.

[deleted1161146]

---

Members don't see this ad.

.

 

[wolfvgang22]

I don't know the answer to question #1.
Regarding #2, yes, it can take several months to start working at the VA. Sometimes it happens quickly, sometimes 9 months. Depends on how poor the HR is at that VA and how bad they want you. Took me 3 months. It's a good idea to apply 6 months from graduating.

 

[comp1]

The availability of something like those "tracks" is going to be extremely specific to the particular VA. That said, as far as I've ever seen, psychiatrist pay is based on where you live, not the breakdown of your weekly FTE schedule. If you're graduating this year, ideally, you should have already applied to the VA. 3 months onboarding time is average. It can go up to six months with hiccups and that's why I generally tell residents to start in January of their PGY4. You can always pull out during the process if the salary or other issues don't work out. There is a current push in the VA to reduce this, so you might not see the higher end as much going forward.

 

[Stagg737]

I don't know the answer to question #1.
Regarding #2, yes, it can take several months to start working at the VA. Sometimes it happens quickly, sometimes 9 months. Depends on how poor the HR is at that VA and how bad they want you. Took me 3 months. It's a good idea to apply 6 months from graduating.

That's the fastest onboarding I've ever heard of with a VA. My residency program had quite a few graduates go on to work at VA hospitals, and onboarding took anywhere from 4/5 months to a full year. As above, varies a lot depending on location.

If someone takes a job at a VA, I would work under the assumption that onboarding will take at least 6 months unless they're already very familiar with that facility and know others who have completed onboarding much faster.

 

[comp1]

I think people's perception of 3 vs 6 months for onboarding might relate to what we mean by onboarding. If you're just submitting your application to a usajobs.gov posting today...yeah, you might unfortunately be closer to 4-6 months since it may sit on a pile for awhile. However, if you've already been given the tentative job offer by the hiring manager, then you're at what I consider the start of the onboarding point. From there, 3 months really can be done at a lot of VAs because there are numerous metrics that HR is actually monitored and held to following that point.

 

[Stagg737]

I think people's perception of 3 vs 6 months for onboarding might relate to what we mean by onboarding. If you're just submitting your application to a usajobs.gov posting today...yeah, you might unfortunately be closer to 4-6 months since it may sit on a pile for awhile. However, if you've already been given the tentative job offer by the hiring manager, then you're at what I consider the start of the onboarding point. From there, 3 months really can be done at a lot of VAs because there are numerous metrics that HR is actually monitored and held to following that point.

I'm referring to stuff after accepting the offer. Not saying 3 months doesn't happen, but I know more people where it took >6 months than less than that and don't know anyone where it only took 3 months.

ETA: I'm specifically referring to new hires. Not people transferring from one VA to another.

 

[Celexa]

Here's a quick anecdote about my residency onboarding, which is simpler than attending onboarding:

Me, after being sent paperwork for Residency VA: Hi, I am already in the system at Med School VA. Should I do anything differently in terms of the paperwork?

Residency VA: Nope! Just fill it out.

Me: is a good little pre-intern and fills out paperwork promptly.

~ 5 months later, I show up for my first rotation at Residency VA and nothing works ~

Me: it seems there is a problem with my access

Ancient VA Administrator, once located in their den on third Thursday of the month between 10:47am and 11:18am, after twenty minutes of one-finger typing: oh yes, there's a problem because you were already in the system.

Me: screams silently in my head because screaming out load is not an option and you will be damned for all residency if the Ancient VA Administrator decides they don't like you.

Eventually they got me access. Eventually.

 

[comp1]

Trainee onboarding is indeed different from employee onboarding. For residents and med students, there actually is a whole department at every hospital (as described above) 100% dedicated to getting them setup and maintaining their specific access. That...doesn't quite exist for the typical employee. Also, residents don't have to do the physical and payroll stuff amongst dozens of other things. I think the above resident issue was actually the intern not being scheduled for the VA for a whole five months. The account was likely deactivated in the interim and had to be reactivated. Accounts at the VA are often deactivated if not logged in to within 30 days and definitely deactivated if not logged in to within 90 days. This is a Congressional policy mandate and not something a specific VA or program can make any change to. It is very aggressively enforced for first logins. We give all incoming residents remote login access and card readers to address it. Of course getting them to remember to login monthly is a whole other issue, but if they're logging in, they should never show up and find out for the first time they don't have active access. I'm sure a lot of Medical Education offices aren't as on top of it. Fortunately, the National IT line can usually reactivate an account within an hour.

