Therapeutic Medical Physicist

General Description:

Therapeutic Medical Physicist shall provide services necessary to perform on-site Radiation Therapy Services to eligible beneficiaries of the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, West Palm Beach.

Responsibilities:

• You shall oversee all physics and dosimetry operations.

• You shall be responsible for ensuring continuity of medical physics operations including communication among key personnel.

• You shall oversee the technical activities of all other physicists, dosimetrists, and other staff members assigned to the unit; shall direct the technical aspects of treatment procedures and perform duties qualifying them as a supervisor.

• You shall follow policies and procedures for continuous quality improvement that involve the use of radiotherapy equipment.

• You shall be responsible for reporting all adverse events in the clinic to NHPP and for the implementation of their follow up recommendations.

• You shall be responsible for radiation protection of patients and staff.

• You shall be available, when necessary, for consultation with the Radiation Oncologist and to provide advice or direction to technical staff when radiation treatments are being planned or when patients are being treated.

• You shall specify and monitor method(s) to calculate MUs or treatment times and ensure independent review(s) of such calculations.

• You shall develop and maintain a method for the weekly and systematic review of the charts of all patients under radiation treatment.

• You shall develop and maintain a method for the weekly and systematic review of the charts of all patients under radiation treatment.

• You shall provide information on specification and selection in support of VA’s acquisition of radiation-producing machines, accessories, and computerized treatment planning systems in consultation with the NROP office.

• You shall provide advice and consultation, to VA and third-party clinical engineers, for the operation, maintenance, and trouble-shooting of the VA Radiation Oncology’s linear accelerators and CT simulation equipment, all of their relevant accessories and the computerized network interconnectivity; record and verification systems.

• You may be asked to participate in annual QA calibration.

• You shall be responsible for monitoring daily responsiveness of the departmental networking systems. You shall ensure proper communication between imaging/planning/treatment facilities.

• You shall monitor all computer systems, patient data back-ups, overviews, and troubleshoot computer software/hardware problems

• You shall serve as a liaison/consultant.

• You shall produce and maintain documentation of the following:

1. Calibration and periodic testing of the local standard system(s);

2. Periodic intercomparisons (and other checks) of other dose measuring equipment;

3. Performance characteristics of all radiation treatment units and simulator(s) in comparison with previous measurements and with the manufacturer's specifications;

4. Calibration(s) of all available radiation beams;

5. Parameterization of the characteristics of each available radiation beam with identification of any and all changes from previous characteristics;

6. Input data for the radiation treatment planning system(s);

7. Initial and all subsequent tests of the treatment planning computer system(s);

8. Technical standards applicable to new procedures and the results obtained in ensuring that any new procedure meets associated standards for the new procedure;

9. Activities of the facility/practice safety program(s);

10. Periodic reports to the VA Chief, Radiation Oncology Service of radiation oncology and to the practice/facility administration describing the performance of the radiation therapy simulator(s), treatment unit(s), dosimetry system(s) and applications thereof;

11. All reports which pertain to the safe and accurate operation of the radiation therapy simulator(s), treatment unit(s), dosimetry system(s) and applications thereof.

Qualifications:

• You shall have a current license to practice medicine in any State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States or the District of Columbia (when services are performed on-site on VA property).

• You must be Board Certified in Medical Physics or Therapeutic Medical Physics by the ABR and maintain licensure with the Board of Licensure for Professional Medical Physicists.

• You shall have copies of current Continuing Medical Education (CME)/Certified Education Union (CEU).

• You shall have ACLS, BLS and CPRS.

• You shall be technically proficient in the skills necessary to fulfill the requirements, including the ability to speak, understand, read and write English fluently.

• You shall provide documents upon request to verify current and ongoing competency, skills, certification and/or licensure related to the provision of care, treatment and/or services performed.

• You shall have knowledge of professional care theories, principles, practices, and procedures to serve the radiation oncology patient population.

• You shall demonstrate knowledge of growth, development, and pathophysiology of disease processes specific to the radiation oncology patient population.

• You shall provide verifiable evidence of all educational and training experiences including any gaps in educational history.

• You shall be responsible for abiding by the Facility’s Medical Staff By-Laws, rules and regulations referenced herein that govern medical staff behavior.