Therapeutic Medical Physicists work in Radiation Oncology and have responsibilities that include: protection of the patient and others from harmful radiation; establishment of protocols to ensure accurate patient dosimetry; the measurement of radiation used for radiotherapy; the performance and supervision of treatment planning; advancement of procedures to ensure delivered dose integrity; development and direction of quality assurance programs; and compliance with federal and state regulations.
Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. Basic Requirements: Citizenship: Citizen of the United States. English Language Proficiency: TMPs must be proficient in spoken and written English. Education: Master's degree or higher in a physics, science, or engineering discipline recognized by an accredited college or university with at least 30 semester hours in medical physics, health physics, radiological science, physics, engineering, chemistry, or biology; or an equivalent foreign degree and coursework substantiated by the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services. May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Grade Determinations for GS-601-14: In addition to the basic requirements, completion of a minimum of 1 year of progressively complex experience equivalent to the next lower grade. Preferred Experience: In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: 1. Ability to oversee the technical development and implementation of new radiotherapy techniques and modalities. This includes knowledge of current standards of care, VA policies, trends and changes in delivery technology, as well as fair, principled, and decisive leadership practices. 2. Ability to optimize technical infrastructure and workflow for streamlined operations in the department of radiation oncology. This includes the knowledge and application of techniques such as Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA), Root Cause Analysis (RCA), and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA). 3. Ability to assess the qualifications and abilities of current and prospective employees, to include staff performance evaluations and professional development. 4. Advanced knowledge of regulatory requirements, manufacturer's standards, and professional society guidelines for performing quality assurance of radiation therapy equipment to include accelerators, simulators, and high dose rate/low dose rate brachytherapy delivery systems. 5. Ability to use written and verbal communication with a strong command of technical writing considerations. 6. Ability to collaborate with the members of other disciplines and supervisors and to represent the profession both in and outside of VHA. This includes knowledge of the roles, contributions, and interrelationships with other health care specialties and supporting divisions. 7. Knowledge of instructional methods and documenting competencies. 8. Ability to manage and supervises employees Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is 14. Physical Requirements: No special physical requirements
- Recommending an optimal modality and treatment technique for the patient.- Evaluating the quality, safety, and accuracy of radiation treatments planned anddelivered to patients, thus ensuring that radiation dose ls carried out correctlyand completely- Safely operating all radiation planning and delivery devices.- Implementing radiation therapy of outstanding technical difficulty and responsibility, providing knowledge-based solutions to resolving issues where norule-based solutions exist.- Planning and directing a specialized program encompassing all physics and clinical aspects of external beam and brachytherapy (if applicable) treatment procedures from treatment simulation to treatment planning to the actual treatment delivery.- Providing technical oversight for the work of entry level TMPs, medical dosimetrists and radiation therapists.- Overseeing radiation therapy treatment planning- Designing and approving treatment plans- Monitoring the accuracy of treatment data recorded in the patient's medical records- Providing consultation to the radiation oncologist regarding difficult treatmentcases- Performing patient-specific treatment validation measurements- Developing medical physics policies and procedures for the delivery and quality assessment of advanced treatment modalities such as intensity modulated radiation therapy, stereotactic body radiation therapy, and brachytherapy.- Developing, operating and fully documenting the medical physics quality assurance program and ensures regulatory compliance within the RadiationSafety Officer's radiation safety program.- Physicist 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. Physicist must be present at the machine during patient setup for SBRT/SRS and IGRT.- Safely utilizing and properly operating all radiation oncology equipment, and is therefore qualified and responsible for educating radiation oncology team members including radiation oncologists, radiation therapists and dosimetrists in safety issues that relate to radiotherapy planning and delivery.- The employee performs the following actions to assist in the implementation of new equipment and processes: 1) Assesses radiation therapy equipment needs 2) Performs acceptance testing and commissioning of new radiation therapy equipment 3) Evaluates the adequacy of room shielding4) Performs radiation surveys 5) Develops and implements treatment processes.- Provide support for clinical research trials, including submission of radiation plans, DICOM datasets as needed.- The advanced level TMP must be a subject matter expert and experience in the following: Five (5) years of experience - Documentation detailing experience in performing QA procedures. Three (3) years of experience - Documentation detailing Therapeutic Medical Physics in a healthcare system that is ACR or APEx certified. Three (3) years of experience - Varian Linear Accelerator: TrueBeam following standards of TG-142 Three (3) years of experience -Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) including Cone Beam CT (following standards of TG-142). Three (3) years of experience - Surface Guided Radiation Therapy (SGRT) including Identify or Align RT Three (3) year of experience - Raystation treatment planning system; and ARIA record & verify system, including the following treatment modalities: 2D/3D Conformal, SBRT, and IMRT/VMAT (following standards of TG-53) Three (3) years of experience - IMRT QA: MapCheck I/II (or equivalent. Three (3) years of experience - Siemens CT Simulator (or equivalent) and following standards of TG-66 Successfully perform one (1) acceptance testing (i.e., work with vendor to ensure proper working condition during installation) on a linear accelerator. Successfully perform one (1) commission of (i.e., gathered necessary measurements or data) a linear accelerator for a treatment planning system. Three (3) years of experience - Adaptive radiation therapy treatments and delivery systems Work Schedule: 7:30 am-4:00pm Monday-Friday Functional Statement #: 580-02041-F