Job Description Summary

Under the general guidance of the Chair of Vascular Surgery and the Executive Director of APCs, the Physician Assistant will evaluate, diagnose and treat patients following written guidelines approved by the Department of Surgery.

Job Description

BASIC PURPOSE OF THE JOB

The nature and scope of practice of the Physician Assistant in Vascular Surgery is to assess, diagnose and treat health problems of patients across the continuum of care, in collaboration with the Attending Vascular Surgeons. Physician Assistants in the Department of Vascular Surgery will participate in the comprehensive care of patients in the role of physician extenders under the direction of the supervising physician.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Minimum Education - Preferred

Graduate of accredited Physician Assistant Program.

Minimum Work Experience

Prefer two or more years of practice.

Required Licenses / Registrations

ACNP - Adult Nurse Practitioner

1 - PRACTICE/CLINIC

a - Obtain comprehensive history from patients, and present all new patients to the appropriate attending physician.

b - Oversee and participate in the preparation of patients who are scheduled for surgery including ordering and obtaining necessary radiology and laboratory studies, reviewing all results of studies and pathology, discussing all concerns with the attending physicians and all other aspects of preoperative evaluation and care not otherwise specified.

c - Take practice/clinic phone calls from patients, VNAs, etc. as appropriate and address any issues that arise, with input from attending physicians as needed. All phone calls will be documented in the patient’s medical record.

d - Perform physical examinations, prescribe medications, perform procedures including, but not limited to: dressing changes; wound care; venipuncture and arterial blood gases; tube removal and changes; suture placement/removal.

e - Clinic is at South Shore Hospital as well and the Practice is at Brigham and Women's Surgical Associates, 90 Libbey Parkway Weymouth, MA

2 - FLOOR: The PA will participate in the postoperative care of all Vascular Surgery patients. The duties and responsibilities of the Physician Assistants involved in in-patient care will include, but are not limited to:

a - Participation in rounding on patients.

b - Implementation of all Vascular Surgery care plans including writing orders, transfer orders, wound care, dressing changes, tube removal/insertion, venipuncture/obtaining arterial blood gas, central and arterial line insertions and removal, jejunostomy tube changes and care and suture/staple insertion and removal.

c - Discharge orders and planning, dictation of discharge orders, prescription writing, VNA care plan, etc.

d - Obtain, review and interpret radiology and laboratory studies and implement appropriate care plan based on the results in accordance with attending physician instructions.

e - Daily documentation of physical examination findings and care plan in patient’s hospital chart. All events and communications with attending physicians or their representatives will be documented in the patient’s chart.

f - Review patient’s chart daily for all pertinent consultation notes, event notes and multidisciplinary care plans.

g - Obtain Consultations, interpret lab values and x-rays with the assistance of physicians as necessary.

3 - OPERATING ROOM:

a - First or second assist in surgeries.

b - Write postoperative orders.

4 - Situations That Require Referral or Consultation
Referrals and/or consultations may be obtained by the physician assistant when the attending physician deems necessary, and need to be obtained for any medical or surgical problem that does not fall within the scope of practice of the supervising physician.

5 - Delegation of Supervising Physician Responsibilities
The direct supervision of work performed by the physician assistant is the responsibility of the supervising physician or his/her designee (who must be another MD) in accordance with all state and national guidelines. An MD may delegate to his/her physician assistant only duties and responsibilities that fall within the scope of practice of the supervising physician.

6 - Provisions for Managing Emergencies
Physician assistants will follow all state and national mandates and guidelines for PA’s as they pertain to the emergency management of patients.

7 - Scope of Prescriptive Practice
The scope of prescriptive practice will conform to the Massachusetts State Controlled Substance Act, all Department of Public Health, and Massachusetts Board of Registration for Physician Assistants, Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine and other applicable statutes and regulations.

a - The prescriptive practice of the physician assistant will be reviewed by the supervising physician in an ongoing format, at least quarterly.

b - The physician assistant may prescribe the following classes of medications: Class II-Class V