VA with a joint faculty appointment at an AMC - what's life like?

[oldschooliscool]

I've often heard that some VAs, particularly ones that are near an AMC or affiliated with an AMC, offer a possibility of having a joint faculty position at the AMC. What's that like in reality? Is it a pretty uncommon thing, or something only reserved for after you've been in the system for over a decade? Or is it possible to get a joint position early in your career?

What's life like when you have a joint position? Do you get paid partially by both sites, or have certain days where you spent at the AMC?

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

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[PsychPhDone]

I've often heard that some VAs, particularly ones that are near an AMC or affiliated with an AMC, offer a possibility of having a joint faculty position at the AMC. What's that like in reality? Is it a pretty uncommon thing, or something only reserved for after you've been in the system for over a decade? Or is it possible to get a joint position early in your career?

What's life like when you have a joint position? Do you get paid partially by both sites, or have certain days where you spent at the AMC?

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

It's highly, highly variable between positions and sites. I'll come back later.

 

[cara susanna]

I have a joint faculty position. I'm not paid but I get to list my affiliation and I'm involved with the AMC's psychiatry training program. It's easy to get a joint position, especially if it's just the affiliation. I've always gotten one right after starting. Minus the training involvement, it doesn't really change my day-to-day.

 

[texanpsychdoc]

I am with a large VAMC and hold a joint faculty position with an AMC at the level of assistant professor. Basically, our VA seeks this out concurrently with your onboarding, however, the onboarding, credentialing, etc. with the AMC is a separate process that's in addition to the VA's credentialing and privileging process. Typically, people who hold joint appointments will be involved in the psychology training program (e.g., practicum, internship, post-doc), and may present didactics and lectures across disciplines as well (e.g., medical students, residents, fellows). The salary I get is from the VA, not both the VA and AMC. Being a faculty member also opens up access to resources such as their library, and if desired, you may be able to get in with research projects across jointly-participating training hospitals associated with the AMC. You can move up in rank to the level of associate professor - however, this looks a bit different for folks who are non-tenured such as myself who were brought on as clinicians. Basically, your work as a clinician could be reviewed and submitted as evidence for "scholarly" contributions that could warrant an elevation in rank. For tenured folks, especially those primarily in a teaching or research role, their ranks will largely if not entirely be based on their scholarly and teaching contributions.

 

[PsychPhDone]

I've often heard that some VAs, particularly ones that are near an AMC or affiliated with an AMC, offer a possibility of having a joint faculty position at the AMC. What's that like in reality? Is it a pretty uncommon thing, or something only reserved for after you've been in the system for over a decade? Or is it possible to get a joint position early in your career?

What's life like when you have a joint position? Do you get paid partially by both sites, or have certain days where you spent at the AMC?

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

Ok more time now. I have a joint appointment. My VA time is spent on research/clinical/teaching. My AMC time is all research/teaching. I am paid for my AMC research time on top of my VA salary, as it is grant funded. There are several different advancement tracks at our AMC so it can vary if you are fully clinical at VA, for example. The clinical staff often doesn't bother with advancement once they achieve the until appointment.