Therapeutic Physicist - Radiation Oncology

UC Health is hiring a Full Time Therapeutic Physicist for the Radiation Oncology department. We are offering up to a $16,000 service bonus!

The primary purpose of a therapeutic medical physicist is to ensure the safe and accurate delivery of radiation therapy for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. They design, optimize, and verify treatment plans so that the prescribed dose precisely targets the tumor while minimizing exposure to healthy tissues. Therapeutic medical physicists also maintain and calibrate radiation therapy equipment to meet strict safety and quality standards. In addition, they collaborate closely with radiation oncologists and therapists to continuously improve treatment effectiveness and patient safety.  Non-certified physicists will work under the supervision of board certified physicists while completing these tasks.  

Minimum Required: Master's Degree - Medical Physics or ABR approved field. 

Preferred: PhD in Medical Physics or ABR approved field. 

LICENSE & CERTIFICATION: N/A. 

Minimum Required: 1 - 2 Years equivalent. 

Graduate of a CAMPEP accredited residency within the last 3 years. 

Preferred: 5-10 Years equivalent experience. 

Diplomate of the American Board of Radiology in Therapeutic Physics.

Linear Accelerator Quality Assurance:
The therapeutic physicist is responsible for the completion of monthly and annual quality assurance (QA) on linear accelerators.  Linear accelerator QA involves ensuring the safe, accurate, and reliable performance of medical linear accelerators used in radiation therapy. The job function includes performing routine daily, monthly, and annual QA tests to verify beam output, energy, symmetry, flatness, and mechanical accuracy according to established protocols and regulatory standards. It also involves troubleshooting equipment issues, documenting QA results, and implementing corrective actions when performance falls outside acceptable tolerances. This role requires close collaboration with other medical physicists, service engineers, and clinical staff to maintain patient safety and treatment quality.  

Initial Plan Checks:
Initial plan checks involve verifying the accuracy and safety of a radiation therapy treatment plan before it is delivered to a patient. The job function includes reviewing dose calculations, beam parameters, target coverage, and organ-at-risk constraints to ensure the plan meets the physician’s prescription and clinical protocols. It also involves confirming correct patient data, imaging, and treatment setup information within the treatment planning and record-and-verify systems. This process helps prevent errors and ensures that treatments are delivered as intended with a high level of precision and patient safety.

Patient Specific Quality Assurance:
Patient-specific quality assurance (QA) ensures that an individual radiation therapy treatment plan can be accurately and safely delivered as designed. The job function includes performing measurement-based or software-based QA to verify dose distributions, monitor units, and treatment delivery parameters for techniques such as IMRT and VMAT. It involves analyzing QA results against established acceptance criteria, investigating discrepancies, and documenting outcomes. This process provides an additional safety check to confirm that the planned treatment will be delivered correctly to the patient. 

HDR Planning and Quality Assurance:
HDR planning and QA involve ensuring the accurate and safe delivery of high-dose-rate brachytherapy treatments. The job function includes creating and reviewing HDR treatment plans, verifying source strength, dwell positions, dwell times, and dose distributions in accordance with the physician’s prescription. It also involves performing pre-treatment and ongoing QA of the HDR afterloader, applicators, and treatment planning system to confirm proper system performance. These tasks are critical for maintaining patient safety, regulatory compliance, and high-quality clinical outcomes.

LDR implants:
LDR implant planning and procedures involve the preparation and delivery of low-dose-rate brachytherapy treatments using radioactive sources placed temporarily or permanently in or near the target volume. The job function includes imaging-based treatment planning to determine appropriate source strength, number, and placement to meet the prescribed dose while minimizing exposure to surrounding normal tissues. It also involves clinical support during implantation to verify accurate source positioning and geometry. Post-implant dose assessment, documentation, and quality assurance are performed to ensure treatment accuracy, safety, and compliance with clinical standards.