Staff/Sr. Medical Dosimetrist – (Horizon)

Purpose:

UPMC Hillman Cancer Center is internationally recognized for its leadership in the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer and is the region’s only comprehensive cancer center designated by the National Cancer Institute.  As the preeminent institution in western Pennsylvania for the delivery of cancer care, the performance of basic, translational, and clinical research, and the education of the next generation of cancer researchers and physicians, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center is exceptionally well-positioned to contribute to the global effort to reduce the burden of cancer.

UPMC Hillman Cancer Center is currently hiring for a regular Full-Time Staff/Sr. Medical Dosimetrist to support the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center located at UPMC Horizon in Farrell, PA.  This position will work a regular Full-Time schedule Monday through Friday.

The candidate will join a local team of one physicist, one other dosimetrist, and two radiation oncologists treating patients on Varian IX linear accelerators supported by an integrated ARIA/Eclipse infrastructure. Treatment techniques at UPMC Horizon include 3DCRT, IMRT, VMAT, respiratory gating, and deep inspiration breath hold. (SBRT will be there once an expected new machine is installed.)

This position is supported by a larger team of 30+ dosimetrists across the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Network and provides competitive salary and benefits.  UPMC Horizon is in a beautiful suburb North of Pittsburgh with access to nearby parks, restaurants, shopping,.

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.  

We offer a Dosimetry career ladder which allows our staff to grow within the field at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.  The incumbent will be placed into the appropriate level of our Dosimetry Career ladder based on education and experience.

• Staff/Sr. Dosimetrist salary range between $48.08/hr. to $67.73/hr.
• Sr. level requires three (3) years of post-graduate clinical medical dosimetry experience.

Responsibilities:

• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• Utilizes critical thinking skills when performing radiation treatment planning, plan evaluation, recognizing and resolving equipment problems and treatment discrepancies.
• Maintains a commitment to a high degree of accuracy, attention to detail, and safety.
• 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.
• 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.