Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service

Health Services Officer Professional Advisory Committee
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Discipline Specific Deployment Roles, Competencies and Trainings

The Physician Assistant discipline specific roles with their competencies and related education and trainings requirements can be found below:

Clinical General Physician Assistant

Clinical General Physician Assistant: Include but are not limited to: histories and physicals (H&P), physical assessment, diagnosis, treatment including prescribing medications.
 

Competencies:

  • Perform complete physical exam & Hx, clinical assessment & plan, patient education and appropriate medical documentation
  • Prescription ability & medication administration
  • Cardiac assessment to include interpretation of EKG’s and initial management such as cardiac pacing, defibrillation, cardioversion
  • Airway & Ventilation assessment and management
  • Patient stabilization for further transport to a long-term care facility
  • Suturing including deep would closure, wound care, bleeding control, & splinting and peripheral/arterial/intraosseous vascular access
  • Be able to read a Laboratory results accurately
 

Trainings/Education/Experience:

  • Maintain NCCPA Certification
  • Maintain Basic Life Support - https://www.heart.org/
  • Clinical Hours – 80 hours
    • Teaching Physician Assistants will count
    • Seeing Patients in your job, volunteering, or in an outside job will count
    • Deployment hours seeing patients count
  • Optional: ACLS or equivalent - https://www.heart.org/

Clinical Advanced Physician Assistant

Clinical Advanced Physician Assistant: Include but are not limited to: histories and physicals (H&P), physical assessment, diagnosis, treatment including prescribing medications including one of the subspecialties below:
  • Cardiovascular & Thoracic
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Hospital Medicine
  • Nephrology
  • Orthopaedic Surgery
  • Pediatrics
  • Psychiatry
 

Competencies:

  • Perform complete physical exam & Hx, clinical assessment & plan, patient education and appropriate medical documentation
  • Prescription ability & medication administration
  • Cardiac assessment to include interpretation of EKG’s and initial management such as cardiac pacing, defibrillation, cardioversion
  • Airway & Ventilation assessment and management
  • Patient stabilization for further transport to a long-term care facility
  • Suturing including deep would closure, wound care, bleeding control, & splinting and peripheral/arterial/intraosseous vascular access
  • Be able to read a Laboratory results accurately
 

Trainings/Education/Experience:

Non-Clinical Physician Assistant

Non-Clinical Physician Assistant: Clinical care coordination, case management, discharge planning, needs assessments, resource procurement and dissemination.
 

Competencies:

  • Supervisory duties, clinical oversight, and QA
  • Perform complete physical exam & Hx, clinical assessment & plan, patient education and appropriate medical documentation
  • Cardiac assessment to include interpretation of EKG’s and initial management
  • Suturing, wound care, bleeding control, & splinting
  • Clinical Care Coordinator, Case Management, Needs Assessment and Discharge planning
  • Resource Procurement and dissemination
  • Chart review to assess patient standards of care
  • SME and coordinator to state and local health departments
 

Trainings/Education/Experience:

Specialized Skills for Clinical Advanced Physician Assistant

Specialized Skill Description Professional Requirements
Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Cardiovascular/Thoracic Surgery CAQ must have at least 4,000 hours of experience (the equivalent of two years of full-time practice) Specialty Certification thru NCCPA or clinical hours of experience in specialty (4,000 hours or two years of full-time practice)
Emergency Medicine Emergency Medicine CAQ must have gained at least 3,000 hours of experience (the equivalent of 18 months of full-time practice) Specialty Certification thru NCCPA or clinical hours of experience in specialty (4,000 hours or two years of full-time practice)
Hospital Medicine Hospital Medicine CAQ must have gained at least 3,000 hours of experience (the equivalent of 18 months of full-time practice, primarily involving the management of hospitalized adult patients) Specialty Certification thru NCCPA or clinical hours of experience in specialty (4,000 hours or two years of full-time practice)
Nephrology Nephrology CAQ must have gained at least 4,000 hours of experience (the equivalent of two years of full-time practice) Specialty Certification thru NCCPA or clinical hours of experience in specialty (4,000 hours or two years of full-time practice)
Orthopaedic Surgery Orthopaedic Surgery CAQ must have gained at least 3,000 hours of experience (the equivalent of 18 months of full-time practice, primarily involving the management of hospitalized adult patients) Specialty Certification thru NCCPA or clinical hours of experience in specialty (4,000 hours or two years of full-time practice)
Pediatrics Pediatrics CAQ must have gained at least 4,000 hours of experience (the equivalent of two years of full-time practice) Specialty Certification thru NCCPA or clinical hours of experience in specialty (4,000 hours or two years of full-time practice)
Psychiatry Psychiatry CAQ must have gained at least 3,000 hours of experience (the equivalent of 18 months of full-time practice, primarily involving the management of hospitalized adult patients) Specialty Certification thru NCCPA or clinical hours of experience in specialty (4,000 hours or two years of full-time practice)
Advanced Cardiac Life Support - ACLS Focuses on high-performance team dynamics and communication, systems of care, recognition and intervention of cardiopulmonary arrest, immediate post-cardiac arrest, acute dysrhythmia, stroke, and acute coronary syndromes (ACS). ACLS Certification thru American Heart Association, British Heart Foundation, Indian Heart Association, or the Resuscitation Council
Pediatric Advanced Life Support - PALS Focuses on pediatric emergencies to reinforce the important concepts of a systematic approach to pediatric assessment, basic life support, PALS treatment algorithms, effective resuscitation, and team dynamics. The goal of the PALS Course is to improve the quality of care provided to seriously ill or injured children, resulting in improved outcomes. PALS Certification
Basic Disaster Life Support - BDLS Introduces concepts and principles to prepare health professionals for the management of injuries and illnesses caused by disasters and public health emergencies. The primary focus of the BDLS course is incorporation of an “all-hazards” approach to mass casualty management and population-based care across a broad range of disasters. Certificate of Completion
Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support - PHTLS Based on the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), a course for physicians developed by the American College of Surgeons-Committee on Trauma. PHTLS courses follow the principles of care of trauma patients as developed by the Committee on Trauma. Certificate of Completion
Advanced Trauma Life Support - ATLS Course presents a concise approach to assessing and managing multiply injured patients. The ATLS program provides participants with a safe, reliable method for immediate management of the injured patient and the basic knowledge necessary to:
  1. Assess the patient’s condition rapidly and accurately
  2. Resuscitate and stabilize the patient according to priority
  3. Determine if the patient’s needs exceed a facility’s capacity
  4. Arrange appropriately for the patient’s inter-hospital transfer (who, what, when, and how)
Assure that optimum care is provided and that the level of care does not deteriorate at any point during the evaluation, resuscitation, or transfer process		 Certificate of Completion
Tactical Combat Casualty Care - TCCC
  1. Care under fire
  2. Tactical Field Care
  3. Tactical Evacuation Care - TACEVAC
 TCCC Certificate of Completion https://deployedmedicine.com/market/11
Combat Casualty Core Course – C4 (initial and sustainment of TCCC training) C4 is a basic eight-day Tri-service continuing medical education program designed to enhance the operational medical readiness and pre-deployment trauma training skills of medical officers. National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) TCCC Certification https://health.mil/Training-Center/Defense-Medical-Readiness-Training-Institute/Combat-Casualty-Care-Course
Certified Medical Examiner (National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners) Healthcare professionals that perform physical qualification examinations for truck and bus drivers

Certification 

FOH -  https://foh.psc.gov/

PSC - https://psc.gov/

Page Last Modified on 9/13/2021

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