Department of the Air Force

PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT

Fort Smith, Arkansas Full time

PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT

Department: Department of the Air Force

Location(s): Fort Smith, Arkansas

Salary Range: $89508 - $116362 Per Year

Job Summary: Click on "Learn more about this agency" button below to view Eligibilities being considered and other IMPORTANT information.

Major Duties:

  • The Primary purpose of this position is: To function as a credentialed health care provider, privileged by the facility credentials function, who uses critical judgement to preform comprehensive health assessments, formulate differential diagnosis, and prescribe pharmacologic treatments in direct management of acute and chronic illness and disease to male and female patients of all ages (to include pediatric and geriatric) in small, medium, and large sized general clinics and hospitals. Promotes wellness and prevents illness and injury. DUTIES: Serves as the Primary Care Manager (PCM)/team leader providing comprehensive outpatient care for both male and female TRICARE Prime enrolled beneficiaries as well as TRICARE for Life and space available beneficiaries, ranging in age from newborn to geriatric, presenting with complex and interdependent, acute and chronic conditions. Provides direction to other non-physician providers such as Independent Duty Medical Technicians and students assigned to the Military Treatment Facility (MTF) as well as nursing and paraprofessional staff in care of patients with urgent, emergent, and non-urgent medical problems. Serves as member of the professional medical staff and complies with hospital plans and policies to meet accrediting agencies' (AAAHC or TJC) requirements. Participates in local disaster training exercises as directed by the Chief of the Medical Staff (SGH) or Medical Group Commander; responds to real-world disaster situations.

Qualifications: CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT CONTINUED: This position has been designated by the Air Force as a Testing Designated Position (TDP) under the Air Force Civilian Drug Demand Reduction Program. Employee must pass initial and periodic short notice drug testing. Illegal drug use by employees in sensitive positions presents a clear threat to the mission of the Air Force, national security, and public safety. In order to qualify, you must meet the SPECIALIZED experience requirements described in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions, Physician Assistant Series 0603 + IOR. BASIC REQUIREMENT OR INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENT: Graduation from a physician assistant educational program, accredited by the Accreditation Review Committee on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) or its predecessors, at a college, university, or educational institution that is accredited by an accrediting body or organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. AND Successful completion of the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) examination; must maintain status as a certified physician assistant, including completion of all requirements for Continuing Medical Education (CME) and re-certification. Licensure: For all grade levels and positions, applicants must possess a current, active, full, and unrestricted license or registration as a Physician Assistant from a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory of the United States. In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience at the next lower grade GS-11, or equivalent in other pay systems. Examples of specialized experience includes knowledge of, and skill in applying, a wide range of concepts, principles, practices, and processes of medical care, including physical and emotional assessment, establishment of health and medical treatment goals, construction and implementation of the care program, evaluation of the results, and health care optimization to perform highly specialized assignments of an advanced nature and considerable difficulty; knowledge of TRICARE benefits and procedures for referring patients to community resources; skill in collecting, organizing, recording, and communicating, in a meaningful way, data relevant to primary health assessments including a detailed family and medical history, physical examination, and selected laboratory tests, as well as requisite knowledge to interpret special screening and developmental tests and selected laboratory findings. (NOTE: This same experience must be well-described in the application/resume that you complete and submit in addition to answering this questionnaire, and YOU MUST submit copies of your transcripts and license/registration.) FEDERAL TIME-IN-GRADE (TIG) REQUIREMENT FOR GENERAL SCHEDULE (GS) POSITIONS: Merit promotion applicants must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year at the GS-11 level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-12 level. TIG applies if you are in a current GS position or held a GS position within the previous 52 weeks. NOTE: Applicants applying as VEOA candidates who are current GS civil service employees or are prior GS civil service employees within the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements. KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas: Knowledge of Family Medicine practices, principles, and theories to carry full responsibility as a Primary Care Manager/team leader for medical care of a wide range of illnesses and injuries. Knowledge of clinical decision-making principles, population base management strategies, and principles of disease management through the use of clinical path guidelines and the community resource/referral system. Knowledge of a variety of pharmacological agents used in patient treatment and the desired effects, side effects, and complications of their use. Knowledge of universal infection control guidelines and practices and accrediting agencies' (e.g., AAAHC, TJC, HSI) medical practice standards. Skill in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of a wide variety of diseases and medical conditions to include but not limited to: diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, asthma, arthritis, cancer, extremity injuries, and psychiatric/psychological disorders. Ability to guide, train, and mentor paraprofessionals, clinical nurses, and ancillary support staff. PART-TIME OR UNPAID EXPERIENCE: Credit will be given for appropriate unpaid and or part-time work. You must clearly identify the duties and responsibilities in each position held and the total number of hours per week. VOLUNTEER WORK EXPERIENCE: Refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service Programs (i.e., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student and social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge and skills that can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

How to Apply: The complete Application Package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 03/06/2026 To preview the Application Questionnaire, please click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12900091 To begin the process, click the Apply Online button to create an account or log in to your existing USAJOBS account. Follow the prompts to complete the application questionnaire. Please ensure you click the Submit My Application button at the end of the process. To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes: 1. Your Resume. If you submit more than one resume, only the most recent will be reviewed. The "most recent" is considered the resume with the latest timestamp. Resumes may not exceed two pages. The two-page resume ensures the most relevant experience is reviewed and considered, which is a common practice in both the public and private sectors. Resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration. Additional information on how to complete or update your resume may be located here. For qualification determination your resume must contain hours worked per week and dates of employment (i.e., month/year to month/year or month/year to present). If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as insufficient, and you will not receive consideration for this position. If you are a current Federal employee or previous Federal employee, provide your pay plan, series and grade, i.e. GS-0301-09. Current Federal Civilian Employees may list any relevant performance related rating (given within the last three years) and/or incentive awards in your resume. Do NOT include photographs, inappropriate material, inappropriate content, nor personal information such as age, gender, religion, social security number, etc., on your resume. If the resume you submit contains such information you will not be considered for this vacancy. Your name, first and last, MUST be included on your resume. 2. A complete Application Questionnaire 3. Additional Required Documents (see Required Documents section). Ensure all submitted documents contain your full name. 4. Help recruiters find you. Make your resume and profile searchable, which means recruiters may contact you about possible jobs. Additional information may be located here. PLEASE NOTE: It is the applicant's responsibility to verify that information entered and/or uploaded, (i.e., resume) is received, accurate, and submitted by the closing date. You may verify your documents have been processed with your application package successfully. You can access your USAJOBS account to do so by clicking here. Uploaded documents may take up to one hour to clear the virus scan. Human Resources WILL NOT modify or change any answers submitted by an applicant.

Application Deadline: 2026-03-06