Physician Associate

Job overview

The Physician Associate posts support a team of consultants, junior doctors and nursing staff and therapists within each department. The post holder must hold a  science-related degree prior to graduating from an established UK Physician Associate Training  programme, which follows the Department of Health’s Competence Curriculum Framework,  has successfully passed the UK National Physician Associate Examination and is registered with the Managed Voluntary Register for Physician Associates and /or GMC.  Consideration will be given to  appropriately qualified Physician Associates from other countries as well. This is an innovative idea to give newly qualified or more experienced Physician Associates the chance to work for 1 year or more to put into practice the knowledge and skills they have  acquired in their training. Although this is a neuroscience group there is a lot of acute general medicine  available to further PA training. The PAs will rotate through Stroke, Neurology and Rehabilitation. They will  have Educational Supervision and an appraisal at the end of the year. The emphasis will be on ensuring the basic clinical and management skills will be put into practice but there will also be a lot of subspecialty learning available too.

Main duties of the job

• To provide expert assistance to the consultant physicians and specialist registrars in the provision of a high quality service to patients in the neurology department including neurosurgery and rehabilitation
• The Physician Associate role is being developed to work alongside the department’s doctors.
• The Physician Associate may be asked to rotate to different departments within neuroscience to provide a wide range of clinical experience, improve their overall skill and ability and the service they provide to the departments.
• Physician Associates will represent the department at local and external meetings as appropriate.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For further information about the job, including the main duties and responsibilities, please refer to the attached job description and person specification.

Education and Qualifications

Essential Criteria

BA/BSc Degree prior to  undertaking PA program  PG Dip in Physician  Associate Studies from a  UK training programme  Current and valid  certification or re certification by the  Physician Associate  National Examination  (OR:if US trained, Current  and valid certification with the  National Commission on  Certification for Physician  Associates(NCCPA)  Registration with the UK  Managed Voluntary  Registry for physician  Associates as soon as it is  in place  Member of the UKAPA

Desirable

ILS,ACLS&PALS  certification

Experience

Essential

Experience of conducting  clinical audit  Ability to organise and  prioritise workload  effectively  Ability to exercise sound  judgements when faced  with conflicting pressures Ability to work cohesively within the multi-disciplinary  team.

Desirable

Demonstrable interest  in neurology

Skills

Essential

Knowledge of medical  procedures and  terminology  Verbal and written  communication skills  Ability to maintain  confidentiality  Ability to respond to questions in a tactful and professional manner  Ability to adhere to  regulations as well as work  flexibly to meet the needs  of the Trust  Energy and enthusiasm  and the ability to work  under pressure  An inquiring and critical  approach to work  Caring attitude toward  patients  Ability to communicate  effectively with colleagues,  patients, relatives, nurses,  other staff and agencies  Commitment to CME and  professional development.  Ability to précis clinical work correctly

Knowledge

Essential

Awareness of current  developments and  initiatives in emergency medicine services.