Medical Specialist 2

Medical Specialist

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

As a Medical Specialist, you would actively participate in diagnosing and treating patients within your specialized field and you would advise and confer with members of other disciplines so that patients may receive the benefits of an overall specialized program of care. Medical Specialists 2 serve as senior practicing specialists, within a recognized discipline of medicine.

Other responsibilities include:

• Assist in the development or revision of medical policy and procedures when needed to ensure the provision of quality care.
• Review of lab work, specialty consults, hospital discharges, medical visit summaries and diagnostic reports when needed to assist the group home RN and treatment team to provide the best care for complex cases.
• Discussion of care with hospital or rehabilitation facility providers when needed to ensure clinical information is shared and continuity of care is provided between the group home, the hospital, the rehabilitation setting and/or community providers.
• Review and approval of discharge summaries prior to accepting an individual back into the group home residence.
• Review medical information for new admissions to a residence when needed to ensure appropriate care can be provided.
• Communication with team members regarding medical issues and participation in team meetings as needed either in person or virtually.
• Communication with family members and advocates when needed to explain medical or treatment issues.
• Provide short-term urgently needed prescription renewals when a community medical provider may be unavailable.
• Functions as a member of an interdisciplinary treatment team, attends meetings, and serves on various committees and workgroups to improve individual services and outcomes.

Additional Requirements

Provide after-hours and weekend on-call medical telephone consult on a rotating basis.

Provide coverage of primary medical care for people living in a Comprehensive Adult Transitional Home if required, when the assigned provider is not available.

Provide medical expertise to Family Care Program and Community Mental Health Nurses as needed.

Assist with physician coverage as needed in sister regions.

Minimum Qualifications

Possession of a license to practice medicine in New York State (see limited license/permit option under notes) AND certification by a Member Board of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) in your specialty.

In order to be eligible for appointment and to maintain employment, you cannot be listed as an excluded individual or entity on any of the Federal and/or State Medicaid and Medicare exclusion lists (or excluded from any other Federal or Federally assisted program). If you are appointed and subsequently listed as an excluded individual or entity on any of these lists (or excluded from any other Federal or Federally assisted program), you may be terminated from your employment.

If appointed, you may be required to become an enrolled Medicare provider; obtain and provide to your employer a National Provider Identifier (NPI) number issued by the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES); and otherwise actively participate to the degree necessary to allow for your services to be billed through Medicare and Medicaid. If you are appointed and you lose the ability to bill through Medicare and Medicaid, you may be terminated from your employment.

Loss of your license or limited permit or board certification may result in action to remove you from the position. Limited license/permit option: If you are licensed in another state or by written examination in Canada, AND meet the other requirements for Medical Specialist 1 or 2, you are also eligible if you have a current limited permit to practice medicine in New York State. If appointed, you must obtain your license within one year of the date your limited permit was issued. Failure to do so will result in removal from your position.

Additional Comments

This title is part of the New York Hiring for Emergency Limited Placement Statewide Program (NY HELPS). HELPS Program titles may be filled via a non-competitive appointment. This means that you do not need to take an exam to qualify, but you do need to meet the minimum qualifications of the title.

At a future date (within one year of permanent appointment), employees hired under NY HELPS are expected to have their permanent non-competitive employment status converted to permanent competitive status. You will not have to take an exam to gain permanent competitive status.

If you are currently a New York State employee serving in a permanent competitive qualifying title and eligible for a transfer via Section 70.1 of the Civil Service Law, you may be appointed to this title as a permanent competitive employee.

The assignment of PS&T employees will be made in accordance with any agreed upon Memorandum of Understanding between PEF and the local DDSO regarding the posting of job vacancies.

Preference will be given to OPWDD employees impacted by closures. If you are being impacted by closure, please indicate this on your resume.

All OPWDD employees must be eligible and maintain eligibility for full and unconditional participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Continued employment will depend on maintaining eligibility.

If you are employed by state government you may be able to receive loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF). The PSLF Program forgives the remaining balance on Direct Loans after 120 qualifying monthly payments have been made under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for a qualifying employer. For more information on PSLF, please visit

Employees on long term leave can bid on positions but must be able to report to work within fourteen (14) days and be able to perform the essential functions of their positions with or without reasonable accommodation (RA).

If an employee or job applicant believes that they need a reasonable accommodation, they should contact the Reasonable Accommodation Unit at View phone number on click.appcast.io or email View email address on click.appcast.io to obtain information and RA forms.

Savings programs such as the U.S. Savings Bond and the College Savings Plan.

Voluntary pre-tax savings programs such as Health Care Spending Account and the Dependent Care Advantage Account offer employees options to pay for uncovered health care expenses or dependent care expenses.

Access to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) an assessment and referral service that connects employees with local service providers and support services to address their personal needs.

Life insurance and Disability insurance.

The New York State Deferred Compensation Plan is a voluntary retirement plan that offers employees the option to invest a part of their salaries for retirement on a tax-deferred basis.

Paid Holidays and Leave:

• Thirteen (13) paid holidays each year.
• Thirteen (13) days of paid vacation leave initially.
• Five (5) days paid personal leave each year.
• Thirteen (13) days of paid sick leave each year (PEF/CSEA), which may carry over from year to year.
• Up to three (3) days professional leave each year to participate in professional development events.

Health Care Coverage:

Employees and their eligible dependents can choose from a variety of affordable health insurance programs. Employees are provided family dental and vision plans at no extra cost.

Paid Parental Leave:

Paid Parental Leave allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave at full pay for each qualifying event. A qualifying event is defined as the birth of a child or placement of a child for adoption or foster care.

Retirement Program:

Participate in The NYS Employees' Retirement System (ERS), which is recognized as one of the best-managed and best-funded public retirement systems in the nation.

Professional Development and Education and Training:

NYS offers training programs and tuition assistance to eligible employees to maintain and increase their professional skills and prepare them for promotional opportunities. For more information, please visit

Additionally, the Public Service Workshops Program (PSWP) offers certain professional training opportunities for PEF represented and M/C designated employees that may grant continuing education credits towards maintaining professional licensure. For more information, please visit

OPWDD is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer dedicated to creating and sustaining a culture of inclusion. We believe that we are most effective in managing and improving our service system with a diverse team of employees. With such a large workforce, we rely on the collective individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, self-expression, ideas and talent that our employees bring to their work. This speaks to our culture and is a key part of our successes. As we continuously recruit people for our team, we welcome the unique contributions that applicants bring in terms of their education, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin