Physician Assistant, Vascular Interventional Radiology and Image Guided Surgery

Physician Assistant Position

The Division seeks a highly motivated, clinically strong, and team oriented Physician Assistant to join a growing academic procedural service line. This position provides participation in the full continuum of image guided patient care: inpatient consultation, outpatient clinic evaluation, pre procedure assessment, obtaining procedural consents and informed consents, procedural assistance, selected minor procedures only under physician supervision, post procedure management, documentation, care coordination, medical student and resident education, and longitudinal follow up. The Physician Assistant will work closely with interventional radiology attending physicians, residents, fellows, medical students, nurses, technologists, schedulers, nurse navigators, referring physicians, inpatient teams, and outpatient clinical teams. The goal is safe, timely, high quality, patient centered care across the full spectrum of the Division. The ideal candidate will have strong clinical judgment, excellent communication skills, attention to detail, interest in procedural medicine, and a desire to help build a modern image guided surgical practice.

The Physician Assistant will participate in the evaluation, management, and follow up of patients referred to the Division. Responsibilities include: performing inpatient and outpatient clinical assessments for patients referred for image guided procedures, completing histories and physical examinations, reviewing prior imaging, laboratory data, medications, allergies, anticoagulation status, and relevant comorbidities, helping determine procedural readiness in collaboration with the supervising interventional radiologist, assisting with triage of inpatient and outpatient consults, including assessment of urgency, appropriateness, required workup, and follow up needs, coordinating pre procedure preparation, including laboratory review, anticoagulation planning, medication instructions, sedation screening, anesthesia needs, and patient education, participating in outpatient clinics, including new patient evaluations, follow up visits, post procedure assessments, longitudinal care visits, and other clinic based evaluations, managing post procedure follow up, including review of symptoms, complications, imaging results, pathology results, culture results, and clinical outcomes, and communicating with referring physicians, inpatient teams, outpatient providers, patients, and families regarding treatment plans, procedural expectations, risks, benefits, alternatives, and follow up care.

The Physician Assistant will support the clinical and procedural practice of the Division under the supervision of interventional radiology attending physicians and in accordance with state regulations, institutional policy, scope of practice, approved privileges, demonstrated competency, and supervising physician direction. Procedural performance by the Physician Assistant will occur only under physician supervision and will not constitute independent procedural practice. Responsibilities include: evaluating patients before image guided procedures and confirming procedural indication, laterality, relevant imaging, laboratory results, anticoagulation status, allergies, sedation considerations, and overall procedural readiness, discussing planned procedures with patients and families, including the indication, expected benefits, potential risks, alternatives, recovery expectations, and follow up plan, obtaining and documenting procedural consents and informed consents for appropriate procedures, when permitted by state regulations, institutional policy, scope of practice, approved privileges, and supervising physician direction, assisting interventional radiology attending physicians during image guided procedures, performing selected minor procedures only under physician supervision and only when consistent with training, competency, institutional policy, scope of practice, and approved privileges, participating in the procedural timeout process, sterile preparation, patient positioning, specimen handling, procedural workflow, and post procedure care coordination, completing procedure related documentation for procedures performed by the Physician Assistant, including procedure notes, brief operative notes when applicable, image guided procedure reports, post procedure orders, discharge instructions, and follow up plans, dictating, preparing, or completing procedure reports for procedures personally performed by the Physician Assistant under physician supervision, with attending physician review, attestation, or co signature as required by institutional policy, billing standards, compliance requirements, and scope of practice, documenting informed consent, pre procedure evaluation, post procedure condition, complications if present, specimens obtained, devices used, medications administered when applicable, and follow up recommendations, providing clear patient education before and after procedures, including preparation instructions, medication guidance, activity restrictions, warning signs, recovery expectations, and follow up plans, and escalating patient questions, clinical concerns, unexpected findings, complications, or changes in patient condition promptly to the supervising interventional radiologist.

The Physician Assistant will support the consult based inpatient model. Responsibilities include: reviewing inpatient consults and coordinating with attending physicians regarding procedural appropriateness, clinical urgency, and procedural planning, communicating with primary teams regarding recommended imaging, laboratory studies, anticoagulation management, procedural timing, anesthesia needs, and patient optimization, rounding on selected patients managed by the Division, helping reduce delays in care by ensuring patients are clinically optimized before procedures, and serving as a clinical liaison between interventional radiology physicians, inpatient teams, nursing teams, procedural staff, patients, and families.

