Physician (Anatomical/Clinical Pathologist)

Summary

The Anatomic and Clinical Staff Pathologist provides diagnostic services within the Pathology and Laboratory Management Service (PALMS) with Phoenix VA, to include potential for subspecialty coverage as training permits (examples include dermatopathology or hematopathology).

Duties

VA 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 Duties may include, but are not limited to: Application of accepted criteria in formulating and reporting diagnostic information on various anatomic pathology specimens to include surgical pathology, cytopathology and autopsy pathology. Provide clinical laboratory consultation to technical personnel and healthcare providers. Participation in Quality Assurance measures for laboratory sections as required by accreditation standards. Teaching of residents, medical students, allopathic medicine students and other healthcare personnel who seek training within the field of Pathology. The AP/CP pathologist is ultimately responsible for diagnostic interpretation of specimens processed within the laboratory. The AP/CP pathologist will provide residents and/or trainees information on specimen processing and evaluation. Review of gross specimens Processing and interpretation of intraoperative frozen sections. Provide intraoperative and intraprocedural consultation as requested. Interpretation/sign-out of surgical pathology specimens within CAP guidelines for turnaround time. Ordering/interpretation of appropriate immunohistochemical stains and special stains. Participation in multi-disciplinary conferences such as Tumor Board, Chest Conference and GI Conference. Review appropriate clinical history/medical record when responsible for autopsy coverage and discuss with clinical team ensuring appropriate consent documentation before proceeding with autopsy. Perform/supervise autopsy Issue preliminary autopsy findings within 24 hours of autopsy. Issue completed autopsy report with clinicopathologic correlation within 30 days of autopsy. Participate in Quality Assurance measures including 10% retrospective review of all anatomic pathology cases and inter-laboratory comparison programs as designated by Chief, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Provide 24 hour on-call services as designated in the monthly schedule. Review hematology fluids and issue diagnostic interpretation. Participate in required continuing medical education (CME) in order to maintain licensure/privileges. Responsible for timely completion of VA assigned LMS educational modules. Responsible for diagnostic expertise and sign-out in any area for which sub-specialty fellowship training has been completed. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm (Weekends, Holidays and On-Call Rotations as Needed)

Requirements

U.S. Citizenship; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. Must be proficient in written and spoken English. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Must pass pre-employment physical examination. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). You may be required to serve a probationary period. Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

Qualifications and evaluation

Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment. Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume, as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position. NOTE: A formal pay-setting process will be used to determine your salary. The salary may be at any point in the range listed for this vacancy. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

Education

Qualifications cont., Board Certification. Physicians are generally not required to be board certified for employment in VA; however, three circumstances in VA require Physician board certification: If the position being filled is required to be a supervisor for medical students or Physician residents (including fellows), the LCME, ACGME, or AOA standards requiring a particular board certification credential will apply. If the position being filled will have faculty status with an affiliated medical school (for example, in joint recruitments with affiliated medical schools), then a medical school requirement for board certification will apply to the jointly recruited position. If the position being filled is required to be board certified by virtue of specific VHA policy (for example, as director of a cardiac catheterization laboratory or Director of Clinical Laboratory Medicine), then VHA policy requiring board certification will apply. NOTE: Board certification must be maintained for the duration of time that the employee is serving in a position that meets the circumstances listed above. Additional Requirement: Preferred Experience: Possess board certification as an AP/CP Surgical Pathologist. Have sub-specialty fellowship training in Cytopathology or GI. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Former VA Handbook 5005 Reference: Part II Appendix G2 Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements. Moderate Lifting, 15-44 pounds; Light Carrying, under 15 pounds; Use of fingers; Walking - 2 hours; Standing - 2 hours; Near vison correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4 Far vison correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other eye; Ability to distinguish basic colors; Hearing (aid permitted)Mental/Emotional Stability required; Working closely with others; Working alone End Qualifications. 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.

How to apply

To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. To apply for this position online, complete steps 1 and 2 above by 11:59 PM (ET) on 10/01/2026 to receive consideration. Please note, this announcement may close prior to the closing date indicated if the position is filled through other means. If you are unable to apply online before the closing date click here and include the CBSX-12995097-26-MC in the Notes field. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

Required documents

To apply for this position, you must submit a C.V. and/or resume. Full CV/Resume Note: Other documents may be requested later in the process if needed. Special Note for Applications: To complete your application, please use the following link https://vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Resume.docx to download the standard Clinical Resume Document. This one-page document does not need to be modified and must be uploaded into the two-page restricted 'Resume' document upload field. Your full resume/CV may be uploaded without page limitation into the 'Full Resume/CV' document upload field. The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc. Cover Letter License Full CV/Resume MISC Professional Certification Separation Notice (RIF) SF-15 SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action Transcript SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Time in Grade and/or Eligibility): Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee (within the last year of the announcement closing date) An SF-50 showing your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade Examples of appropriate SF-50's include: Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old. Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.

Additional information

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment. This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.