Therapeutic Medical Physicist

The Therapeutic Medical Physicist is located in the Radiation Oncology service at the Northport VA Medical Center. Medical Physics is a branch of physics that is associated with the practice of medicine. The practice of Medical Physics means the use of principles and accepted protocols of physics to assure the correct quality - quantity - and placement of radiation during the performance of a radiological procedure.

The Therapeutic Medical Physicist is located in the Radiation Oncology service at the Northport VA Medical Center. Medical Physics is a branch of physics that is associated with the practice of medicine. The practice of Medical Physics means the use of principles and accepted protocols of physics to assure the correct quality - quantity - and placement of radiation during the performance of a radiological procedure.

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship:
  Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy
• 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
• Board Certification
• Persons hired or reassigned to TMP positions in the VHA must be board certified in the field of therapeutic medical physics by an approved certifying body
• The board certificate must be current and the applicant must abide by the certifying body's requirements for continuing education
• Approved Certifying Bodies (a) The American Board of Radiology (A ) in any of the following field titles:1
• Therapeutic Medical Physics2
• Therapeutic Radiologic or Therapeutic Radiological Physics3
• Radiologic Physics or Radiological Physics(b) The American Board of Medical Physics (ABMP) in the subfield of Radiation Oncology Physics.(c) The Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine (CCPM) in the subfield of Radiation Oncology Physics
• 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: GS-14 Therapeutic Medical Physicist (Advanced Level) Experience
• In addition to the basic requirements - completion of a minimum of 1 year of progressively complex experience equivalent to the next lower grade
• Demonstrated Knowledge
  - Skills - and Abilities
• In addition to the experience above - the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: 1
• Advanced expertise and experience in the safe and efficient use of all radiotherapy devices for external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy
• 2
• Highly developed expertise with commissioning linear accelerators and treatment planning systems for complex clinical use - to include project management - performance testing - data acquisition - beam modeling - and validation testing
• 3
• Advanced knowledge (treatment simulation - planning - dosimetry - and treatment methods) of the scientific - clinical - and technical applications of one or more specialized procedures including - but not limited to - high dose rate brachytherapy - low dose rate brachytherapy - stereotactic body radiation therapy - stereotactic radiation therapy - intensity modulated radiation therapy - volumetric modulated arc therapy - total body irradiation - advanced image-guided therapy - and adaptive therapy
• 4
• Advanced expertise in acceptance testing - clinical commissioning - and (when applicable) calibration procedures for a variety…