Company Description

Nova Scotia Health is the largest provider of health services in Nova Scotia, with some specialized services also offered to clients throughout Atlantic Canada. We’re on a mission to achieve excellence in health, healing, and learning through working together, which is reflected in the hospitals, health centers, and community-based programs we operate across the province.

Our passionate team of professionals provides a variety of high-quality inpatient and outpatient services including academic, tertiary, and quaternary care, as well as continuing care, primary health care, public health, and mental health and addictions. Join a diverse team of innovators, collaborators, and creative thinkers today.

Job Description

The Department of Psychiatry at Dalhousie University is recruiting a Staff Psychiatrist for Acute Adult Psychiatric Services within the Adult Mental Health and Addictions Program (MHAP), Central Zone, Nova Scotia Health Authority, with primary assignment to the Rapid Access and Stabilization Program (RASP).

The role includes scheduled clinical service at The Bridge one day per week, providing psychiatric care to individuals experiencing homelessness, as well as participation in other acute psychiatric services as operationally required. In a co-leadership administrative model, working with the services’ managers and clinical team leaders, this psychiatrist will champion excellence in health care and related education and innovation provided by physicians and staff.

The Department of Psychiatry is a mid-sized clinical academic department within the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Faculty work as members of multidisciplinary teams within the Nova Scotia Health Mental Health and Addiction Program to provide general psychiatric services to patients primarily in the Central Zone and specialty services to patients across the province.

This position is 1.0 FTE based in Halifax and part of the Acute Consultation and Addictions services, located primarily at the Abbie J. Lane Building (AJLB), with 0.2 FTE based at The Bridge in Dartmouth and the flexibility to work at other Central Zone locations, particularly within inpatient units and the psychiatric emergency services subject to service needs.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Promote excellence in clinical academic services for the treatment of patients within moderate intensity teams of RASP services at the AJLB and at The Bridge. This includes oversight of residents who are members of the teams and input to the Managers of the teams and the Head of the Section of Acute Consultation and Emergency in relation to strategic planning, quality assurance/improvement, and resource allocation, regarding services across the units.
• Promote optimal interprofessional functioning of acute services through provision of effective, collegial co-leadership and role modeling.
• Ensure productive operation between RASP and the acute inpatient services across the units when required by providing coverage for vacation or unexpected psychiatrist absences.
• Attend section meetings of acute services and the Department of Psychiatry monthly and biannual meetings.
• Provide the residents and team members support and guidance, as well as teaching in the management of patients when necessary. This includes providing timely, remote access when not physically on the unit.
• Provide effective leadership to enhance collegiality amongst the units as well as standardization of clinical & educational endeavors on the acute services.
• Collaborate with Clinical Academic Leaders in the Section of Acute Consultation and Emergency and in other sections/divisions of the Department of Psychiatry, and with other relevant leaders and community partners, to ensure seamless care for patients.

Clinical duties:
As directed by the section head, of Acute Care & Emergency Psychiatry at Dalhousie University:

• Clinical direct and indirect care as part of an interdisciplinary team
• Clinical "desk-side" teaching and didactic education
• Clinical administration
• Include on-call service
• Involve supervision of junior staff including residents and clinical clerks
• Support research as needed (and conduct it if personally desired)

Educational Duties: Didactic teaching at the undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuing medical education level as determined in discussion with the director of education, Department of Psychiatry.

Research: Research and other scholarly innovation are encouraged; candidates who have a sufficient track record in mental health research may be eligible for protected research time depending on agreement with the Department of Psychiatry’s research and executive leadership.

Remuneration is based upon a highly competitive Academic Funding Plan, which pays for time spent in clinical service, teaching, and research. Successful candidates will receive an academic rank commensurate with qualifications and experience as per university protocols.

Qualifications

Eligibility:

Fellowship in Psychiatry, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, or equivalent as determined by the Department of Psychiatry; experience managing patients with concurrent psychiatric and addiction problems and eligible for licensure with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia.

For information on licensure in Nova Scotia please consult the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia website at www.cpsns.ns.ca.

Additional Information

Application Instructions:

Please send your CV and cover letter to Dr. Sanjana Sridharan, Section Head for Acute Care & Emergency Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University via Aleya MacNeil, Physician Resource Manager: ***@dal.ca (🔒 Premium).

** Please do not submit applications through this portal.  Please follow instructions noted above.**

Dalhousie University is committed to fostering a collegial culture grounded in diversity and inclusiveness. The university encourages applications from Indigenous persons, persons with a disability, racially visible persons, women, persons of a minority sexual orientation and/or gender identity, and all candidates who would contribute to the diversity of our community. For more information, please visit www.dal.ca/hiringfordiversity

Practicing in Nova Scotia

Physicians in Nova Scotia provide fulfilling patient care which embraces family life, professional development and community involvement. That's what makes practicing medicine in Nova Scotia unique. Physicians are increasingly attracted to practices that offer team-based care to their patients and allow them to consult with their peers. The size and scale of Nova Scotia allows for better connections across the health care system. Your practice of medicine and your life is richer here. Nova Scotia is more than medicine. 

Building a Diverse Workforce

The Physician Recruitment Team at Nova Scotia Health lives and works in Mi’kma’ki, the unceded and ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq people. We are dedicated to equity, diversity, inclusion, and truth and reconciliation, and we are working to support medical communities that are reflective of and responsive to the diverse populations they serve in Nova Scotia. We welcome physicians from diverse backgrounds and experiences to join us in building healthier, more equitable communities across the province.