Regional Dosimetrist Manager, ONC - (East Region)

Purpose:

UPMC Hillman Cancer Center is internationally recognized for its leadership in the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer and is the region's only comprehensive cancer center designated by the National Cancer Institute.  As the preeminent institution in western Pennsylvania for the delivery of cancer care, the performance of basic, translational, and clinical research, and the education of the next generation of cancer researchers and physicians, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center is exceptionally well-positioned to contribute to the global effort to reduce the burden of cancer.

UPMC Hillman Cancer Center is currently hiring for a regular Full-Time Regional Dosimetrist Manager, ONC to support our Radiation Oncology offices in the East Region of the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Network.   The offices include UPMC East (Monroeville, PA), UPMC Altoona (Altoona, PA), UPMC Washington (Washington, PA), Palmer (Greensburg, PA), Indiana, PA, and Murtha (Johnstown, PA).  This position will work a Monday through Friday daylight schedule working between offices.

The Regional Dosimetry Manager is responsible for leading dosimetry operations in a designated region of the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Network under the direction of the leadership team. This includes but is not limited to ensuring that radiation treatment planning across the region meets quality and efficiency standards, developing and promoting treatment planning best-practices, educating new staff, physics residents, physician residents, and medical dosimetry trainees, managing the implementation of new techniques across the region, and minimizing gaps in dosimetry services. In addition, the Regional Dosimetry Manager will perform all aspects of clinical medical dosimetry including the generation of clinically optimal treatment plans for radiation therapy patients in collaboration with radiation oncologists (RO), radiation therapy technologists (RTT), and medical physicists (MP), participating in patient data acquisition, quality management for radiation oncology patients, and communicating with the clinical team during treatment planning and treatment plan implementation.

Responsibilities:

• Maintains effective communication with regional operations managers, regional medical directors, and physics administration, acting as a bi-directional conduit to/from dosimetry staff.
• Maintains effective communication with regional operations managers, regional medical directors, and physics administration, acting as a bi-directional conduit to/from dosimetry staff.
• Communicates with the radiation oncologist during the treatment planning process and participate in communicating the plan to the medical physicist and radiation therapy technologists for plan implementation.
• Maintains a commitment to a high degree of accuracy, attention to detail, and safety.
• Utilizes critical thinking skills when performing radiation treatment planning, plan evaluation, recognizing and resolving equipment problems and treatment discrepancies.
• Ensures accurate data transfer of patient and treatment plan information to clinical systems including but not limited to record and verify systems, imaging guidance systems, surface guidance systems, treatment delivery systems, and electronic medical record systems.
• Participates in acquisition of patient data via computer generated data sets from medical imaging devices such as CT, PET, MR, etc., or manual methods such as physical measurements and wire contours, and incorporation of these data into radiation treatment plans, calculations, and treatment devices.
• Assists the RTT in the treatment simulation process including the use or necessity of ancillary treatment devices, patient immobilization techniques, and other patient positioning techniques as needed for simulation and treatment. Assists in fabrication of these ancillary treatment devices.
• Contours and delineates clearly discernable normal critical structures and expanded planning structures using different imaging modalities.
• Performs rigid and deformable image registration for multi-modality image sets.
• Applies the principles and concepts of radiation physics in radiation treatment planning, which includes, but is not limited to: 2D treatment planning, 3D conformal treatment planning, intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment planning, 4D treatment planning, volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) planning, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) planning, and brachytherapy treatment planning.
• Applies knowledge of radiobiology with respect to dose tolerances, time dose fractionation calculations, hypofractionation, BED and EQD2 calculations and other applications of radiobiology to the radiation therapy treatment process.
• Accurately performs radiation dose calculations, both manual and computer generated, for treatment delivery including the effects of beam modifying devices, irregular fields, gaps for adjacent fields, and off-axis calculations.
• Participates in special treatment procedures including, but not limited to, total body irradiation (TBI), total skin electron irradiation (TSEI), intra-operative radiation therapy (IORT).
• Assists with quality assurance procedures as directed by a qualified medical physicist.
• Performs or assists with patient-specific radiation measurement including, but not limited to diodes, optically stimulated luminescent dosimeters (OSLD), ion chambers, thermo-luminescent dosimeters (TLD), or film measurements as directed by the MP.
• Assists with high dose rate (HDR) and low dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy procedures including patient set up, simulation, and treatment planning.
• Participates in quality management in accordance with departmental policies, national guidelines, and accreditation standards.
• Performs routine chart checks per departmental policy.
• Participates in charge capture and generates documentation for billing in accordance with departmental policies.
• Participates in clinical research for the development and implementation of new techniques in radiation therapy.
• Participates in educational activities such as providing instruction and training to new staff members, physician residents, physicist residents, RTT trainees, and medical dosimetrist trainees.
• Maintains an atmosphere of caring, concern, and support for patients, visitors, medical staff, and colleagues.
• Performs miscellaneous job-related duties as directed by supervising medical physicists.
• Adheres to high ethical standards in relation to patients, students, trainees, and colleagues.
• Coordinates cross-coverage within the region for vacation, load balancing, and emergency coverage needs.
• Identifies programmatic and regional improvement opportunities. Develops and implements process improvement plans.
• Coordinates and leads dosimetry training for medical dosimetry students, radiation oncology residents, radiation oncologists, clinical medical physics residents, and other assigned medical professionals.
• Leads the implementation of new techniques and coordinate dosimetry initiatives with other regional dosimetrists to ensure practice standardization across the UPMC network.
• Collaborates with physics administration to develop and implement dosimetry strategies for the UPMC network.
• Administrative Responsibilities: Manages clinical dosimetry services within the designated region including supervision of dosimetrists within the region.