Description
Watershed Wellness is seeking a licensed acupuncturist to join our devoted team of experienced holistic healthcare providers at our beautiful location in Astoria, OR. The clinic sits on Pier 1 in the mighty Columbia River and has commanding views of the Astoria-Megler bridge and sunsets over the river bar.
We have established ourselves as a premier center for collaborative and integral holistic medicine in this region. This has been accompanied by rapid and consistent growth that shows no signs of slowing down. This will translate for you into a full practice much more quickly than you have probably experienced. Within 9-12 months we’ll likely have to close you off to new patients because your schedule will be packed!
This is an employment position – you will not be an independent contractor or renter. This means that you can focus on practice, study and self-care, rather than on business. It is our goal to support our practitioners in growing to the fullness of their passion for the medicine. An employment position also means that you are protected by worker’s compensation insurance & unemployment insurance, as well as having your taxes taken care of as part of the payroll process. No more surprise tax bills!
We are open to hiring anyone from a newly licensed practitioner to someone with many years of experience.
For the newer practitioner, you will be apprenticing with Eric Grey, MS, LAc and learning his skills in Classical Chinese herbalism as well as Tung style acupuncture. You will be engaged in many hours of study, case review and patient shadowing, and asked to actively build your knowledge and skills. Because of this, it is essential that you are interested in learning and take feedback and instruction well. This is an excellent opportunity for someone who wants to step into the true power of Chinese medicine.
We are also interested in talking to more experienced practitioners, and will consider higher rates of compensation for people who come with experience, established patient populations and/or their own insurance credentialing. Experienced practitioners should have a demonstrated capacity to provide excellent customer care and effective pain relief. We’re also interested in hearing from folks with a background in facial rejuvenation acupuncture, along with desire to collaborate with our holistic skincare department.
Regardless of your level of experience at the time of application, this is intended to be a career position with lots of opportunity and support for your growth and development.
This position comes with a 90 day probationary period and a clear, competitive tiered compensation system. All employees are paid an hourly wage plus commission, with commissions increasing with ongoing development and experience. We also offer health insurance benefits, malpractice insurance and are consistently evaluating company finances to increase benefits for employees over time. We believe in investing in the people that make Watershed Wellness what it is!
Before you apply, learn more about us on our website, or look into us on Instagram or Twitter. Read through our blog posts – listen to our podcasts! The more you know, and the better questions you have during your interview process. This is good for everyone involved as it ensures the best possible fit!
Read the entire position description/announcement and follow all steps. Include a resume listing education and experience, with references. Also let us know why you are interested in working for Watershed Wellness and how you would be a good fit for our team in your cover letter – the more personal the better. We want to know not just what you’ve done but who you are & why you are doing this work.
Desired knowledge & skillsets include:
- A generally classical / traditional orientation. Co-owner and CCM Department Director Eric Grey is a classically trained practitioner and prefers that all WW practitioners have at least a strong interest in learning this approach to our medicine.
- Musculoskeletal pain management. Our patient population often presents with complex and recalcitrant pain syndromes that need attention. You should have a passion for this work. Bodywork or other complementary skills are highly valued.
- Women’s health & pediatrics, fertility treatment
- Mental health support
- Facial rejuvenation acupuncture
Basic position requirements:
- Current Oregon acupuncture license in hand or imminent – we cannot accept applicants who have not passed their NCCAOM board exams
- No licensure or insurability problems
- Interest in and ability to assess patient needs and individualize treatment based on concerns (we don’t do rote protocol based medicine here)
- A strong, abiding interest in customer service as a critical part of the treatment “container”
- Ability to use and adapt to new technologies used in running the clinic including Apple devices (iPad, iPhone, Mac) and online services (charting software, scheduling software). This is non-negotiable, if you struggle with technology, this will not be a good fit for you.
- Already credentialed with insurance companies or open to being credentialed. We will handle the process for you.
- Comfort working with diverse populations. This includes especially BIPOC & LGBTQ identifying people, but also includes people from various religious contexts and all over the political spectrum.
- Natural tendency to treat ALL PEOPLE with respect, especially non-medical staff and members of the public. We don’t do elitism here, and we keep our non-medical judgments of others to ourselves.
- Willingness to do a small number of tasks to help the clinic run smoothly including helping reset your room, switching out laundry, taking trash to the dumpsters and keeping your spaces clean and tidy.
- Experience living in maritime environments is helpful, even better if you have lived on the Oregon Coast. It can be very cold, windy, rainy, relentless. Fish smells and boat traffic sounds are a part of life here. We love it, and you should too.
Essential position benefits:
- Full employment position (worker’s compensation protection, unemployment insurance, tax withholding).
- Competitive compensation (hourly + commission) in a tiered structure that allows for advancement and professional growth. Wages for acupuncturists average $45/hour, or $52/appointment, depending on appointment type. Tips are uncommon for acupuncturists, but those would be in addition to the stated values.
- Healthcare, Dental and Vision benefits paid by the company at 50%.
- Stable hours, reasonable time-off policies, paid sick time, direct deposit and management you can rely on.
- We are hoping to add some kind of retirement benefit / matching in 2024
- Full front desk and general clinic support so you can focus as much as possible on your patients.
- We provide all supplies, full maintenance of the facility, marketing, operations (including scheduling, all communications) and ongoing development of the space and business.
- We take care of all billing, including your insurance credentialing and submission to insurance panels. You will never have to handle any aspect of the “business side” of running a clinic. You will have to fill out some records and pre authorization requests, but your role in these activities will be minor.
- We cover your malpractice insurance via a group policy
- Training in working with diverse populations (LGBT, HAES, etc) and access to world-class Chinese medicine educational resources.
- The honor of working with one of the most talented and fun healthcare teams on the Oregon Coast!