incumbent will be responsible for residents 100 percent of the time. a. Resident patient care documentation: The incumbent shall be responsible for complying with the Residency review documentation and insuring that all notes and encounters are completed and shall appropriately document medical records in accordance with VA standards, equivalent to the Joint Commission compliance guidelines, standard commercial practice and guidelines established by VAMC-San Francisco. The incumbent shall also perform any administrative duties relative to documentation of resident training, as required and directed by the VA COS or designated representative. b. Technical Direction and Oversight: The incumbent shall provide technical direction to and oversight of residents/fellows consistent with current accreditation guidelines, clinical research, protocol development, data management of protocols, quality assurance conferences and meetings, and affiliate / VA staff meetings. Ensure on-site resident supervision in accordance with the national VHA Handbook 1400.01, Resident Supervision.  

Benefits and Features

• Expected Salary range  from  $340K to $400K  (negotiable based on candidate's qualifications, credentials and experience).
• Work Schedule: 8:00am to 4:30pm PST.

• 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.

We encourage you to consider VA employment in San Francisco, CA. We offer both a mission you can put your heart into and a home for fun, new experiences. Join a team that values a healthy home/work life balance and be rewarded by your role in keeping the promise to those who served.

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