Medical Physicist

Medical Physicist

The VA Long Beach Healthcare System provides outstanding health care, trains America's future health care providers, and conducts important medical research. The VA Long Beach Healthcare System is one of the leading health care systems serving Veterans in the VA Desert Pacific Network. The VA Long Beach Healthcare System serves the health care needs of more than 50,000 Veterans in and around Long Beach, California.

Location: 5901 E 7th Street, Long Beach, CA 90822

Responsibilities

• The Medical Physicist shall primarily and professionally engage in the design, optimization and technical evaluation of radiation treatment plans as well as ensuring precise and accurate radiation dose delivery. Will be responsible for radiation protection of patients and staff.
• 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. Where possible, should be present to observe and/or help supervise complicated simulations and/or treatment set-ups. Must be present at the machine during patient setup for SBRT/SRS and IGRT. Must be present at all times during Sterotactic Procedures (SRS, SRT, SBRT)
• Calculations: The board-certified medical physicist shall specify and monitor method(s) to calculate Mus or treatment times and ensure independent review(s) of such calculations. Any individual having appropriate training and experience may perform the initial calculation(s).
• Chart Review: shall develop and maintain a method for the weekly and systematic review of the charts of all patients under radiation treatment. All methods shall be approved by the VA Chief of Staff or designee. Shall perform a final chart review at the end of the course of radiation treatment to confirm that the prescribed dose has been delivered, and to document that the total prescribed dose has been delivered.
• Dosimetry: The modeling of radiation Beams for either planning or documentation purposes is generally performed with the aid of a treatment planning computer system. The board-certified medical physicist is responsible for data input into the planning system, which should be based upon measured beam data for the radiation beams in question, and for output from the planning system(s).
• Shall provide information on specification and selection in support of the VA's acquisition of radiation producing machines, accessories, and computerized treatment of planning systems in consultation with the NROP office. Shall also provide information to VA staff on timing of required maintenance of this equipment. Shall. Evaluate all equipment for continued utility, appropriateness, reliable performance, age, and condition and make recommendations to VA staff regarding practical lifespan, obsolescence, and replacement.
• Specialized equipment: the medical physicist shall determine the need for, specify, and have access to do symmetry and treatment planning equipment including, but not limited to, the following:
  • Measurement instruments to calibrate all treatment equipment and patient monitoring devices. Such instruments shall include ionization chambers/electrometers used as local standards and field instruments, readout devices, constancy check instruments, and phantoms.
  • Computerized treatment planning systems.
  • Computerized water phantom system with appropriate ionization chambers and diodes.
  • Film densitometry system.
  • Patient dose monitoring systems (e.g., Diodes and thermoluminescent dosimeters).
• Consultation: as needed, medical physicists shall provide advice and consultation, to VA and 3rd party clinical engineers, for the operation, maintenance, and troubleshooting of the VA radiation oncology's linear accelerators and CT simulation equipment, all their relevant accessories and the computerized network interconnectivity; record and verification systems.

Qualifications

• Education: Must have a Master's degree in Medical Physics
• Must have at least 3 years of experience
  • Performing QA procedures
  • Experience in Therapeutic Medical Physics in a healthcare system that is ACR or APEx certified
  • Experience with Varian Linear Accelerators: TrueBeam with Brain Lab Accessories following standards of TG-142
  • Experience with Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) including Cone Beam CT
  • Experience with Eclipse treatment planning system; and ARIA record and verify system, including the following treatment modalities: 2D/3D Conformal, SRS, SRT, SBRT, and IMRT/VMAT
  • Experience IMRT QA: MApCheck (or equivalent)
  • Experience Client Discovery CT Simulator (or equivalent)
  • Experience using Superficial X-ray Machine
  • Successfully performed one acceptance testing on a linear accelerator
  • Successfully performed one commission of a linear accelerator for a treatment planning system
• Board Certified in Medical Physics or Therapeutic Medical Physics by the American Board of Radiology.

KurzSolutions is committed to improving health outcomes by providing well-managed companies with the top healthcare talent in the market. KurzSolutions is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided based on qualifications, merit, and business need.