Surgical Physician Assistant - CV Surgery; Medical Center

Position: Surgical Physician Assistant - CV Surgery (Medical Center)
At Houston Methodist, the Surgical Physician Assistant (PA) functions as an advanced practice practitioner maintaining and promoting the health of the patient requiring care, practicing medicine under the supervision of a licensed physician. This position will provide diagnostic, therapeutic, surgical and preventative care, under the supervision of a physician. The surgical PA position will assist the physician in the global management of patient care in all peri-operative settings, their primary role is to assist licensed physicians in patient surgery.

This end-to-end involvement enables surgical PAs to provide unparalleled continuity of patient care. This position will work in both inpatient and outpatient settings and can perform independently under the license of a physician or as part of a treatment team. The Surgical PA position will take call as required or as outlined by their supervising physician, manager or lead. This position should be in the OR a minimum of 30%.

In addition, the Surgical PA position exams, diagnoses and decides treatment for patients, including analyzing and interpreting x-rays and lab results, writes prescriptions, takes patients' histories and orders various forms of therapy. This position affects direct patient care according to the Board of Physician Assistant Examiners in the State of Texas and Houston Methodist policies and procedures.

FLSA STATUS
Exempt

QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

• Bachelor’s degree
• Graduate from accredited Physician Assistant program by National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA)

EXPERIENCE

• One year of surgical experience

LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS
Required

• PA - Physician Assistant - State Licensure - Texas Department of Licensing and  
  and
• PA-C - Physician Assistant-Certified (NCCPA) - National Commission on Certification of Physician  
  and
• DEA - Narcotics License (DEA) - Drug Enforcement  
  and
• BLS - Basic Life Support or Instructor (AHA) - American Heart Association and
• ACLS - Advanced Cardiac Life Support or Instructor (AHA) - American Heart Association

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations
• Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job, especially with regard to activities impacting patient or employee safety or security
• Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with a customer service focus and application of positive language principles
• Use of critical thinking skills and clinical judgment to work autonomously as defined by the Board of Physicians Assistants
• Accepts accountability for outcomes in healthcare
• Uses therapeutic communication to establish a relationship with patients, families and interprofessional team to collaborate on the plan of care
• Strong organizational and problem-solving skill as evidenced by capacity to prioritize multiple tasks and role components
• Ability to exercise judgment in interactions with physicians, interprofessional care team and patients and their families
• Demonstrates proficient time management skills

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

PEOPLE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Demonstrates leadership as a clinical resource, interprofessional consultant, and patient advocate. Participates in rounding independently or with physicians/surgeons and attends interdisciplinary rounds, as appropriate, by specialty.
• Collaborates to foster healthy relationships in the work environment. Acts as a role model and coaches staff in effective verbal, non-verbal and written communication. May serve as first call for hospital staff. Serves as preceptor for Physician Assistant students and medical residents, as appropriate
• Communicates organizational information and aspects of administrative and clinical practice in a respectful and positive manner when interacting with staff. Advocates for a balanced workload, promotes positive behaviors, and peer-to-peer accountability. Facilitates the promotion of teamwork. Uses peer-to-peer accountability towards improvement of department score for employee engagement.
• Collaborates with interprofessional health care team members to manage/coordinate patient care. Advocates on patient/family’s behalf to identify and resolve clinical and ethical concerns.

SERVICE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Coordinates appropriate, timely patient care between health care providers and other ancillary clinicians, as appropriate, under a physician license, for a defined patient population(s), focusing on identified expected unit/optimal outcomes, individualized to the patient. Helps drive improvement of department score for patient satisfaction, through peer-to-peer accountability to service standards.
• Collaborates quality health care with interprofessional team members to manage/coordinate patient care. Provides first-assist and/or second-assist…