Summary The CITC Physician Assistant is a key member of the Department of Community Care. The PA is responsible for evaluating Non-VA care consults to determine approval in accordance with established guidelines and procedures. Responsibilities VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package. Duties include, but not limited to the following: i. Serves in management of all Non-VA Care consults and requests for additional services as directed. ii. Demonstrate sound decision-making skills, both clinical and administrative, which bring credit to the profession. iii. Participates in multidisciplinary activities involving the treatment plan and discharge plans of patients admitted to the bed services as assigned. iv. Utilizes problem solving methodologies to resolve problems that impact on patient care or staff performance. v. Ability to review patients both clinical and administratively to determine eligibility for Non-VA care services. vi. Provides guidance to all staff assigned to Non-VA Care Service. vii. Assists in the training of staff and other stake holders in the use of Non-VA Care. viii. Assists in the coordination of care with outside providers using knowledge of the resources and specialty care available in the VA. ix. Facilitates ongoing communication between non-VA Care staff and leadership to evaluate data and review workload demands. x. Fosters team-oriented environment among staff to work collaboratively with administrative staff and other clinical staff within the Non-VA care department; building trust relationships. xi. Participates in and attends medical center committees as assigned. xii. Revises work schedules and assignments on short notice to meet frequent, abrupt, and unpredictable changes in prescribed workloads and deadlines Participates in various facility programs designed to enhance and improve the delivery of patient care services, such as Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) teams, as assigned by management. xiv. Demonstrates commitment to high quality customer service, including specific measures identified as performance goals by the Medical Center. xv. Identifies individual professional learning needs and participates in formal programs, workshops, seminars, conferences, as well as self-directed learning activities, completes facility wide mandatory education yearly. xvi. Evaluating patients in his/her expertise in an outpatient setting; making appropriate referrals/consults, follow-ups, and treatment plans. xvii. Initial and interim histories and physical examinations on assigned outpatients and/or inpatients, as well as daily physical assessments on patients within his/her expertise. xviii. Follows acute and chronic physical health problems in the outpatient setting by providing ongoing comprehensive monitoring of these issues and some follow-up on specialty symptoms; provides medication management; orders routine laboratory, radiologic and diagnostic tests on assigned patients; and provides medication adjustments for physical problems. xix. Writes/dictates consults, general progress notes, post-operative progress notes, and discharge summaries, when appropriate; may perform joint injections, Veni-puncture and arterial punctures to obtain tests on assigned patients; may order electrocardiograms; provides patient education; and applies currently accepted preventive health care measures to patients and/or their families. xx. Initiates Basic Life Support in accordance with current BLS standards, to include automatic defibrillation in life threatening situations; may initiate Advanced Cardiac Life Support in accordance with current ACLS protocols, to include defibrillation/cardioversion, in life threatening situations. The PA must be BLS/ACLS certified. xxi. Demonstrates working practices that include adherence to confidentiality, privacy, security, safety, and Infection Control standards along with safe use and operation of equipment. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday 0730-1600 Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Pay: Competitive salary, annual performance bonus, regular salary increases. Paid Time Off: Receive 13 to 26 days paid time off per year, not to include 10 paid federal holidays; and 13 sick days annual with no limitation on accumulation. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years' vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA. Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement). For More Information on Benefits: https://www.vacareers.va.gov/Benefits/EmploymentBenefits Requirements Conditions of Employment All qualified candidates encouraged to apply. Open to U.S. Citizens but non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens. All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. Must be proficient in written and spoken English. You may be required to serve a probationary period. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Must pass pre-employment physical examination. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). Qualifications Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. Physician Assistant-III (PA-III):Experience and Education. PAs at the PA-III grade are at the full performance level and lead and organize patient care independently, practice within multi-disciplinary teams, and coordinate all aspects of patient care across the health care system. They utilize advanced clinical knowledge and judgment in decision-making and evaluating outcomes. They function as experts in clinical practice and/or in areas related to the assigned roles and responsibilities, may serve as mentors for transitioning PAs, and may provide training for health care students. Individuals can demonstrate the KSAs for the full performance level by: Three years of successful practice as a PA. OR Successful completion of a PA post-graduate residency program sponsored by VHA Office of Academic Affiliations or other postgraduate residency programs accredited by VA, ARC-PA, U.S. Armed Forces, or another accrediting agency and one year of professional practice as a PA. OR A doctoral degree in a health-related field from an accredited college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and one year of professional practice as a PA. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. PAs at this level are not required to meet each individual KSA listed below to qualify, but should be able to demonstrate, develop, or acquire those not met upon appointment for PA-III: Ability to clinically evaluate facility patient care delivery systems and validate or identify barriers to safe and effective patient care. Skill to consistently demonstrate an elevated level of expertise and autonomy in diagnosing and treating seriously ill, multi-symptomatic patients through facility Focused Professional Practice Evaluation (FPPE) and Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluation (OPPE). Ability to present clinical findings and recommendations to appropriate management officials. Ability to clinically facilitate the delivery of patient care in collaboration with health professionals, health managers, and other health care personnel. Ability to implement and initiate clinical changes to established treatment protocols based upon new medical literature research findings to enhance patient delivery care for improved patient outcomes. Ability to participate clinically in the development of the PA patient care audit processes involving in-depth review and analysis of medical records. References: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G-8 Physician Assistant Qualification Standard. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office. The full performance level of this vacancy is VN-0603-03. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is 03. Physical Requirements: The incumbent must be able to perform all activities of the position without restriction. This position may involve standing, walking, stooping, bending, reaching, lifting, and turning. The work may involve going up and down flights of stairs. Education Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.