The Physician Assistant will support the continued growth of outpatient Division clinics. Responsibilities include: evaluating new outpatient referrals for image guided procedures and interventional radiology conditions, supporting longitudinal management of patients cared for by the Division, assisting with follow up after procedures to monitor outcomes, complications, symptom improvement, imaging response, and need for additional treatment, educating patients and families regarding disease processes, procedure expectations, recovery, medications, warning signs, and follow up plans, supporting clinic efficiency, same day procedural planning when appropriate, and care coordination across multiple campuses or practice sites.

The Physician Assistant will play an important role in coordinating care across a complex procedural service. Responsibilities include: working closely with interventional radiology schedulers, nurse navigators, clinic staff, procedural nurses, technologists, anesthesia teams, and referring providers, helping ensure that required orders, imaging, pathology, cytology, cultures, laboratory studies, and follow up appointments are appropriately coordinated, communicating clearly and professionally with patients, families, referring services, inpatient teams, outpatient clinics, and administrative teams, helping identify barriers to timely care and working with division leadership to improve workflows, and supporting multidisciplinary programs involving image guided care across the health system.

The Physician Assistant will support a culture of quality, safety, accountability, and continuous improvement. Responsibilities include: participating in quality improvement, patient safety, outcome tracking, complication review, and process improvement initiatives, assisting with standardization of clinical workflows, procedure preparation, post procedure care, patient follow up, and communication with referring services, helping improve patient access, procedural efficiency, documentation quality, referring provider communication, patient satisfaction, and clinical outcomes, and practicing in accordance with institutional policies, professional standards, accreditation requirements, and regulatory expectations.

The Physician Assistant will contribute to the academic and educational mission of the Division. Responsibilities include: working collaboratively with attending physicians, residents, fellows, medical students, nurses, technologists, and other members of the care team, participating in the teaching of medical students, residents, fellows, and other trainees in appropriate clinical, procedural, peri procedural, and patient care activities, helping orient new staff, trainees, and advanced practice providers to Division workflows, participating in educational conferences, case reviews, quality meetings, and multidisciplinary discussions when appropriate, and promoting a culture of professionalism, teamwork, respect, accountability, clinical excellence, and patient centered care.

Required Qualifications include: graduate of an accredited Physician Assistant program, current Physician Assistant certification, eligibility for licensure as a Physician Assistant in the state of practice, eligibility for credentialing and privileging through the institution, current Basic Life Support certification, Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support certification preferred or required within a defined period after hire, strong clinical judgment, professionalism, communication skills, and ability to work in a multidisciplinary environment, and ability to function in a fast paced procedural, inpatient, outpatient, and academic clinical setting.

Preferred Qualifications include: prior experience in interventional radiology, vascular surgery, surgery, emergency medicine, critical care, hospital medicine, oncology, hepatology, nephrology, cardiology, wound care, or another procedural specialty, experience with inpatient consults, outpatient clinic, peri procedural care, and multidisciplinary coordination, experience or interest in obtaining procedural consents and informed consents, assisting with image guided procedures, performing selected minor procedures under physician supervision, managing post procedure patients, and completing procedure related documentation, comfort reviewing imaging reports, laboratory values, anticoagulation plans, procedural indications, and clinical notes, experience with image guided procedures, procedural patient care, post procedure assessment, or procedural patient education, interest in teaching medical students, residents, fellows, and other trainees, strong interest in helping build a modern clinical image guided surgical service, and ability to work across multiple campuses or clinical sites when needed.

The ideal candidate profile includes: wanting to be part of a growing clinical and procedural specialty, understanding that modern interventional radiology includes full patient care before, during, and after procedures, being comfortable communicating with physicians, nurses, trainees, patients, families, schedulers, and administrative teams, being able to help create structure in a busy and expanding service line, being clinically curious, reliable, organized, proactive, and accountable, having the judgment to know when to escalate concerns to the supervising physician, treating patients with compassion and seeing themselves as part of a surgical style image guided care team, and being interested in procedural medicine, longitudinal patient care, and education.

Clinical environments include: interventional radiology procedure suites, inpatient hospital units, outpatient clinics, pre procedure and post procedure recovery areas, emergency or urgent care settings when interventional radiology consultation is required, and multidisciplinary clinical environments across the health system. The role may involve standing for extended periods, assisting in sterile procedural environments, wearing radiation protection, working in fluoroscopy based procedure rooms, and participating in the care of acutely ill patients.

Schedule and coverage responsibilities may include: weekday clinical and procedural coverage, outpatient clinic sessions, inpatient consult support, pre procedure and post procedure management, rotating coverage across campuses, and potential evening, weekend, or call responsibilities depending on future service needs and institutional approval.

University of Texas Medical Branch Health