Advanced Practice Fellow - Medical and 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 Advanced Practice Fellow works in collaboration with and is an integral member of a interdisciplinary health care team. 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, 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 that enable the Advanced Practice Fellow to develop and refine essential specialty specific clinical and critical thinking skills promoting top of license practice. Immersion into an environment of collaborative interdisciplinary care will assure cost effective, quality, patient centered care. Additionally, an expanded incorporation of evidenced-based practice into care and utilization of improvement processes will be demonstrated by completion of a specialty-relevant project.

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

Start date: January 1, 2026
Duration: 12 months

• Master's degree in nursing or physician assistant studies required
• National Board Certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGPCNP), or Physician Assistant (PA)
• TN License/Certificate of Fitness to Prescribe, eligible for NPI and DEA
• Interest in working in the field of weight loss, obesity medicine, and bariatric surgery

The Advanced Practice Fellow works in collaboration with and is an integral member of an interdisciplinary health care team. 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 that enable the Advanced Practice Fellow to develop and refine essential specialty-specific clinical and critical thinking skills, promoting top-of-license practice. Immersion in an environment of collaborative, interdisciplinary care will ensure cost-effective, quality, patient-centered care. Additionally, an expanded incorporation of evidence-based practice into care and utilization of improvement processes will be demonstrated by completion of a specialty-relevant project.

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.
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