Job Description

CITY MEDICAL SPECIALIST, LEVEL 1 - This is an hourly, part time paid Position

**The Silver Stars Program offers NYC Agencies the opportunity to fill business needs with experienced retired City employees. The program also offers an opportunity for City employees to phase into retirement, allowing them to supplement their income and maintain their lifestyle and social interactions. The position is time-limited to a year; and participants should not rejoin the city pension system.

Established in 1805, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (the NYC Health Department) is the oldest and largest health department in the country. Our mission is to protect and improve the health of all New Yorkers, in service of a vision of a city in which all New Yorkers can realize their full health potential, regardless of who they are, how old they are, where they are from, or where they live.

As a world-renowned public health agency with a history of building transformative public health programming and infrastructure, innovating in science and scholarship to advance public health knowledge, and responding to urgent public health crises from New York City’s yellow fever outbreak in 1822, to the COVID-19 pandemic we are a hub for public health innovation, expertise, and programs, and services. We serve as the population health strategist, and policy, and planning authority for the City of New York, while also having a vast impact on national and international public policy, including programs and services focused on food and nutrition, anti-tobacco support, chronic disease prevention, HIV/AIDS treatment, family and child health, environmental health, mental health, and racial and social justice work, among others.

Our Agency’s five strategic priorities, building off a recently-completed strategic planning process emerging from the COVID-19 emergency, are:

1) To re-envision how the Health Department prepares for and responds to health emergencies, with a focus on building a “response-ready” organization, with faster decision-making, transparent public communications, and stronger surveillance and bridges to healthcare systems 2) Address and prevent chronic and diet-related disease, including addressing rising rates of childhood obesity and the impact of diabetes, and transforming our food systems to improve nutrition and enhance access to healthy foods

3) Address the second pandemic of mental illness including: reducing overdose deaths, strengthening our youth mental health systems, and supporting people with serious mental illness

4) Reduce black maternal mortality and make New York a model city for women’s health

5) Mobilize against and combat the health impacts of climate change

Our 7,000-plus team members bring extraordinary diversity to the work of public health. True to our value of equity as a foundational element of all of our work, and a critical foundation to achieving population health impact in New York City, the NYC Health Department has been a leader in recognizing and dismantling racism’s impacts on the health of New Yorkers and beyond. In 2021, the NYC Board of Health declared racism as a public health crisis. With commitment to advance anti-racist public health practices that dismantle systems that perpetuate inequitable power, opportunity and access, the NYC Health Department continues to work in and with communities and community organizations to increase their access to health services and decrease avoidable health outcomes.

PROGRAM AND JOB DESCRIPTION:

The Division of Family and Child Health (DFCH) of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is charged with the creation and oversight of programs, policies, services, and environments that support physical and socio-emotional health, and promote primary and reproductive health services, health equity, social justice, safety and well-being for New York City families and children. The Division is comprised of the Bureau of Maternal Infant and Reproductive Health, the Bureau of Early Intervention, the Office of School Health, and the Bureau of Administration. The vision of the DFCH is that every child, woman, and family recognize their power and is given the opportunity to reach their full health and development potential. We encourage qualified applicants with demonstrated commitment to social justice, particularly racial, gender, and LGBTQ equity to apply.

DUTIES WILL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:

Reporting to a Supervising Medical Director, the Field Physician will observe students in their assigned schools, address the social determinants of health and provide enhanced/increased support to schools with the greatest needs (such as schools with high proportions of students in shelters), focusing on needs identified secondary to the COVID -19 pandemic.

The Field Physician will also review student medical accommodation requests, including transportation requests for special education students, nursing and paraprofessional support, and home instruction.

Due to COVID -19 the number of student medical accommodation requests are expected to more than quadruple this fall and subsequent years. The Field Physician may also perform other medical services related to COVID-19 on an as needed basis.

Work within the mandates, policies, and protocols of the Office of School Health.

Improve the health of school children through case management of chronic disease, preventive health screening and counseling, health education, and referrals.

Work collaboratively with school officials to support COVID-19 response initiatives.

Identify and support high-risk students with exacerbated social determinants of health, due to the impact of COVID 19.

