Medical Physicist

CHI Memorial a member of CommonSpirit is an award-winning not-for-profit faith-based health care organization dedicated to the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. Founded by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth we offer a comprehensive continuum of care from preventative and primary care to acute hospital services specializing in cancer cardiac neuroscience stroke and orthopedic services. Our commitment to excellence has earned us top prestigious recognition repeatedly from U.S. News and World Report PINC AI™ CMS Healthgrades® Leapfrog and most recently as one of the Best Places to Work in Tennessee. We are proud to serve Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia with the expertise of 4700 employees and nearly 500 affiliated physicians.

Medical Physicist

Under the direction of the Lead Medical Physicist, the Medical Physicist provides specialized physics expertise and support to the Radiation Oncology department, ensuring the safe and effective delivery of radiation therapy to patients. This role encompasses technical support for treatment planning and delivery, management of the radiation safety program, and responsible handling of radioisotopes and radiation-generating equipment.

Essential Functions:

• Personnel Support: Assists in the recruitment and selection of physicists, dosimetrists, and therapists.
• Equipment Management: Participates in the evaluation, purchase, and implementation of radiation therapy equipment. Coordinates service and maintenance activities with Biomedical Engineering and vendors.
• Equipment Calibration and Quality Assurance: Measures and calibrates radiation therapy equipment to ensure compliance with established standards of practice and applicable state and federal regulations.
• Radiation Safety: Supports the radiation safety program for external beam therapy and brachytherapy, ensuring adherence to relevant state and federal guidelines and licensing requirements.
• Radioactive Material Management: Receives, logs, registers, and manages radioactive materials from receipt through decay and disposal, adhering to Nuclear Regulatory Committee protocols.
• Radiation Safety Monitoring and Education: Performs radiation surveys and measurements as needed. Educates nursing and other hospital staff on radiation precautions, safety protocols, and relevant regulations.
• Collaboration and Communication: Participates in medical conferences and meetings to discuss patient cases and treatment methodologies. Serves on committees as directed.
• Innovation and Development: Assists in the development and evaluation of new devices, protocols, or equipment designs, and contributes to research and the refinement of treatment policies.
• Compliance: Adheres to and supports established department policies, procedures, objectives, quality assurance, safety, environmental, and infection control standards. Assists in the implementation of quality assurance programs.
• Accreditation Standards: Adheres to Joint Commission and American College of Radiology standards of care.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Teaching and Mentoring: Demonstrates the ability to effectively teach and mentor junior physicists, dosimetrists, therapists, and students, both formally and informally.
• Analytical and Organizational Skills: Possesses strong analytical and organizational skills to implement necessary safety programs and regulations.
• Radiotherapy Expertise: Requires a comprehensive understanding of radiotherapy principles and applications, coupled with knowledge of state and federal regulations governing the use of radioactive materials.
• Communication Skills: Demonstrates excellent communication skills to effectively convey information through written reports and personal interactions with staff, physicians, regional institutions, and patients.
• Mathematical Proficiency: Requires advanced mathematical skills to perform radiotherapy calculations, equipment calibrations, and research related to new radiation devices and methodologies.

Working Conditions:

• Potential exposure to radioactive isotopes during patient treatment setup and administration.
• Requires a high level of mental and visual concentration while performing radiotherapy dosage calculations.

Other Duties:

• Performs other duties as assigned by management.

MS in Medical physics or related field. Ph.D. in Medical Physics is preferred.

 Board Certified by the American Board of Radiology (ABR) or the American Board of Medical Physics in Radiation Physics or the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine. Board eligible candidates as defined by the American Board of Radiology (ABR) must attain certification in therapeutic medical physics within three years from the date of hire as physicist