Recruitment Period: 09/28/2021 - Until Filled

Status: Per Diem

Applicants for all positions will be required to provide proof that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 during the hiring process. Valid medical or religious exemptions will be considered.

Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences (PNWU) was founded as a 501(c) (3) non-profit health care education institution in 2005 aimed at increasing access to health care in medically underserved areas of the Pacific Northwest.

The University currently offers the degrees of Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Doctor of Physical Therapy, and Master of Arts in Medical Science enrolling over 550 students annually with plans to develop other programs and/or colleges. Interprofessional education partnerships with other universities adds another 100 students to the population. The campus includes 300 employees with academic programming spread over a five state region.

PNWU is located in Yakima, WA, a city of approximately 95,000 located in the south central part of the state near the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains in a major agricultural and outdoor recreation region. It is approximately 140 miles from Seattle, 170 miles from Portland, and 200 miles from Spokane. The Yakima Valley is a wonderful place to live, work and play. For more information, visit https://www.visityakima.com/.

As a simulated patient at Pacific Northwest University College of Osteopathic Medicine (PNWU) you will be trained to portray, in a consistent, standardized manner, a patient in a medical situation. You will be required to simulate the “patient’s” history, physical findings, and emotions in a repeatable and standardized manner.

Your encounters for examination will include appointments you may see in urgent care or family care doctor’s office. These would include listening to heart sounds, lung sounds, abdominal sounds; looking in your nose, ears, eyes, mouth; taking a blood pressure; checking your reflexes and muscle strength; and performing gentle osteopathic manipulative treatments. You will not be asked to take any type of medication nor have any blood or body samples taken for testing at any time during the exam. Since this is a hands-on examination, students will be required to lower your gown, touch, palpate, and examine the SP based on the chief complaint of the encounter.

Your training will include learning to observe and document the performance of explicit clinical behaviors for your specific case that must be performed by the student. These behaviors take place in three domains: history-taking, physical examination and communication/counseling. Each case we will train you to observe and document something different.

The SP encounter schedule is typically made available one month in advance for SP's to sign up for the dates they are requesting to work.

What Makes an Ideal Simulated Patient?

1. Reliability: It is important for an SP to show up on time as scheduled.

2. Confidentiality: You must have the ability to maintain the highest confidentiality by not discussing any testing material that is given to you or on any students’ testing performance with anyone outside of PNWU.

3. Memory Recall: To have the ability to accurately recollect all questions the student asked and what specific physical exams were performed during all examinations on an encounter day.

4. Follow Direction: PNWU runs our clinical skills department in a specific manner. You will be required to follow these directions during training and examination time.

5. Equality in scoring: To completely understand how to accurately score as a standardized patient is done without any biases, but solely on how the student performed.

6. Accuracy: To be able to deliver only the fact of your role as the patient you are playing and have it done consistently ensuring fair and equal treatment.

7. Conflicts of Interest: With confidential testing information here at PNWU, we cannot accept standardized patients who have relationships with students that would create a conflict of interest, i.e. occupying the same household, related.

8. Maintain Consistency: During your encounter your number one job will be to maintain consistency and quality for each student’s experience during the history, physical, and treatment phase of the examination.

General Summary:

Simulated Patients (SPs) assist the Simulation Center through realistic case portrayal, accurate learner assessment, and effective feedback during simulation activities. This position reports directly to the Assistant Director of Simulation Center.

Essential Job Functions:

• Demonstrate ability to maintain appropriate character portrayal according to training

• Demonstrate ability to accurately assess learners

• Deliver effective feedback to learners

• Maintain standardization throughout simulation activities as directed

• Take direction effectively

• Understands accreditation standards and expectations specific to the department and adheres to policies and procedures to meet or exceed such standards

• Conducts self appropriately and consistently in accordance with the philosophy and mission of PNWU

• Other duties as assigned

Education:

Required: High school diploma or GED

Experience:

Requires candidates to dress down in a patient gown, wearing undergarments and shorts underneath, allowing medical students to touch, palpate and perform exams repeatedly on them while being video and audio recorded. Video and audio recordings may be viewed by faculty and students and saved for internal education and training purposes.

Prefers candidates with excellent communication skills, those who work well independently and as part of a team, well-organized, strong computer skills, and excellent memory recall.

Desired Skills, Knowledge and Abilities:

Strong organization, interpersonal, and planning skills; strong verbal and written communication skills; ability to work in a team and flexibility to work with others in a variety of circumstances; ability to problem solve by analyzing issues and creating action plans; ability to manage projects and people and prioritize and self-direct work flow; ability to work with and manage different computer programs and databases.

To ensure full consideration submit:

• A complete employment application

• Detailed curriculum vitae

• Contact information for three professional references

The job announcement above is not the full job description, but represents the job responsibilities and requirements. A full job description can be provided upon request.

For information about life in Yakima visit our PNWU page.

PNWU is a drug-free workplace, equal opportunity employer and educational institution. To request this publication in an alternative format, or to apply in an alternative format, please call Human Resources, 509.452.5100.