Review and make recommendations on medical accommodation requests from students for remote learning due to medical conditions that may lead to increased risk for COVID-19

Perform mandated physical examinations (new entrant, sport physical, working paper physicals).

Provide provider-led presentations for families and school staff, particularly around COVID-19 vaccine with an emphasis on youth vaccination.

Participate in managing COVID-19 exposures in schools.

Participate in any school-based vaccine campaigns.

Develop relationships with community health providers/physicians to optimize medical management of students with health issues.

Utilize an Electronic Health Record to maintain adequate student health records

Act as a consultant to physicians, school nurse and administration on school related health concerns.

Examines student and offers recommendations on care and treatment.

Provide clinical assistance in the event of an environmental or communicable disease occurrence

Support all medical initiatives put forth by the Office of School Health, e.g., Asthma, Reproductive Health, Obesity and Diabetes initiatives.

Additional Medical Services to Schools

Serve as consultant to school nurses and administrative staff on health concerns of individual students and public health issues relevance to Pediatric Infectious Diseases.

Collaborate with school nurses on clinical initiatives to improve the health status of individual students in each school by utilizing information aggregated from the Automated Student Health Record (ASHR) reports.

Serve as consultant to specific District 75 schools, Committees on Special Education (CSE), special education staff in community schools, and school nursing staff.

Function as a liaison to students' community based medical providers to resolve issues pertaining to services in school.

Attend CSE reviews and impartial hearings as a medical expert and attend/present at school staff meetings and parent meetings.

**IMPORTANT NOTES TO ALL CANDIDATES:

Please note: If you are called for an interview you will be required to bring to your interview copies of original documentation, such as:

• A document that establishes identity for employment eligibility, such as: A Valid U.S. Passport, Permanent Resident Card/Green Card, or Driver’s license.

• Proof of Education according to the education requirements of the civil service title.

• Current Resume

Additional documentation may be required to evaluate your qualification as outlined in this posting’s “Minimum Qualification Requirements” section. Examples of additional documentation may be, but not limited to: college transcript, experience verification or professional trade licenses.

If after your interview you are the selected candidate you will be contacted to schedule an on-boarding appointment. By the time of this appointment you will be asked to produce the originals of the above documents along with your original Social Security card.

**LOAN FORGIVENESS

As a prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website at StudentAid.gov/PSLF.

"FINAL APPOINTMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT & BUDGET APPROVAL”

NOTE: This position may be eligible for remote work up to two days per week, pursuant to the Remote Work Pilot Program agreed to between the City and DC37.

Qualifications

Possession of a valid license to practice medicine in the State of New York; and either:

a) Valid Board Certification issued by the appropriate American Specialty Board in any specialty area required by the agency; or

b) Current approved application on file for admission to the certifying examination given by the appropriate American Specialty Board in any specialty area required by the agency.

To be assigned to Assignment Level II, individuals must have, in addition to meeting the minimum qualification requirements for Assignment Level I described above, one year of satisfactory experience practicing in the specialty area.

To be assigned to Assignment Level III, individuals must possess:

a) A valid license to practice medicine in the State of New York; and

b) A Master's degree in Public Health, or equivalent Master's degree, including or supplemented by graduate credits in epidemiology and biostatistics. Completion of Epidemic Intelligence Service program of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to substitute for this Master's degree; and

c) At least two years of satisfactory experience after receipt of the Master's degree, or equivalent, in the practice of epidemiology. Specialty Board Certification or eligibility may be substituted for one year of this experience.

To be assigned to Assignment Level IV, individuals must possess:

a) A valid license to practice medicine in the State of New York; and

b) Completion of an approved residency program in an accredited hospital, including three years of experience, in either internal medicine, or family practice, or pediatrics, or another related specialty area required by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; and

c) Valid board certification or board eligibility issued by the appropriate American Subspecialty Board in Infectious Disease, Pulmonary Medicine, or a related subspecialty; and

d) Completion of an approved fellowship program in an accredited hospital, including two years of experience, in either infectious diseases, or pulmonary medicine, or another related subspecialty required by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Additional Information

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.