Foreign Service Regional Medical Officer/Psychiatrist - Department of State - Agency Wide - Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Florida - EXPIRED

Serving in support of the employees of the United States government (USG) and their eligible family members, the Regional Medical Officer/Psychiatrist (RMO/P) may work independently or in conjunction with other Foreign Service medical personnel. The RMO/P duties include implementing the following procedures at each post of responsibility:

Clinical Responsibilities: Provides ambulatory and emergency psychiatric care for employees and eligible family members - including children, assesses post morale, responds to emergencies 24-hour/7days a week, performs telephone consultations, assures patient confidentiality, responds to crises at the home post or regional posts, renders clinical consultations on workplace and family violence events (including child and spousal abuse cases), provides educational and treatment services as feasible for alcohol and drug abuse prevention at post, renders psychiatric consultations for Regional Medical Officer, helps employees in problems of adjustment to life style, creates and provides educational and therapeutic presentations to officers and families at post, and assists with establishing lifestyle programs.

Administrative Responsibilities: Maintains required Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits, trains staff as needed on screening for psychiatric conditions and stress management, maintains accurate medical records including requested workload and clinical care metrics, documents and reports on regional travel, and plans and requests budgets for regional travel.

Embassy or State Department Specific Responsibilities: Makes regular visits to regional posts, as frequently as necessary to determine ongoing mental health needs, and provides needed services. Improves embassy workplace morale through consultations with Human Resources, supervisors, and senior leaders; advises ambassador; responds and collaborates with medical department in Washington. Evaluates local mental health resources, evaluates local mental health care providers, arranges medical evacuations, performs regional travel, evaluates medical clearances, serves on country team, works with non-Department of State agencies, works with mail order pharmacies, works with post medical advisor, sends statistical reports, assists Consular Corps, liaises with other Department psychiatrists, and consults at the American or other international schools. Travels 40 to 50% of the time or more to provide mental health and administrative oversight.

Foreign Service Medical Officers are considered ‘essential personnel’ and are on call to provide services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Functional Duties

Foreign Service Medical Specialists (RMOs, RMO/Ps, MPs, and RMLSs) are responsible for Department of State medical and safety policies, provision of a range of medical services, management of Health Unit operations, supervision of subordinate staff, and the actual performance of all of the following essential functions in addition to routine family care:

Inspect and assess the care and capability of local clinics, hospitals, laboratories, and private practices in possibly hazardous environments, and/or where there are no special access accommodations.

Provide patient care that may include heavy lifting, pulling, stooping and twisting in adverse settings.

Travel independently to regional constituent posts (if applicable) utilizing air carriers and transportation facilities that may not have special access accommodations.

The essential RMO, RMO/P, and MP functions of providing emergency care include the following responsibilities:

Triage and manage care of injured persons in any location following an accident, natural disaster, or attack.

Provide emergency care as required in a hostile or physically challenging environment, such as in buildings without elevators or in areas of irregular spaces that require kneeling, bending, lifting, and running. Transport patients via small aircraft, ambulance, or other vehicle with high floors.

Assist with evacuation via land, sea, or air in the event of political unrest.

Licensure and Board Certification

Applicants must have a current, valid, and unrestricted license to practice medicine in a state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or a territory of the United States. Applications will not be accepted from psychiatrists who are not licensed. The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) must certify applicants in psychiatry. American Board certification and re-certification, state medical licensure, and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration must be maintained for the duration of employment.

Specialized Experience

Applicant must have a current board certification by the ABPN and have a minimum of five years post-residency clinical experience in adult or child/adolescent psychiatry with at least 50% of the applicant\'s time involved in direct patient care during the last five years.

Applicants with only four years of clinical experience beyond residency may apply for a position, in anticipation of completing the five-year requirement at the time of appointment. All experience will be evaluated on an individual basis.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Education, work experience and other qualifications are evaluated for evidence of the following knowledge, skills, abilities and other requirements that have been identified as important to successful job performance as a Regional Medical Officer/Psychiatrist based on extensive job analysis research. Not all of these attributes need to be met by a candidate; the attributes will be used as a set to evaluate candidates.

Knowledge of general psychiatry, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, Schizophrenia, autism and related disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, other learning disorders, sleep disorders, eating disorders, alcoholism and drug abuse, suicide, post-traumatic stress disorder, mental health problems of adolescence, violence directed at women/children/elderly, clinical psycho-pharmacology, laboratory medicine, medical and mental health aspects of terrorism, and health-related environmental factors.

