Physician Assistant - Primary Care

Summary

**This position is open to physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner applicants**

Applicants will be referred as applications are received. This Open Continuous Ad can be used for multiple vacancies/hires.

Responsibilities

Primary care providers will be responsible for the delivery of primary care to patients enrolled in their panels at the Fargo VA Healthcare System. The provider will manage scheduled and unscheduled patients in the outpatient clinic setting.

Primary care providers in the outpatient setting are typically assigned a panel of patients to manage. Panel size is determined by utilizing VHA PCMM software. Panel size is determined at the National level, through a complex formula which extracts local information regarding acuity of assigned patients, available support staff, number of exam rooms, etc. Each provider's panel size is specific to their practice and setting.

Alternative or collateral duties may include management of a subsection of primary care patients. The subsection may be defined either by a disease status (e.g. spinal cord injury patients), or demographic status (women veterans etc). Typically these duties are designated at the time of joining but occasionally during the course of employment, participation in special projects pertinent to the assigned section may be necessary.

Providers are expected to act as "surrogates" for the patients of their colleagues, when one or more of their colleagues are on leave.

Physicians will be assigned duty as a supervising or collaborating physician for a Physician Assistant and will provide clinical oversight and review.

Quality of care should be able to meet professional standards at all times.

All providers will work within their privileges at all times, unless necessitated by an emergency.

All providers need to follow departmental and VHA policies for leave and attendance and will work within Title 38 appointment guidelines. Leaves should be requested in as much advance as possible to minimize disruption to patient care services. All unscheduled absences must be properly communicated.

Work Schedule: Monday to Friday, 8am - 4:30 pm. Each full time provider is required to work a minimum of 80 hrs per pay period (every two weeks) unless on leave status.

Requirements Conditions of Employment

• United States Citizenship Required; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Designated and/or random drug testing required
• 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 a background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination

Qualifications

The Fargo VA Health Care System is a Level 2 Medical Center and a member of Veterans Integrated Service Network 23. This facility combines a 39-bed medical facility along with a 38 bed Community Living Center providing transitional care, both accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Fargo also has a Department of Veterans Affairs Benefits Office on campus, offering veterans the unique opportunity to obtain health care, benefits services, and Readjustment Counseling at one location. Due to the growing veteran population in our service area, ten Community Based Outpatient Clinics have been established. The Fargo Health Care System provides a wide spectrum of primary and tertiary acute and extended care inpatient and outpatient activities in an academic setting. The Fargo Health Care System has an active research program and has a successful affiliation with the University of North Dakota School of Medicine.

About Fargo:
If you're looking for a variety, North Dakota has it all! The state experiences all four of the breathtaking seasons, has a growing economy, rolling farmlands, and the lowest unemployment rate in the country. The Fargo-Moorhead area is a lively, vibrant community featuring three universities and one technical/community college as well as a thriving arts scene. If you like sports, Fargo is home to the FM Redhawks (Independent Baseball Organization), the Fargo Force (USHL Hockey Team), the Red River Valley Speedway as well as the North Dakota State University Bison Division I FCS football. We also are in close proximity to attend the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks Division I hockey games. There are an assortment of outdoor activities from which to choose - snowmobiling, ice fishing, regular fishing, cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, water skiing, jet skiing, swimming, hunting, tubing, canoeing, hiking, camping, & biking to name a few. For more information about Fargo check us out at http://fargomoorhead.org/ or http://livability.com/fargo/nd/magazine

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/01/2019. .

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Graduate of a Physician Assistant training program, or of a surgical assistant program which is accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education of the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) or one of its predecessor organizations; and Bachelor's degree from an accredited PA training program or in another health sciences related field from an accredited college or university recognized by the US Department of Education.
• Current, full, active and unrestricted CERTIFICATE as a physician assistant from the National Commission on Certification of Physician's Assistants (NCCPA) or recent graduate who is eligible to take Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE).
• Proficiency in spoken and written English.
• Physical requirements outlined below.

Grade Determinations:

FULL GRADE 
Basic qualifications of citizenship, education, certification, and English language proficiency; along with the ability to demonstrate Clinical Competencies (Clinical Proficiency, Professional Development, Ethics, Interpersonal Skills, and Research

INTERMEDIATE GRADE 
Meet the basic qualifications with one year of professional practice as a Physician Assistant or Successful completion of a Physician Assistant post-graduate residency program accredited by ARC-PA or y the US Armed Forces; or a Master's degree from a Physician Assistant training program certified by ARC-PA or in another health related field from an accredited college or university recognized by the US Department of Education and have the ability to analyze and solve more complex medical problems and meet the Clinical Competencies (Clinical Proficiency, Professional Development, Ethics, Interpersonal Skills, and Research).

SENIOR GRADE 
Meet the basic qualifications with 3 years of professional practice as a Physician Assistant ; or 2 years of professional practice as a Physician Assistant and successful completion of a Physician Assistant post-graduate residency program accredited by ARC-PA or by the U.S. Armed Forces; or 2 years of professional practice as a Physician Assistant and a Master's degree from a Physician Assistant training program certified by ARC-PA or in another health-related field from an accredited college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education; or a Doctoral degree in a health-related field from an accredited college or university recognized by the U. S. Department of Education and be able to demonstrated the behaviors or responsibilities listed in one or more of the following categories: Clinical Proficiency, Education, Professional Development, Management/Administrative, and Research, as applicable to the assignment.

CHIEF GRADE 
Meet the basic qualifications with 5 years of professional practice as a Physician Assistant and can you demonstrate the behaviors in one of the following areas: Management/ Administrative and Clinical Competencies (Clinical Proficiency, Professional Development, Ethics, Interpersonal Skills, and Research); and, the minimum education for this grade is a Master's Degree from a Physician Assistant training program accredited by ARC-PA or in a health-related field of study. Experience as a Physician Assistant may be substituted for the Master's degree where the individual has an equivalent knowledge of the profession and has successfully undertaken a combination of difficult or complex assignments in several clinical, administrative, research and educational arenas which required a high degree of competence.

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 Chief. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of Full to Chief.

Physical Requirements: Heavy lifting, 45 pounds and over; heavy carrying, 45 pounds and over; straight pulling intermittent hours; pushing; reaching above shoulder; use of fingers; both hands required; walking/standing 8 hours; occasional kneeling; repeated bending; both legs required; ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously; far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other; specific visual correction to read fine print; ability to distinguish basic colors; ability to distinguish shades of color; hearing (aid permitted); and mental/emotional stability.

Equal Employment Opportunity Policy

The United States Government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factor.