Lead Health Professions Education at the Nashville VA Medical Center Physician – Designated Education Officer (Associate Chief of Staff for Education)

The Nashville VA Medical Center is seeking a physician leader to serve as our Designated Education Officer (DEO), also known as the Associate Chief of Staff for Education (ACOS-E). In this key executive role, you will shape the vision, strategy, and quality of all health professions education across a complex, academically rich VA healthcare system.

You will provide oversight for a full spectrum of paid and WOC health professions trainees, partnering closely with the VHA Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA) and multiple academic affiliates to ensure outstanding trainee education and exceptional Veteran care. This includes stewardship of accreditation, funding, trainee onboarding, and affiliate relationships across multiple disciplines in alignment with VHA directives and national accreditation standards.

In this role, you will:

• Lead and evaluate all health professions training programs at the facility, ensuring safe, high-quality care delivered by trainees.
• Oversee accreditation compliance, trainee credentials and appointments, and educational fiscal management.
• Serve as the primary liaison with affiliate Designated Institutional Officials, program directors, and education leaders.
• Advise facility leadership on education policy, risk mitigation, and strategic growth of Health Professions Education (HPE) programs.
• Advocate for resources, innovation, and data-driven improvement in the educational enterprise.

Join us in Nashville—one of the nation’s most vibrant academic and cultural hubs—and help train the next generation of clinicians who will care for America’s Veterans.

If you are a collaborative, mission-driven education leader ready to have system-level impact, we invite you to apply and learn more through VA Careers.

For more information or to apply, please send your CV to Jason.tafoya@va.gov. To schedule a time to speak, copy and paste the following URL into your browser:

https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/JasonTafoyaVA@DVAGOV.onmicrosoft.com/bookings/