Advertising Summary: Join CHoR’s Comprehensive Autonomic Center (CAC) team: deliver exceptional care, teach future clinicians, and grow your academic career.
Unit: School Of Medicine MBU
Department: Pediatrics
Mission or Goal of Unit: The Comprehensive Autonomic Center (CAC) at Children’s Hospital of Richmond is dedicated to delivering integrated, interdisciplinary, and developmentally informed care for children and young adults with complex autonomic disorders. The Center advances this mission through excellence in clinical service, innovative program development, and rigorous research and training. The CAC unites key specialties — including neurology, psychology, gastroenterology, PM&R, cardiology, genetics, and physical therapy — to provide seamless diagnostic, treatment, and rehabilitation services across the pediatric–adult continuum. With evaluation sites on the main academic campus and in the community, as well as a dedicated intensive rehabilitation program, the CAC is structured to ensure comprehensive, accessible, and coordinated care for patients and families. As a core member of this interdisciplinary team, the pediatric psychologist will play a vital role in delivering evidence‑based clinical services, contributing to research initiatives, and shaping program development within the CAC.
Chief Purpose of this Position in Support of Above Mission or Goal: The goal of this position is to fully integrate pediatric psychology into the pediatric medical subspecialty environment at CHoR, fostering close, collaborative, and supportive relationships with community pediatricians, hospital‑based physician specialists, and colleagues. Teaching is an expected component of the role, and research and other scholarly activities are both encouraged and supported. As a core member of the Comprehensive Autonomic Center (CAC) team, the psychologist will provide outpatient and day‑treatment/inpatient evaluation and intervention services for children and young adults with autonomic disorders, including but not limited to postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS), chronic fatigue syndrome, functional abdominal pain, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), cyclic vomiting syndrome, migraine, fibromyalgia, and other chronic overlapping pain conditions (COPC). A full autonomic testing laboratory is embedded within the CAC, supporting comprehensive interdisciplinary assessment.
The psychologist will lead the pediatric and young adult day‑program interdisciplinary treatment team, working closely with adult psychologists within the adult CAC programs to ensure continuity across the lifespan. The role also includes cross‑coverage of pediatric GI psychology services—such as obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, and constipation/encopresis—and reciprocal coverage from psychologists within the GI program.
This position also includes direction of the pediatric component of an intensive interdisciplinary autonomic and pain day‑program. Primary responsibilities include outpatient and inpatient consultation‑liaison services, brief and longer‑term psychological intervention, collaboration with medical and psychosocial teams, and development of new clinical programs, including the integration of psychological services into emerging autonomic interdisciplinary clinics. The psychologist will also have opportunities to collaborate on an extensive brain‑imaging research program investigating the etiology and mechanisms of POTS and COPC, as well as participate in a community education initiative focused on pediatric pain and chronic overlapping pain conditions.
Responsibilities:
- Teaching: Faculty members will have teaching responsibilities in the area of Comprehensive Autonomic Center Psychology. Contribute to didactics, case conferences, and interdisciplinary training that strengthen understanding of autonomic disorders and chronic overlapping pain conditions.
- Research: Participate in and help advance CAC‑based research, including brain‑imaging studies examining mechanisms underlying POTS and COPC.
- Service: Foster collaborative relationships with community pediatricians, hospital‑based specialists, and colleagues across psychology and psychiatry to strengthen integrated care.
- Clinical: Provide outpatient and day‑treatment/inpatient psychological evaluation and intervention for children and young adults with autonomic disorders and related chronic pain conditions.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Requires a doctoral degree in clinical or counseling psychology, with Virginia licensure or license‑eligibility; board eligibility is required.
- Ideal candidates will have experience assessing and treating mental health concerns and complex pediatric medical conditions, including those outlined in the CAC program.
- Experience with clinical care of patients ages birth to 21
- Experience with education of house-staff, medical students, and others
- Demonstrated experience working in and fostering an environment of respect, professionalism, and civility with a population of faculty, staff, and students from various backgrounds and experiences, or a commitment to do so as a faculty member at VCU
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience in programmatic development/leadership
- Experience with advocacy at local, state, and national level
Salary Range: Commensurate
FLSA Exemption Status: Exempt
ORP Eligible: No
Flexible Work Arrangement: Other
Rank: Open
Tenure: Ineligible
Months: 12 months
Contact Information: Contact Name: Jewel Jefferson Contact Email: jewel.jefferson@vcuhealth.org
