Open Rank, Clinical Faculty Appointment (CFA) - General Internal Medicine

We are seeking superior candidates who will have an appointment in the Section of Consultative Medicine and will practice consultative and diagnostic medicine.  Primary duties will be staffing the various service lines of the section on an outpatient basis and six to eight weeks on the Inpatient Consult Service per year. At present, current and envisioned service lines include: 
•    Inpatient Consult Service
•    Consultative Medicine Clinic
•    Mary Ann Weiser Suspicion of Cancer Clinic
•    POEM/Perioperative Evaluation and Management Service
•    Fatigue Clinic

We have an expectation that the ideal candidate will assume a leadership position within one of the service lines / programs as his/her career progresses. Another expectation is that the ideal candidate will take part in Quality Improvement activities within the department and institution. The position as currently envisioned is 80% clinical with four full days in direct patient care and one day for administrative and academic responsibilities.  As administrative and scholarship responsibilities change, clinical effort will be re-examined on a yearly basis.
Weekend and Holiday call, along with Weeknight call responsibilities are shared among the Section in an equitable fashion.

ORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS:
This is a faculty position reporting to the Chief of the Section of Consultative Medicine, followed by the Chair of the Department of General Internal Medicine.  The Department chair reports to the Head of the Division of Internal Medicine.

GENERAL DUTIES:
Provides clinical expertise in patient care management and provides an appropriate teaching environment for fellows, residents and students in the specialty of General Internal Medicine.  This position will have outpatient clinic responsibilities focusing on patients without a clear cancer diagnosis, and inpatient consultative responsibilities. The faculty must be fully ambulatory and have excellent bilateral manual dexterity, good hand-eye coordination, visual and auditory acuity in order to perform the job functions.  The candidate will be intelligent with outstanding analytical skills in order to make judgments regarding the patient’s medical problems and advise the patient on methods to improve their care.  Furthermore, the candidate must have emotional and psychological stability so that he will be able to manage patients and their families in a compassionate and positive manner.

The candidate will participate in the development of clinical research studies and will be independently responsible for new patient evaluations, initiation of appropriate referrals, and follow-up as appropriate.  Clinical procedures practiced will encompass those pertinent in delivering standard care to the patient.

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
I.    Education/Teaching
A.    Provide a balanced and integrated educational program in internal medicine for medical residents and students who rotate through the Department of General Internal Medicine.
B.    Attend and participate in Division/Department teaching and continuing education conferences, which requires verbal interaction with colleagues and walking to meeting locations throughout the campus.

III.    Research    
A.    Actively engage in clinical research and scholarly activity to enhance the academic environment of the Department.

1.    Develop programs of clinical research and scholarly activities in keeping with the goals of the Department.  Requires the ability to synthesize a myriad of information pertaining to the area of research.  May necessitate (orally or in writing) instructing research support personnel in protocol implementation.

2.    Seek appropriate funding mechanisms to support clinical research.  May require completion of grant application forms through oral dictation or use of a computer and keyboard.  Also will require budget development and analysis.

IV.    Clinical Practice
A.    Represent the Department of General Internal Medicine in local, regional, state, and national matters pertaining to the field of General Internal Medicine.  Will require traveling to sites outside of the Houston area and, upon return, disseminating the information obtained or learned by sharing with department colleagues verbally or in writing.

B.    Practice clinical medicine in an exemplary manner in standards set forth by the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners, and the American College of Physicians, properly balanced with other academic activities.

1.    Must be capable of providing complete and thorough history and physical patient examinations.  Must be able to perform invasive procedures as dictated by the physician's specialty.  This may require standing, bending, stooping, lifting, hearing, manual dexterity, and clear and concise verbal communications.

2.    Develop and maintain a clinical practice for patients referred to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

a.    Provide physician staffing for the Department of General Internal Medicine at a level commensurate with that which would be provided by other internists with the same level of training and experience.

b.    Visually review for proper ICD-10 and CPT coding and approve all charge documents as per institutional policy.

c.    Complete patient documentation for medical records within time frames provided by institutional policy.  Will require documenting in a clear and concise manner, and visual review of documents.

d.    Correspond as appropriate in writing or in telephone conversations with physicians regarding patient care and treatment.

e.    Keep abreast of current approaches in the management of patients through attendance at continuing education conferences in the specialty.  This will require listening and assimilating information from the conferences.

f.    Request appropriate consultations for patients by phone conversations or in writing to other physicians.

3.    Provide a role model as a practitioner for faculty, fellows, residents and students.

4.    Provide peer review for assessing the clinical practice of faculty within the Department.

Must be able to work within a context of very intense interpersonal relationship including other physicians, patients, and subordinates.