Specific skills in history taking, physical examination, treatment, triage, medical communication, oral communication, providing constructive criticism, couples therapy, organizing others, stress counseling, written communication, computer use, supervision, dealing with different cultures, and working with limited resources.

General skills in social perceptiveness, active listening, reading comprehension, active learning, learning strategies, coordination, service orientation, instructing, time management, critical thinking, judgment and decision making, monitoring, persuasion, complex problem solving, and negotiation.

Willingness to deploy to high threat environments to provide care and consultation to persons under Chief of Mission Authority. Ability to consult with senior leaders, officers and family members with tact, recognizing the limited role of the physician in a non-medical organizational environment. Ability to work effectively with colleagues from other cultures. Able to create supportive and effective relationships in overseas environments, due to successful self-management.

Applicants must be able to integrate clinical, administrative and management skills to effectively meet the mental health needs of U.S. Foreign Service employees and their eligible family members assigned overseas. Regional Medical Officer/Psychiatrists must be skilled and experienced clinicians able to gain the confidence of their patients, co-workers and supervisors, and capable of working independently in complex and difficult situations.

Applicant must be a skilled and experienced practitioner with excellent interpersonal skills. Applicant must be able to function well within a complex organization and have experience working in a high stress environment. The individual must be able to recognize and treat a wide range of mental health disorders and manage the special challenges of providing care to a diverse population, scattered over a large geographical area where local medical and mental health resources may be limited or non-existent. Clinical experience in child/adolescent psychiatric, marital/family therapy, cross cultural psychiatry, crisis intervention and substance abuse is desirable.

The applicant must be able to provide expert consultation and guidance to Foreign Service Medical Officers and other medical personnel with varying backgrounds and levels of training.

Applicants with experience in team building, leadership, and management in a multidisciplinary setting are preferred. Applicants must have effective written and oral communication skills and the ability to present findings in a clear and concise manner to both medical and non-medical personnel. Public speaking skills as well as knowledge and hands-on familiarity of computer systems and software are also desirable qualities.

The RMO/P\'s patient population is unique because of background and lifestyle as part of a diplomatic community overseas. This population also differs in terms of clinical and administrative needs and the national security concerns inherent in their employment. Previous experience working in an occupational setting and/or in an overseas setting is advantageous. The successful applicant will have an understanding of the challenges of consulting in a non-medical environment.

Other attributes including empathetic personality, unflappable, self-confident, confidentiality, interest in Foreign Service work, loyalty to the United States, tolerance of non-scheduled work hours, tolerance of travel, and tolerance of living away from family.

Applicants must demonstrate a strong command of the English language to include grammar, spelling and punctuation. FSS must consistently meet a high standard for English, both written (overall structure as well as grammar, spelling and punctuation) and spoken (overall structure as well as delivery, clarity and succinctness).

Physical Requirements

RMO/Ps may need to perform essential functions effectively with or without reasonable accommodation, in environments that pose physical or other occupational challenges. These duties may include:

• Provision of direct patient care that may require heavy lifting, pulling, stooping, and twisting in austere environments
• Travelling independently to regional posts utilizing commercial air carriers, military aircraft, or other transportation modalities that may not offer special access accommodations
• Provision of emergency care in any location following an accident, natural disaster, or attack and emergency care in potentially hostile or physically challenging environments, such as in buildings without elevators or in areas with irregular spaces that require kneeling, bending, stooping, lifting, and running
• Transportation of patients via small aircraft, ambulances, or other vehicles with high floors

Education

At the time of application, applicants must possess:

• Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) degree from a school in the U.S. or Canada that was approved by a recognized U.S. accrediting body in the year of the applicant\'s graduation.
• MD or DO or equivalent degree from a foreign school that provided educational and medical knowledge substantially equivalent to accredited schools in the U.S. This equivalency may be demonstrated by either permanent certification of the applicant’s school by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) or a Fifth Pathway Certificate.
• If you completed premedical education in the U.S. and graduate education in a foreign country. For further accreditation information please go to acgme.org.

You must submit all transcripts supporting your educational achievements for you to receive credit. Official or unofficial transcripts may be submitted for the application process.

Your transcript must include your name, the school’s name, the degree and date awarded. A transcript missing any of the key elements above will not pass the minimum qualifications and the candidacy will be ended. Copies of diplomas may not be submitted in lieu of transcripts for education above high school level.

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order to be credited towards qualifications. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. Click on the link for a list of accredited organizations recognized as specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials.

Graduate Training

The applicant must have completed an internship and psychiatric residency training program approved by a recognized accrediting body within the United States.

For accreditation information, please go to: www.acgme.org.