 

[wolfvgang22]

There is a bit of a dialectic here, in that the things both Comp and Stagg say are correct. If you've worked with one VA, you've worked with one VA. Some will have a hiring manager, department chief, and HR that are functional and invested in getting you to work as quickly as they can, some not so much. If everyone does their job it can take 3 months as a new hire. If one of these people doesn't (and it's usually HR due to turnover in HR) then it may take much longer. Best advice is to apply as soon as possible, make sure you have a point of contact in HR, and politely call or email every week or so to herd things along and ask any questions. I would continue to apply and interview for other jobs until I am definitely hired. The VA does lose a lot of potential psychiatrists mid-hiring process.

By the way, in case you don't know, keep in mind the VA can pay for your relocation if you need to move to another city for a VA job. They paid some $25,000 to pack and move my entire household and store my stuff until I found housing in my new city. I didn't have to do anything but fill out some forms. For someone used to renting a U-Haul, it was super nice to have someone else do all that.

 

[Stagg737]

Here's a quick anecdote about my residency onboarding, which is simpler than attending onboarding:

Me, after being sent paperwork for Residency VA: Hi, I am already in the system at Med School VA. Should I do anything differently in terms of the paperwork?

Residency VA: Nope! Just fill it out.

Me: is a good little pre-intern and fills out paperwork promptly.

~ 5 months later, I show up for my first rotation at Residency VA and nothing works ~

Me: it seems there is a problem with my access

Ancient VA Administrator, once located in their den on third Thursday of the month between 10:47am and 11:18am, after twenty minutes of one-finger typing: oh yes, there's a problem because you were already in the system.

Me: screams silently in my head because screaming out load is not an option and you will be damned for all residency if the Ancient VA Administrator decides they don't like you.

Eventually they got me access. Eventually.

Are you my twin? Very similar situation happened to me. I rotated at our residency VA as a med student and so was just told to fill out basic paperwork and they’d switch access over. We even had an orientation the week before we started to make sure everything was fine. My first day was a Sunday morning starting on medicine service. I wanted to start out strong and showed up before 5am. Only thing I could do was write an admin note. Couldn’t place orders, or consults, or access EKG/imaging software. Still had med student access. They couldn’t fix it until that afternoon, so was basically useless until then.

Trainee onboarding is indeed different from employee onboarding. For residents and med students, there actually is a whole department at every hospital (as described above) 100% dedicated to getting them setup and maintaining their specific access. That...doesn't quite exist for the typical employee. Also, residents don't have to do the physical and payroll stuff amongst dozens of other things. I think the above resident issue was actually the intern not being scheduled for the VA for a whole five months. The account was likely deactivated in the interim and had to be reactivated. Accounts at the VA are often deactivated if not logged in to within 30 days and definitely deactivated if not logged in to within 90 days. This is a Congressional policy mandate and not something a specific VA or program can make any change to. It is very aggressively enforced for first logins. We give all incoming residents remote login access and card readers to address it. Of course getting them to remember to login monthly is a whole other issue, but if they're logging in, they should never show up and find out for the first time they don't have active access. I'm sure a lot of Medical Education offices aren't as on top of it. Fortunately, the National IT line can usually reactivate an account within an hour.

Ehhhhh, Enterprise service desk (national hotline for others reading) was super hit or miss imo. They were usually pretty solid during work hours, but after 6 was a crapshoot which was when we’d have issues at our program when off-service residents covered overnight call or backup call had to help. I remember calling in at 11pm once and 3am they still hadn’t gotten my access back.

Agree with the rest, but like all the jokes about VA nurses, the competency of HR/admins can vary significantly and they can be *almost* as difficult to fire as a nurse…

 

[SeniorWrangler]

Pro tip; If you're trying to get your paperwork through VA HR, don't be shy about checking on it regularly with the HR office and your contacts in the department that's trying to hire you. Your packet can absolutely end up in limbo for a while if nobody's checking on it and bird-dogging the file.

 

[comp1]

YES! You should be reaching out to someone in HR at least weekly while onboarding. The exact person will likely change over the months. You want to be someone they want off their desk so that you stop reaching out. Be polite and respectful, of course.

 

[Mad Jack]

The availability of something like those "tracks" is going to be extremely specific to the particular VA. That said, as far as I've ever seen, psychiatrist pay is based on where you live, not the breakdown of your weekly FTE schedule. If you're graduating this year, ideally, you should have already applied to the VA. 3 months onboarding time is average. It can go up to six months with hiccups and that's why I generally tell residents to start in January of their PGY4. You can always pull out during the process if the salary or other issues don't work out. There is a current push in the VA to reduce this, so you might not see the higher end as much going forward.

Just onboarding as a resident at one of tge VAs I went through took 6 months lol.

I would highly recommend picking up a per diem/short term locums job in the same area that can get you onboarded more quickly so you don't have to bank on a specific VA start date for all of your income