Physician Assistant, Vascular Interventional Radiology and Image Guided Surgery

University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB)•Galveston, TX

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Division seeks a highly motivated, clinically strong, and team oriented Physician Assistant to join a growing academic procedural service line. This position provides participation in the full continuum of image guided patient care: inpatient consultation, outpatient clinic evaluation, pre procedure assessment, obtaining procedural consents and informed consents, procedural assistance, selected minor procedures only under physician supervision, post procedure management, documentation, care coordination, medical student and resident education, and longitudinal follow up. The Physician Assistant will work closely with interventional radiology attending physicians, residents, fellows, medical students, nurses, technologists, schedulers, nurse navigators, referring physicians, inpatient teams, and outpatient clinical teams. The goal is safe, timely, high quality, patient centered care across the full spectrum of the Division. The ideal candidate will have strong clinical judgment, excellent communication skills, attention to detail, interest in procedural medicine, and a desire to help build a modern image guided surgical practice.

Requirements

Graduate of an accredited Physician Assistant program.
Current Physician Assistant certification.
Eligibility for licensure as a Physician Assistant in the state of practice.
Eligibility for credentialing and privileging through the institution.
Current Basic Life Support certification.
Strong clinical judgment, professionalism, communication skills, and ability to work in a multidisciplinary environment.
Ability to function in a fast paced procedural, inpatient, outpatient, and academic clinical setting.

Nice To Haves

Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support certification preferred or required within a defined period after hire.
Prior experience in interventional radiology, vascular surgery, surgery, emergency medicine, critical care, hospital medicine, oncology, hepatology, nephrology, cardiology, wound care, or another procedural specialty.
Experience with inpatient consults, outpatient clinic, peri procedural care, and multidisciplinary coordination.
Experience or interest in obtaining procedural consents and informed consents, assisting with image guided procedures, performing selected minor procedures under physician supervision, managing post procedure patients, and completing procedure related documentation.
Comfort reviewing imaging reports, laboratory values, anticoagulation plans, procedural indications, and clinical notes.
Experience with image guided procedures, procedural patient care, post procedure assessment, or procedural patient education.
Interest in teaching medical students, residents, fellows, and other trainees.
Strong interest in helping build a modern clinical image guided surgical service.
Ability to work across multiple campuses or clinical sites when needed.

Responsibilities

Perform inpatient and outpatient clinical assessments for patients referred for image guided procedures.
Complete histories and physical examinations, review prior imaging, laboratory data, medications, allergies, anticoagulation status, and relevant comorbidities.
Help determine procedural readiness in collaboration with the supervising interventional radiologist.
Assist with triage of inpatient and outpatient consults, including assessment of urgency, appropriateness, required workup, and follow up needs.
Coordinate pre procedure preparation, including laboratory review, anticoagulation planning, medication instructions, sedation screening, anesthesia needs, and patient education.
Participate in outpatient clinics, including new patient evaluations, follow up visits, post procedure assessments, longitudinal care visits, and other clinic based evaluations.
Manage post procedure follow up, including review of symptoms, complications, imaging results, pathology results, culture results, and clinical outcomes.
Communicate with referring physicians, inpatient teams, outpatient providers, patients, and families regarding treatment plans, procedural expectations, risks, benefits, alternatives, and follow up care.
Evaluate patients before image guided procedures and confirm procedural indication, laterality, relevant imaging, laboratory results, anticoagulation status, allergies, sedation considerations, and overall procedural readiness.
Discuss planned procedures with patients and families, including the indication, expected benefits, potential risks, alternatives, recovery expectations, and follow up plan.
Obtain and document procedural consents and informed consents for appropriate procedures, when permitted by state regulations, institutional policy, scope of practice, approved privileges, and supervising physician direction.
Assist interventional radiology attending physicians during image guided procedures.
Perform selected minor procedures only under physician supervision and only when consistent with training, competency, institutional policy, scope of practice, and approved privileges.
Participate in the procedural timeout process, sterile preparation, patient positioning, specimen handling, procedural workflow, and post procedure care coordination.
Complete procedure related documentation for procedures performed by the Physician Assistant, including procedure notes, brief operative notes when applicable, image guided procedure reports, post procedure orders, discharge instructions, and follow up plans.
Dictate, prepare, or complete procedure reports for procedures personally performed by the Physician Assistant under physician supervision, with attending physician review, attestation, or co signature as required by institutional policy, billing standards, compliance requirements, and scope of practice.
Document informed consent, pre procedure evaluation, post procedure condition, complications if present, specimens obtained, devices used, medications administered when applicable, and follow up recommendations.
Provide clear patient education before and after procedures, including preparation instructions, medication guidance, activity restrictions, warning signs, recovery expectations, and follow up plans.
Escalate patient questions, clinical concerns, unexpected findings, complications, or changes in patient condition promptly to the supervising interventional radiologist.
Review inpatient consults and coordinate with attending physicians regarding procedural appropriateness, clinical urgency, and procedural planning.
Communicate with primary teams regarding recommended imaging, laboratory studies, anticoagulation management, procedural timing, anesthesia needs, and patient optimization.
Round on selected patients managed by the Division.
Help reduce delays in care by ensuring patients are clinically optimized before procedures.
Serve as a clinical liaison between interventional radiology physicians, inpatient teams, nursing teams, procedural staff, patients, and families.
Evaluate new outpatient referrals for image guided procedures and interventional radiology conditions.
Support longitudinal management of patients cared for by the Division.
Assist with follow up after procedures to monitor outcomes, complications, symptom improvement, imaging response, and need for additional treatment.
Educate patients and families regarding disease processes, procedure expectations, recovery, medications, warning signs, and follow up plans.
Support clinic efficiency, same day procedural planning when appropriate, and care coordination across multiple campuses or practice sites.
Work closely with interventional radiology schedulers, nurse navigators, clinic staff, procedural nurses, technologists, anesthesia teams, and referring providers.
Help ensure that required orders, imaging, pathology, cytology, cultures, laboratory studies, and follow up appointments are appropriately coordinated.
Communicate clearly and professionally with patients, families, referring services, inpatient teams, outpatient clinics, and administrative teams.
Help identify barriers to timely care and work with division leadership to improve workflows.
Support multidisciplinary programs involving image guided care across the health system.
Participate in quality improvement, patient safety, outcome tracking, complication review, and process improvement initiatives.
Assist with standardization of clinical workflows, procedure preparation, post procedure care, patient follow up, and communication with referring services.
Help improve patient access, procedural efficiency, documentation quality, referring provider communication, patient satisfaction, and clinical outcomes.
Practice in accordance with institutional policies, professional standards, accreditation requirements, and regulatory expectations.
Work collaboratively with attending physicians, residents, fellows, medical students, nurses, technologists, and other members of the care team.
Participate in the teaching of medical students, residents, fellows, and other trainees in appropriate clinical, procedural, peri procedural, and patient care activities.
Help orient new staff, trainees, and advanced practice providers to Division workflows.
Participate in educational conferences, case reviews, quality meetings, and multidisciplinary discussions when appropriate.
Promote a culture of professionalism, teamwork, respect, accountability, clinical excellence, and patient centered care.