VA Careers regularly profiles employees in an effort to show job seekers a different side of VA from their perspectives. 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.
Josh is a VA employee who emphasizes that his personal decision to dedicate his career to Veterans is the best decision he has ever made. This is the second of three parts of Josh’s story. Read the first part here.
When Dr. Josh was evaluating job offers, he will be the first to tell you that VA was not the highest paying offer that he received for similar jobs in other healthcare systems. But to him, it’s never been strictly about the money.
“You can’t pay for an experience, you can’t pay for a belief, for a system that you fundamentally believe in,” he says of the meaning he gets from working with Veterans.
As a young physician with plenty of opportunities, and in light of the current challenges that VA faces, many family and friends questioned his decision to join VA. In fact, the challenges are part of what is propelling him forward. He strongly feels that he and others like him will be part of the solution.
Dr. Josh sees plenty of opportunity to lend transparency, to showcase the work of dedicated healthcare providers, and to help be one of the people that will make this the most responsible, best health care system in all aspects.
“What I am hoping is to shed a little more positive light on VA in order to bring more transparency, innovation, and a young spirit to an institution that needs it,” he says.
Dr. Josh recently finished his residency in Internal Medicine at VA, and is now an Attending Physician in the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. He feels it’s a great time to be in this specialty due to the demand for primary care physicians, and it’s a great time for a health care professional to be part of an organization that is in a wonderful rebirth mode and join a dedicated team delivering world-class care to Veterans. He feels they deserve nothing less.
VA supports clinicians who are dedicating to doing this kind of work. The VA Advanced Fellowships Programs offer post-residency fellowships to physicians and dentists, advanced training for other health professions, and post-doctoral opportunities for scientists in areas of particular importance to VA and the Nation.
Continuous learning is essential to a health care professional’s ability to provide top-notch patient care. VA understands that and encourages employees to pursue higher education by offering one of the most comprehensive education support programs in the Nation.
Check back tomorrow to read more of Dr. Josh’s story and learn how his family has played a part in his career at VA.
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