Staff/Sr. Medical Dosimetrist – (Pinnacle)

UPMC•Harrisburg, PA

27d•$50 - $80•Hybrid

About The Position

UPMC Hillman Cancer Center is seeking a regular Full-Time Staff/Sr. Medical Dosimetrist for the Central Region, based at UPMC Pinnacle in Harrisburg, PA. This role will provide planning services for Harrisburg and other regional clinics as needed. The position offers a hybrid work arrangement with on-site duties and work-from-home capability, working a regular Full-Time schedule Monday through Friday. The dosimetrist will join a team of several other medical dosimetrists in the department/Central Region and a larger network of over 40 dosimetrists across the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Network. Collaboration and remote support are facilitated by integrated Varian equipment ARIA/Eclipse (version 18), a Citrix-based IT infrastructure, and standardized policies and procedures across UPMC. The medical dosimetrist is responsible for creating optimal treatment plans for radiation therapy patients in collaboration with radiation oncologists, radiation therapy technologists, and medical physicists. This includes CT simulation, treatment planning, quality management, and communication with the clinical team. Treatment techniques include 3DCRT, IMRT, VMAT, SBRT, SRS, and motion management. UPMC offers a Dosimetry Career Ladder for professional growth, with placement based on education and experience. The salary range for this position is $50.20/hr. to $79.83/hr. A Sr. level requires three (3) years of post-graduate clinical medical dosimetry experience.

Requirements

B.S. degree in sciences or equivalent experience and training in radiation therapy.
Formal training in Medical Terminology/Anatomy/Tumor Biology/Radiation
Graduate from a recognized Medical Dosimetrist Training Program or equivalent clinical training.
Experience with conformal radiotherapy, 3-D treatment planning systems required, radiosurgery on IMRT highly desirable.
2 years working as a Medical Dosimetrist preferred.
Experience with MicroSoft Office products preferred.
Certification by the Medical Dosimetrist Certification Board strongly preferred or equivalent experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience with radiosurgery on IMRT highly desirable.
Certification by the Medical Dosimetrist Certification Board strongly preferred or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

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.
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.
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.
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.
As needed 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.
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.
Accurately performs 2nd check radiation dose calculations, computer generated, for treatment delivery.
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, 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.
Performs in accordance with system-wide competencies/behaviors.
Performs other duties as assigned.