Psychiatry - Child/Adolescent Physician

Tele-Pediatric Psychiatrist Part-Time Flexible Schedule Work from Anywhere Rural Texas

Position Overview

The Rural Health Hub (RHH) is seeking a Tele-Pediatric Psychiatrist to provide high-quality psychiatric care to children and adolescents in rural and medically underserved Texas communities.

This flexible, part-time role allows the pediatric psychiatrist to work remotely while trained clinical staff are physically present with the patient when appropriate. The physician will evaluate and manage a broad range of pediatric mental health conditions, provide longitudinal medication management and psychiatric care, and collaborate closely with families, pediatricians, primary care clinicians, therapists, schools, hospitals, and other specialists.

The goal is to give rural children and families reliable access to psychiatric expertise without requiring repeated long-distance travel to major medical centers.

The Rural Health Hub Model

RHH uses a hybrid-telehealth model that combines remote psychiatric expertise with local clinical support and care coordination.

Local medical assistants, nurses, advanced practice providers, behavioral health clinicians, or other trained personnel may assist with:

• Medical and psychiatric history gathering
• Medication reconciliation
• Vital signs, height, weight, and growth monitoring
• Standardized behavioral and mental health screening
• Parent and caregiver interviews
• Coordination of laboratory testing when indicated
• Medication monitoring
• Coordination with therapists, schools, and primary care clinicians
• Safety planning and escalation of urgent concerns
• Referrals, follow-up care, and communication with the local care team

This model allows pediatric psychiatrists to provide meaningful longitudinal psychiatric care while maintaining strong connections with the clinicians and community resources surrounding the child.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct initial and follow-up pediatric psychiatric evaluations by telehealth
• Diagnose and manage common childhood and adolescent psychiatric conditions
• Develop individualized treatment plans
• Provide psychopharmacologic management when appropriate
• Review medication response, side effects, laboratory results, growth data, and prior medical records
• Perform psychiatric diagnostic assessments and mental status examinations
• Evaluate behavioral, developmental, emotional, and functional concerns
• Educate patients, parents, and caregivers regarding diagnoses and treatment options
• Collaborate with therapists, counselors, psychologists, schools, and primary care clinicians
• Provide guidance to local clinicians managing complex behavioral health conditions
• Monitor patients receiving psychiatric medications
• Identify patients requiring urgent, emergency, or higher-acuity psychiatric evaluation
• Develop appropriate safety plans and escalation pathways
• Coordinate referrals for psychotherapy, psychological testing, inpatient care, intensive outpatient programs, or other behavioral health services
• Complete timely documentation and clinical follow-up

Clinical Scope

Patients may include children and adolescents with:

• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
• Anxiety disorders
• Generalized anxiety
• Panic symptoms
• Depression
• Mood disorders
• Bipolar disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Trauma- and stressor-related disorders
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Behavioral and emotional dysregulation
• Oppositional behaviors
• School-related behavioral concerns
• Autism spectrum disorder with psychiatric or behavioral comorbidities
• Developmental disorders requiring psychiatric evaluation
• Sleep disturbances related to psychiatric conditions
• Eating disorder concerns requiring psychiatric assessment and multidisciplinary care
• Tic disorders and Tourette syndrome
• Psychotic symptoms requiring evaluation
• Medication-related behavioral or psychiatric concerns
• Self-harm behaviors
• Suicidal thoughts requiring psychiatric assessment and safety planning
• Complex psychiatric medication management
• Diagnostic uncertainty requiring pediatric psychiatric evaluation

Patients requiring emergency psychiatric intervention, inpatient hospitalization, intensive treatment, or other higher-acuity behavioral health services would be coordinated with appropriate local or regional resources.

Collaborative Care

Pediatric psychiatric care is often most effective when it extends beyond the psychiatrist-patient visit.

RHH supports close collaboration between the pediatric psychiatrist and the child's broader care team, which may include:

• Pediatricians and family physicians
• Therapists and counselors
• Psychologists
• School counselors and educational teams
• Social workers
• Neurologists
• Developmental specialists
• Primary care behavioral health programs
• Hospitals and emergency departments
• Parents and caregivers

The pediatric psychiatrist can provide both direct patient care and specialty guidance to the local clinicians who continue caring for the child between psychiatric visits.

Medication Management and Longitudinal Care

For children and adolescents receiving psychiatric medications, the psychiatrist can provide ongoing monitoring and adjustment while local clinicians assist with physical measurements and testing when needed.

This may include:

• Monitoring medication effectiveness
• Reviewing adverse effects
• Tracking weight, growth, blood pressure, and other relevant parameters
• Ordering or reviewing appropriate laboratory testing
• Evaluating adherence and medication interactions
• Adjusting psychiatric medications when clinically appropriate
• Coordinating medication plans with the child's pediatrician or primary care clinician

The goal is to create consistent, longitudinal psychiatric care rather than episodic telemedicine encounters.

Safety and Higher-Acuity Care

RHH's local clinical presence provides an important layer of support for pediatric behavioral health care.

When significant safety concerns are identified, the psychiatrist works with the local care team and family to determine the appropriate level of intervention.

This may include:

• Immediate safety assessment
• Suicide risk evaluation
• Safety planning
• Family and caregiver education
• Coordination with local emergency departments
• Referral for urgent psychiatric assessment
• Inpatient psychiatric hospitalization when indicated
• Intensive outpatient or partial hospitalization services
• Coordination with local behavioral health and crisis resources

The telepsychiatry role is designed to complement not replace local emergency and crisis services.

Ideal Candidate

This position is well suited for a pediatric psychiatrist who values longitudinal relationships, collaborative care, and expanding access to children who may otherwise wait months or travel hours for psychiatric treatment.

The ideal physician may be:

• Seeking a flexible part-time telehealth role
• Interested in complementing an existing clinical or academic practice
• Passionate about improving access to pediatric mental healthcare
• Comfortable managing both diagnostic complexity and longitudinal medication treatment
• Interested in working collaboratively with rural pediatricians and primary care clinicians
• Experienced in supporting families with complex behavioral and psychiatric needs
• Interested in helping build sustainable pediatric behavioral health services in underserved communities

Experienced pediatric psychiatrists, academic physicians, and clinicians seeking a reduced or flexible schedule are encouraged to apply.

Qualifications

• MD or DO degree
• Board certified or board eligible in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Active Texas medical license or eligibility to obtain one
• Strong pediatric psychiatric diagnostic and treatment skills
• Experience with pediatric psychopharmacology
• Ability to practice effectively through telehealth
• Strong communication skills with children, adolescents, parents, and caregivers
• Strong collaboration skills with primary care and behavioral health teams
• Commitment to rural and underserved populations

Experience in telepsychiatry, rural healthcare, collaborative care, school-based mental health, developmental disorders, or integrated behavioral healthcare is welcomed but not required.

Schedule and Work Arrangement

• Part-time, flexible telehealth schedule
• Recurring weekly clinic blocks available
• Work remotely with no relocation required
• Local clinical personnel available to support patient care
• Scheduling, technology, and care-coordination support provided
• Opportunity to expand hours as the network grows

Why Join Rural Health Hub?

• Bring pediatric psychiatric care to communities with limited or no local specialist access
• Help children receive care before symptoms escalate to crisis
• Reduce months-long specialty care delays
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