Advanced Practice Fellow - Medical/Surgical Weight Loss

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center:  Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health is committed to an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your uniqueness is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

Organization:

General Surgery Advanced Practice Providers

Job Summary:

The Vanderbilt Medical and Surgical Weight Loss Advanced Practice Fellowship is a 12-month postgraduate program focused on the field of obesity medicine and bariatric surgery. The Advanced Practice Provider (APP) will be exposed to all areas of obesity medicine, including outpatient services and procedures, inpatient services, and the operating room. There will be special emphasis on the outpatient clinics. The APP fellow will receive training and mentorship from obesity medicine specialists, bariatric surgeons, and advance practice providers.

The Advanced Practice Fellow works in collaboration with an interdisciplinary health care team and is an integral member of it. The Advanced Practice Fellow should have a basic foundation in evidence-based practice and demonstrate adequate medical and nursing knowledge, clinical/technical competence, sound clinical judgment, professional communication skills, and timely and compliant documentation. The Advanced Practice Fellow may function in a variety of inpatient and outpatient care settings throughout the fellowship to optimize learning experiences.

Focused learning experiences will be provided to enable the Advanced Practice Fellow to develop and refine essential specialty-specific clinical and critical-thinking skills that promote top-of-license practice. Immersion in an environment of collaborative interdisciplinary care will ensure cost-effective, high-quality, patient-centered care. Additionally, an expanded incorporation of evidence-based practice into care and the utilization of improvement processes will be demonstrated through the completion of a specialty-relevant project.

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Fellowship to start January 1, 2027

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Assessment of Health Status:

  • Performs and documents in the medical record a complete history and physical examination.

  • Orders and collects data using appropriate assessment techniques, relevant supporting diagnostic information and diagnostic procedures where indicated.

  • Assesses for risks associated with care including: medication side effects, immobility, impaired nutrition, fluid and electrolyte imbalance, immunocompetence, invasive interventions and diagnostic procedures.

  • Participates in daily huddles or rounds with the interdisciplinary team as applicable and actively collaborates in formulating and evaluating ongoing plan of care across the continuum.

• Diagnosis:

  • Collaborates with interdisciplinary health care team in making accurate and diagnoses of acute and complex chronic conditions.

  • Manages diagnostic tests through ordering, interpretation, performance, and supervision.

  • Formulates differential diagnoses by priority.

  • Diagnoses complications and identifies appropriate interventions.

• Formulates Plan of Care:

  • Identifies expected outcomes from diagnosis, formulates and documents a plan of care to address acute and complex, chronic health care needs.

  • Utilizes evidenced-based practice guidelines or protocols in an individualized, dynamic plan of care that can be applied across the continuum.

• Implements and modifies plan of care:

  • Prescribes diagnostic strategies and therapeutic interventions both pharmacologic, non-pharmacologic and surgical (as needed) to achieve expected outcomes.

  • Manages further diagnostic tests through ordering, performance and interpretation.

  • May perform advanced procedures consistent with privileges and competency validation.

• Communication and Collaboration:

  • Maintains ongoing communication and collaboration with interdisciplinary health care team members.

  • Facilitates communication with patient, family and staff to promote continuity of care across the inpatient and outpat