Physician Assistant/Primary Care Service

Summary

This Physician Assistant (PA) position is located in Primary Care Service, VA St. Louis Health Care System (V ASTLHCS), St. Louis, Missouri. The PA is a professional who executes position responsibilities that demonstrates leadership, experience, and creative approaches to the management of complex client care. The PA must demonstrate performance and leadership that is broad enough to improve the care for a group of patients.

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Duties

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The PA has advanced clinical knowledge and competency and is able to function in a variety of roles. The PA has a scope of clinical practice in collaboration with a physician. The PA functions as the professional leader of a PACT team or an interdisciplinary health care team with broad-based, clinical expertise in caring for patients with chronic and complex disease. The PA possesses the administrative leadership necessary to promote interdisciplinary cooperation among the various disciplines. The PA demonstrates ability to assess the patient clinically, analyzes needs and coordinates care in an effective and cost-efficient manner to assure total management of the patient's identified needs

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package.

The purpose of the work is to provide the full range of assessment of needs, planning for care, teaching, and performance of routine and emergency procedures for primary care patients. The work product directly impacts the successful completion of the clinic's mission by increasing the well-being of substantial numbers of eligible beneficiaries. Routine duties include:

• Performing initial histories and physical examinations on outpatients. The supervising physician will review and countersign all admitting inpatient history and physical exams.
• Providing ongoing outpatient for assigned patients.
• Performing periodic physical examination on nursing home and domiciliary residents
• Screening outpatients to determine need for further care.
• Prescribing medications within defined scope of practice.
• Ordering diagnostic studies such as laboratory tests, x-rays, electrocardiograms.
• Carrying out health promotion and disease prevention activities.
• Drawing blood specimens for testing and performing other comparable lab procedures.
• Initiating and expediting requests for consultations and scheduling special tests and studies.
• Providing education and counseling of patients and families in preventive care, medical conditions, and use of prescribed treatments and drugs.

The work is performed under the general supervision of a staff physician. The superv1smg physician will ensure that the practice of the PA remains within limits of designated privileges and/or recognized medical standards, evaluates quality of treatment, referral, and flow-up care, and is responsible for the P A's action and quality of care. Work is reviewed for quality control compliance with established medical standards and limits of credentialing privileges. Incumbent is evaluated on a regular basis for adequacy of performance, quality of care provided, adherence to professional medical standards and ethics, protocols and requirements, and ability to accomplish work within deadlines and regulatory constraints. The incumbent functions with substantial independence in the examination, diagnosis, and treatment of the patients. A physician is readily available (in person or telephonically) for consultation or referral in a difficult case.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8am - 4:30pm

Compressed/Flexible : Not Authorized.

Telework : May be approved for ADHOC.

Virtual : This is not a virtual position.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• All qualified candidates encouraged to apply. Open to U.S. Citizens but non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:
  - your performance and conduct;
  - the needs and interests of the agency;
  - whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
  - whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
  Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Physician Assistant Basic Requirements

• Master's degree in any discipline or a bachelor's degree in any discipline with one year of experience as a Physician Assistant ~AND~
• Successfully passed the PA National Certifying Exam (PANCE) (or are you in the process to taking the exam) ~AND~
• Currently hold, or will hold, a full and unrestricted license to practice in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States or in the District of Columbia.

Preferred Experience: Experience providing Primary Care Services.

Grade Determinations : Grade determination will be made based upon the qualifications of each individual and the alignment with VA Handbook 5005.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit

The full performance level of this vacancy is 03. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of 01 to 03.

Physical Requirements: Requirements and recommendations can be found in the VA Handbook 5019.

Education

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit:

Additional information

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.