Certified Physicians Assistant

Description

The mission of the Port Gamble SKlallam Tribe Certified Physician Assistant is to enhance the quality of life of the Tribe and its members through the delivery of excellent primary health care, diagnosis, treatment and referral; and to develop and implement programs for the community in the areas of prevention, health education, ongoing health maintenance, in cooperation with Tribal staff.

Duties Include:

Job Skills Required

• Analysis: Obtains and analyzes information from patients, the community, staff, other agencies and professional publications.
• Decision-Making: Diagnose patient problems and determine treatment or referral action plans, assists Health Officer and Medical Director in identifying problems affecting community health and SKlallam Health Clinic programs, obtains relevant information, and develops alternative courses of action for approval.
• Forecasting: Accurately anticipates changes in patient and community health needs, resources, supplies, adequacy of equipment and reports to the Health Officer, Medical Director and Clinic Manager.
• Image: Commands the confidence and respect of patients, local physicians and other medical providers and the community by displaying professional conduct.
• Initiative: Actively maintains professional qualifications (including licenses and certifications) through training and ongoing continuing education. Develops positive relationships with patients, community members, local physicians, and other persons, agencies and organizations that serve or may serve as resources to SKlallam Health Clinic programs. Strives to achieve personal and department objectives at an excellent level of performance.
• Integrity: Maintains the highest standards of ethical conduct, including strict confidentiality of patient information.
• Interpersonal Relations: Maintains effective working relationships with patients, community members, local medical providers, staff and other agencies and organizations.
• Judgment: Ensures sound decisions by acting on the basis of reliable information, extensive professional knowledge, logical assumptions and thorough consultation with the Health Officer, Medical Director, Clinic Manager, and other staff as necessary and appropriate. Manages unexpected developments and medical emergencies by generating and implementing procedures, guidelines and assessing appropriate resources.
• Planning: Effectively manages time and focuses personal efforts to ensure achievement of personal performance objectives and established Health Clinic goals.
• Sensitivity: Contributes toward community development and positive patient and community relations, maintains morale, and ensures departmental effectiveness by being aware and considerate of the needs and feelings of others.
• Stress Management: Maintains a high level of performance by preserving stability under pressure.
• Verbal communication: Ensures the timely, accurate communication of issues to patients, the community, staff and Health Officer, Medical Director and Clinic Manager by expressing self clearly and effectively when talking with individuals and groups. Fosters teamwork amongst all staff in verbal and written communications.
• Work Standards: Ensures the timely, accurate accomplishment of SKlallam Health Clinic and personal performance objectives by observing high personal standards of conduct that result in the provision of excellent services.
• Written Communication: Ensures timely, accurate compliant documentation of patient charts and reports to Health Officer, Medical Director, Clinic Manager and other agencies. Uses effective written communication to inform and promote the achievement of SKlallam Clinic goals and objective primary job duties.

Primary Job Responsibilities

• Patient visits: Maintains a daily calendar of appointments for patient diagnosis, treatment, referral, prescriptions, health maintenance and education.
• Assesses and provides treatment to patients on a walk-in basis to the health clinic depending upon patient urgency and need.
• Reviews prescription re-fills requests for said prescription on a timely basis (e.g. Within same day).
• Provides after-hours, triage phone service for the health clinic on a monthly scheduled basis.

Additional Job Responsibilities

• Chart Reviews: Regularly assesses and monitors the progress of patients and reviews file documentation with Preceptor and consulting physicians.
• Meetings: Attends and participates in staff and provider meetings and other meetings as directed by the Health Officer, Medical Director or Clinic Manager.
• Personal Contacts: Maintains regular contacts of a positive nature with patients, staff, community members, WIC, Tribal Health Department and other tribal departments, Kitsap Public Health District, Tribal Dentist, local physicians and medical services providers, Child Welfare Investigator and others to accomplish SKlallam Health Clinic objectives and preserve good public relations.
• Reviews standing orders and patient guidance documents. Maintains current signature on these documents.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Education: Physician Assistant Certification from an accredited school.
• Clinical: A minimum of two years experience making independent clinical decisions in family practice.
• Licensing/Certification: Requires Physician Assistant Certification, Prescriptive Authority Licensing, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Certification and Washington State License and maintains a current preceptor signature.
• Personal Computer Skills: Basic personal computer skills are required, as well as the ability to learn electronic medical record data entry, word-processing, spreadsheet and other software programs.

Physical Requirements:

• Crouching: Bending the body downward and forward by bending the knee and spine.
• Reaching: Extending hands and arms in any direction.
• Standing: Particularly for extended periods of time.
• Walking: Moving about on foot to accomplish tasks.
• Fingering: Picking pinching, typing or otherwise working primarily with fingers rather than with the whole arm or hand as in handling.
• Grasping: Applying pressure to an object with the fingers and palm.
• Feeling: Perceiving attributes of objects, such as size, shape, depth, temperature, or texture by touching with the fingertips.
• Talking: Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word. Those activities in which they must convey detailed or important spoken instructions to workers accurately, loudly or quickly.
• Hearing: Perceiving the nature of sounds with no less than 40 db loss @ 500Hz, 1,000 Hz and 2,000 Hz with or without correction. Ability to receive detailed information through oral communication, and to make fine discriminations in sound, such as when making fine adjustments on machined parts.
• Lifting and Moving: exerting up to 50 lbs of force occasionally, and/or up to 20 lbs of force frequently, and/or up to 20 lbs of force to move objects.
• Visual Acuity: minimum standard for use of computer and medical equipment where the seeing job is at or within arms reach.
• Work Conditions/Exposure to Hazards: a variety of physical conditions such as proximity to moving machinery (e.g. centrifuge), electric current, exposure to body fluids, medications, cleaning fluids, vaccines etc.

Travel Requirements:

• This position occasionally requires travel to needed trainings and updates to maintain clinical skills, data software skills, and Physician Assistant Licensure.
• Local, Statewide and out of state travel may be required.