Lead Medical Physicist - Radiation Oncology

Facility: Paulding Hospital

Job Summary:

Under the indirect supervision of the Director/Manager of Radiation Oncology, the Lead Physicist ensures the quality of care in the use of radiation producing sources and imaging equipment. The Lead physicist also assists in matters of protection of patients and staff from radiation in the Department of Radiation Oncology. Responsible for overall functioning of radiation therapy equipment, radiation safety considerations and operational aspects of the department . Performs acceptance testing, evaluation and commissioning of equipment used for external-beam therapy, brachytherapy, simulation, treatment-planning and radiation detection. Maintains calibration on all radiation therapy equipment, conducts routine quality control procedures on all radiation treatment devices. Helps in planning of radiation treatments. Recommends radiation safety procedures to areas using radiation. Educates personnel in radiation protection practices. Shares responsibility for brachytherapy source inventories, surveys, leak tests.

Core Responsibilities and Essential Functions:

Major responsibilities * Plan and supervise teletherapy and brachytherapy radiation treatments for cancer patients. * Perform calculations related to facility shielding and protection from teletherapy and brachytherapy sources. * Perform dose calibrations for teletherapy appliances in accordance with standards and protocols. * Perform dose calibrations for brachytherapy appliances in accordance with standards and protocols. * Perform specifications, acceptance testing, and commissioning of new equipment. * Perform radioactive decay calculations and computer modeling of teletherapy and brachytherapy sources. * Calculate and design protective radiation shields for teletherapy and brachytherapy treatments. * Ensure that teletherapy and brachytherapy appliances operate safely and in accordance with specifications. * Develop and maintain a quality assurance program for all treatment modalities, localization procedures, computational equipment, and programs to assure that patients receive prescribed doses and dose distributions, within acceptable degrees of accuracy. * Maintenance of all instrumentation required for calibration of sources, measurement of radiation, and calculations of doses. * Work with Field service engineers to ensure proper functioning of all equipment. * Development and administration of radiation safety program, including compliance with all regulating and certifying agencies, e.g. NRC, JCAHCO, ARC, and AAPM. * Administration of personnel radiation monitoring program. * Supervision of source and appliance preparation and handling during low-dose-rate and high-dose rate brachytherapy and the continued maintenance of the brachytherapy inventory including assays and leak-tests. * Participation in the Radiation Safety Committee, and other committees as required for the development and management of the hospital radiation safety program. * Consultation with the radiation oncologists on the physical and radiobiological aspects of patients treatments, and the development of treatment planning. * Design and fabrication of treatment aids and treatment beam modifiers. * Assurance of the accuracy of treatment unit parameters and settings used for a patients treatment, including correct transfer of parameters between the simulator, treatment plan and the treatment unit, and periodic review of each patients chart. * In-vivo measurement procedures and models to verify the radiation dose delivered to a patient. * Assisting the radiation oncologist in statistical analysis for evaluation of treatment efficacy, and participation in clinical trials. * Development of techniques (hardware, software, or procedural) to improve the delivery of radiation treatments. * Participation at patient-discussion conferences. * Continuing education of the radiation oncology staff. * Interaction with the medical physics community including participation at meetings to receive and disseminate state-of-the-art information and participation in peer review. * Ensures the safe operations of all radiation oncology equipment by creating standardized procedures in accordance with internal policy and procedures. * Provides evidence of compliance of equipment for radiation therapy, brachytherapy, simulation and radiation detection with regulatory and accreditation agency rules and recommendations. * Provides assistance to engineers and physicists in avoiding or minimizing radiation damage problems. * Assists in the development of new treatment techniques. * Supervises initial radiation measurements. * Maintains required records, reports, and files, and collects necessary statistics in accordance with regulatory standards. * Performs miscellaneous job-related duties for the Oncology department and other WellStar facilities as needed. * Provide institutional consultation on program development in radiation oncology New equipment/technology * Evaluates new technology and/or equipment before purchase. * Participates in the installation of new equipment. * Performs acceptance testing, evaluation and commissioning of all new equipment used for external- beam therapy, brachytherapy, simulation, treatment-planning and radiation detection. Performs acceptance testing and evaluation of their associated computer systems, algorithms, data and output. * Investigate equipment performance, organize quality control practices, and implement controls for radiation safety. * Develops daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly check protocols for machine testing. * Approve radiation Oncology technical procedures prior to clinical use Staff supervision, training and education * Provides supervision to Physics staff and participate in radiation safety education of personnel. * Participates in education and training programs. * Provides training for all physicists on the new equipment after releasing for clinical use Performs other duties as assigned Complies with all Wellstar Health System policies, standards of work, and code of conduct.

Required Minimum Education:

• Masters General
• Doctorate General

Required Minimum License(s) and Certification(s):

All certifications are required upon hire unless otherwise stated.

• MEDPHYS - Medical Physicist ABR

Additional License(s) and Certification(s):

Certification by the American Board of Radiology, American Board of Medical Physics is required, as well as appropriate state licensure. Upon Hire Required and

Required Minimum Experience:

Minimum 5 years experience in Radiation Therapy Required

Required Minimum Skills:

Must be familiar with a variety of the fields concepts, practices, and procedures and be able to rely on extensive experience and judgement to plan and accomplish goals. A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected. Must have ability to be self-motivated and self-directed in daily/routine tasks. The individual must be able to communicate and understand the verbal and written English language and display a positive attitude (see WellStars Standards of Gold).