Physician Assistant - Hospital Medicine

The primary purpose of the Physician Assistant (PA), in the Department of Hospital Medicine is to promote and maintain the health of HM patients across the care continuum throughout the institution supporting the inpatient hospitalist programs. As the Department of Hospital Medicine is a service that operates 24/7/365, nocturnal shifts will also be supported by the hospitalist advanced practice providers for after-hours and weekend coverage, rotating holidays and COVID coverage.

Scope:

Affects direct patient care throughout MD Anderson according to the nurse practice act of the State of Texas and MD Anderson Standards of Nursing Care policies and procedures.

 
JOB SPECIFIC COMPETENCIES

PA KEY FUNCTIONS

Physician Assistant in the Department of Hospital Medicine is responsible for assessing and conducting comprehensive patient history, physical examinations, and psychosocial assessments.

Evaluate patient outcomes in coordination with attending physicians and develop a treatment plan.

Monitors laboratory, radiographic and procedural data for patient disposition. Must visually evaluate data and prepare written information.

Communicates report findings and test results to physicians, multidisciplinary team, and family members.

·       Promote collaboration and communication among healthcare team members, other colleagues, and organizations to promote and protect the best interests of patients.

·       Provides health education to the patient and their family (i.e., treatment options, management of side effects, anticipatory teaching, etc.).

·       Participate and collaborate on clinical research protocols.  Interviews patients and reviews the eligibility criteria to identify potential patients for protocol studies. 

·       Deliver education to patients and their families.  Conducts in-service training for in-house nursing personnel regarding protocol requirements.  Acts as liaison with patients, families, physicians, and other personnel.

·       Participates in the education of Advanced Practice student nurses, house officers and medical students.  Instruct coworkers in allied positions in recording patient information and/or data entry. 
 

Service Orientation

Provide service to our stakeholders, including patients, caregivers, colleagues, and each other, in a safe, courteous, accountable, efficient, and innovative manner to include:

Promoting inclusiveness and collegiality that always demonstrate respect and professionalism to our stakeholders.

Modeling safe, ethical behavior that mitigates risk to the institution through sound business practices, and adherence to MD Anderson’s Standards of Conduct, institutional policies, and procedures.

Responding to requests in a timely manner while proactively communicating expectations for procedures, service arrival, or project deliverables to stakeholders

Using the steps to HEAL (Hear, Empathize, Address and Learn) the relationship when service recovery is needed.

 

Medical/Clinical Knowledge

PAs demonstrate knowledge that includes an understanding of pathophysiology, patient presentation, differential diagnosis, patient management, surgical principles, health promotion, and disease prevention.

PAs demonstrate core knowledge about established and evolving biomedical and clinical sciences and the application of this knowledge to patient care in their area.

PAs demonstrate an investigatory and analytic thinking approach to clinical situations. This includes management of general medical conditions to include understanding, indication, contraindication, side effects, interactions and adverse reactions of pharmacologic agents and other relevant treatment modalities.

 

Patient Care

PAs provide patient care appropriate to the population(s) served.

PAs demonstrate care that is effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable for the treatment of health problems and the promotion of wellness.

PAs counsel and educate patients and their families about disease and illness in addition to providing health care services and education aimed at preventing health problems or maintaining health.

 

Professionalism

PAs are committed to collaborative professional relationships with physicians and all members of the health care team.

PAs function within their professional and personal limitations.

PAs demonstrate a high level of responsibility, ethical practice, sensitivity to a diverse patient population and adherence to legal and regulatory requirements.

PAs demonstrate a commitment to excellence and on-going professional development.

 

Practice-Based Learning and Improvement

PAs engage in critical analysis of their own practice, experience, medical literature, and other information resources for the purpose of self-improvement.

PAs participate in processes to assess, evaluate, maintain, and improve their patient care practices.

PAs demonstrate knowledge of scientific studies related to their patient's health problems.

 

 System-Based Practice

PAs demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger system of health care to provide patient care that is cost-effective and demonstrates resources allocation that does not compromise quality of care.

PAs advocate for quality patient care and assist patients in dealing with system complexities.

PAs accept responsibility for promoting a safe environment for patient care and recognize and participate in the correction of system-based factors that negatively impact patient care.

 

·       Perform other duties as assigned.