Anesthesia OR PA

UIOWA•Iowa City, IA

About The Position

The Physician Assistant in the Department of Anesthesia performs pre-operative and post-anesthesia assessments for patients scheduled for surgery at UI Health Care Medical Center University. The PA works within an interdisciplinary team that includes CRNAs, nurses, physicians, administrators, and others involved in patient care, exercising autonomy in medical decision-making and services provided. The role supports safe, effective, quality patient care and UI Health Care’s educational and research missions, including assisting with research related to pre-operative and pre-anesthesia assessments. The PA also supports the education of resident physicians, medical students, and nurse anesthetist students rotating through the OR. Postoperative responsibilities include management in the PACU under established protocols and in collaboration with physicians, as well as participation in multimodal pain management, perioperative care pathways, quality improvement, and patient safety efforts.

Requirements

Graduation from an accredited Physician Assistant educational program.
Comply with registration and licensure requirements specified by the Iowa Board of Physician Assistant Examiners.
Hold current certification by the NCCPA.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Contribute to a welcoming and respectful workplace environment.
Ability to prioritize workflow.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated experience in an area of clinical practice.
Ability to function with a high degree of independence in a collaborative, multidisciplinary team providing care for highly complex patients.

Responsibilities

Review patient records, including prior anesthetics, surgical and nursing work-ups, consultant work-ups, clinical notes, and test results.
Evaluate patients using the standard anesthetic evaluation, including medical history, airway examination, heart and lung examination, and other clinically indicated assessments.
Provide postoperative management in the PACU, including assessment and treatment of pain, nausea, hemodynamic concerns, and other common postoperative conditions under established protocols and physician collaboration.
Assist with multimodal pain management, including medication titration, regional anesthesia follow-up, and escalation of complex pain concerns to anesthesia faculty as appropriate.
Participate in developing and implementing standardized perioperative care pathways, quality improvement initiatives, and patient safety efforts.
Perform further evaluation as directed by the staff physician.
Help patients understand anesthetic teaching materials and interpret NPO instructions.
Instruct patients about medications to take on the day of surgery, including insulin dose management.
Write orders for patient pre-medication in consultation with the staff physician or clinic supervisor.
Order diagnostic tests in consultation with the staff physician.
Request relevant outside medical records, including by contacting outside physicians, offices, or hospitals.
Coordinate with services inside or outside the hospital to request further consultation or work-up, in cooperation with the staff physician.
Arrange communication of patients’ special needs or concerns to the anesthesia team.
Collect information such as work-up duration and patient health status to help optimize OR function.
Identify issues that may dissatisfy patients or cause inefficiency.
Teach substitutes and replacements, and teach pre-operative and pre-anesthesia evaluation by example and direct instruction to junior residents or SRNA students.
Maintain respectful, honest, and service-oriented collaborative interactions, and uphold similar standards and ethics across the unit.
Motivate others to high performance through stewardship of University resources, setting expectations, measuring success through individual performance evaluations, and driving organizational results.
Identify development opportunities and create plans that support employees’ personal and professional growth; engage self and staff in reflection on the University’s broader role in society.
Assist with research endeavors related to pre-operative and pre-anesthesia assessments.
Perform other duties as assigned.