Physician | Internal Medicine - CDU| Duarte, CA

City of Hope•Duarte, CA

3d•$319,000 - $342,000•Onsite

About The Position

City of Hope's Duarte campus is recruiting a full-time physician lead for our Clinical Decision Unit (CDU), with additional clinical shifts in the Evaluation and Treatment Center (ETC). The role is primarily clinical and includes day-to-day clinical oversight of the CDU, working with the ETC Medical Director to shape care standards, protocols, and APP practice. Available at the Assistant or Associate Clinical Professor level, reporting to the ETC Medical Director, the Division Chief of Hospital Medicine and the Chair of the Department of Medicine. Final CDU/ETC shift distribution will reflect program needs and the candidate's experience. Clinical Decision Unit The CDU is a short-stay observation unit overseen by the ETC, where patients requiring 24 to 48 hours of extended evaluation or treatment are managed before discharge or admission. Reporting to the ETC Medical Director and working alongside CDU advanced practice providers (NPs/PAs) and nursing leadership, the physician serves as the day-to-day clinical point person for the unit, with responsibility for: · Clinical oversight of the quality, safety, and consistency of care delivered in the unit · Guiding the development and ongoing refinement of evidence-based admission criteria, care pathways, and short-stay protocols · Clinical direction and mentorship of the CDU APP team, including onboarding, education, and practice standards · Monitoring unit performance: length of stay, admission conversion, return visits, and throughput, and leading improvement work informed by those findings · Serving as the day-to-day clinical point of contact between the CDU and the ETC, subspecialty services, hospital medicine, nursing, and case management · Helping guide the CDU's continued growth as institutional volumes and needs evolve · When assigned to a CDU shift, the physician will: · Admit appropriate patients from the ETC and round daily during their 24- to 48-hour stay · Reassess clinical status, review results, and update treatment plans with the CDU APP team · Coordinate with subspecialty teams, case management, supportive care, social work, and outpatient clinicians · Determine readiness for discharge or escalate to inpatient admission, and support post-discharge follow-up, including guidance to APPs conducting outreach Evaluation and Treatment Center Responsibilities The ETC operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. On ETC shifts, the physician evaluates and manages patients presenting with acute complications of cancer or its treatment: stabilizing high-acuity oncology and hematology patients, initiating diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, collaborating with subspecialty teams, and determining disposition (home, CDU observation, or hospital admission). We have an exciting opportunity to join the Department of Medicine whose focus is to provide leading-edge, evidence-based clinical care, emphasizing prevention, treatment and research of cancer and cancer-related complications. For more information please visit here Duarte Cancer Center, Evaluation and Treatment and Department of Medicine.

Requirements

M.D. or D.O. from an accredited institution; board certified, with substantial clinical experience in the Emergency Department, Internal Medicine, or ICU
Possession of, or eligibility for, an unrestricted medical license in the State of California

Nice To Haves

Experience in an observation unit, emergency department, or comparable acute care setting; prior protocol development, quality improvement, or advanced practice provider supervision experience is valued
Mission-minded, patient-centered clinician comfortable with high-acuity oncology and hematology patients, with strong communication and sound disposition judgment
Academic record consistent with appointment at the Assistant or Associate Professor level at City of Hope National Medical Center

Responsibilities

Day-to-day clinical oversight of the CDU, with meaningful influence over protocols, APP practice, and unit performance
Clinical oversight of the quality, safety, and consistency of care delivered in the unit
Guiding the development and ongoing refinement of evidence-based admission criteria, care pathways, and short-stay protocols
Clinical direction and mentorship of the CDU APP team, including onboarding, education, and practice standards
Monitoring unit performance: length of stay, admission conversion, return visits, and throughput, and leading improvement work informed by those findings
Serving as the day-to-day clinical point of contact between the CDU and the ETC, subspecialty services, hospital medicine, nursing, and case management
Helping guide the CDU's continued growth as institutional volumes and needs evolve
Admit appropriate patients from the ETC and round daily during their 24- to 48-hour stay
Reassess clinical status, review results, and update treatment plans with the CDU APP team
Coordinate with subspecialty teams, case management, supportive care, social work, and outpatient clinicians
Determine readiness for discharge or escalate to inpatient admission, and support post-discharge follow-up, including guidance to APPs conducting outreach
Evaluate and manage patients presenting with acute complications of cancer or its treatment: stabilizing high-acuity oncology and hematology patients, initiating diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, collaborating with subspecialty teams, and determining disposition (home, CDU observation, or hospital admission).