Description

We are seeking a full-time, board-certified Medical Dosimetrist to join our team at the St. Clair Health Cancer Center affiliated with UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. The candidate will join a local team of two physicists, one other dosimetrist, and two radiation oncologists treating patients on Varian TrueBeam and IX linear accelerators supported by an integrated ARIA/Eclipse infrastructure. Treatment techniques at St. Clair Health include 3DCRT, IMRT, VMAT, SBRT, respiratory gating, and deep inspiration breath hold. This position is supported by a larger team of 30+ dosimetrists across the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Network and provides competitive salary and benefits. St. Clair Health is in a beautiful suburb south of Pittsburgh with access to nearby parks, restaurants, shopping, and some of the best school districts in Pennsylvania.

Job Summary:

The medical dosimetrist is responsible for generating clinically optimal treatment plans for radiation therapy patients in collaboration with radiation oncologists, radiation therapy technologists, and medical physicists. This includes participating in CT simulation, radiation treatment planning, quality management for radiation oncology patients, and communicating with the clinical team during treatment planning and treatment plan implementation.

Responsibilities:

• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Generates clinically optimal treatment plans utilizing knowledge of anatomy and physiology, radiation biology and oncology, radiation safety and protection, mathematics, radiation therapy techniques, physics, and technology. 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.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree preferred.
• Completion of a Medical Dosimetry educational program accredited by the Joint review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT).
• Board certified by the Medical Dosimetrist Certification Board (MDCB).
• Board eligible candidates must become board certified within two attempts in the first two consecutive years of employment.

Licensure, Certifications, and Clearances

Certified Medical Dosimetrist (CMD) or board eligibility required. Must maintain adequate CE credits to retain certification. CPR required based on AHA standards that include both a didactic and skills demonstration component within 30 days of hire. Has maintained a Solid/Strong overall performance rating in annual performance reviews. Demonstrates expertise in radiation treatment planning for simple and complex scenarios.

• Basic Life Support (BLS) OR Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
• Certified Dosimetrist

UPMC is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Disability/Veteran