Respect at VA

VA Careers regularly profiles employees in an effort to show job seekers a different side of VA from their perspective. The goal is to recruit top health care talent by sharing the stories of dedicated professionals who make a difference in the lives of Veterans every day.

Eva is a VA employee who speaks with passion about her career, her work with Veterans, and her admiration for her colleagues at VA. This is the second of three parts of Eva’s story. If you missed the first part, read it here.

Eva Dickinson is the Network Weight Management (MOVE!) Program Coordinator for VA Health Care Network Upstate NY, a position that gives her a wide view of high quality care at VA, from local clinics to national offices.

Her commitment to delivering personalized, proactive, patient-driven care to Veterans is more than just a passion—it’s a personal choice. As a VA patient herself, she learns from her colleagues even when she’s off duty.

“If I have an opportunity to be a patient in the system I work for, but choose not to, that’s a problem. I’m a patient because I need to be behind that care. And I’ve been tremendously impressed with the people, the staff, and the facilities. There is so much respect.”

For Eva, the quality of respect is particularly apparent in the interactions of VA’s multidisciplinary care teams. With providers, nurses, dietitians, and other employees working together for the benefit of the patient, every team member has equal weight. “Regardless of your title or training, every member of the team has a place at the table; we are united by a common mission, which is unique to VA,” she says.

Indeed, it was a VA primary care physician she encountered during her interview process who helped Eva make the decision to move from the private sector to a career at VA. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the MOVE! Program, and considered the approach of “small changes to make a big difference,” essential to caring for Veterans with weight management issues. His excitement about his role, and willingness to work with other health care professionals at all levels, made Eva confident that VA was the right place for her.

Next week, Eva will share her thoughts on choosing VA—and why you should too!