Overview

Physicist Joint Base San Antonio

Time to invest in some new footwear because if you’re San Antonio-bound, you’d better show up in boots! The Alamo City is one of the military’s most envied postings and is often referred to as “Military City USA”. Low cost of living, affordable homes, and the lack of state tax on retirement income are a few financial perks to living and retiring in this Texas city. A robust job market that seems partial to government and defense/security contracting ensures employment opportunities for spouses or transitioning service members. San Antonio is the country’s seventh fastest growing city yet has somehow managed to retain a “small town feel.” Quality schools and friendly locals (most with military ties) are additional perks to living in San Antonio.

Some things you should know before you get here: trucks are the norm (the bigger, the better), love for The Spurs (NBA) runs deep, the H-E-B obsession is real (it’s a grocery store), rodeos are life, and don’t call it “San Antone”—that’s just wrong. The community boasts a vibrant Hispanic population, and enhances everything from the food, to the music, to community events. You don’t necessarily need to speak Spanish to get around, but you’d better know how to say barbacoa, tamales, and cascarones.

Name brand shopping (IKEA is the latest arrival of note), restaurants, and all variety of entertainment all add to San Antonio’s quality of life. SeaWorld, the San Antonio Zoo, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, and downtown museums are all fun outings for kids and families. Tube or kayak down a river, play or fish in the lakes, or relax by San Antonio’s famous downtown River Walk. Museums, art galleries, and historical landmarks—remember The Alamo?—round out San Antonio’s cultural offerings. Tex-mex cuisine arguably originated here, and some up and coming culinary trendsetters are making a name for themselves in the Pearl District downtown, alongside several notable breweries.

San Antonio has over 300 days of sunshine with some hot summers, mild winters and pleasant spring and fall seasons. San Antonio is in Bexar County (it’s pronounced “BEAR”) in south central Texas, and is just south of the gorgeous Hill Country. It’s only about two hours from Austin, the beach, or the desert.

Working for the Department of Defense comes with an abundance of benefits and perks to include competitive compensation packages, paid-time off, medical benefits, student loan repayments, and retirement package with Thrift Savings Plan to include matching employer contributions. For more information, please visit the following link: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/benefits/

Responsibilities

POSITION DUTIES:

1. Serves as a Diagnostic Medical Physicist for Department of Radiology, Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC), under the supervision of the Senior Diagnostic Medical Physicist. Serves as a technical advisor for all physical, mechanical, electrical, computer, automation, and radiation safety aspects of the use of ionizing and non-ionizing radiation in the Department. Assists the Senior Diagnostic Medical Physicist with:Provision of radiological physics support for the Department of Radiology activities involving the use of medical radiation in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Support encompasses assisting the Senior Diagnostic Medical Physicist with the establishment and management of a Department radiation protection program and a comprehensive quality assurance program for diagnostic imaging equipment, (including film digitizers, digital interfaces between imaging modalities and the Department’s Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS), laser film printing devices, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, interventional radiology, general radiography including mammography and fluoroscopy. Participates in developing radiation safety policies and procedures for the organization. Utilizes special test procedures and equipment to analyze, interpret, and document each system’s performance. Reviews, advises, and provides guidance on the full range of radiation safety matters related to the organization. Position assists with curriculum development and instruction of medical physics and radiobiology to radiology physicians, Phase II radiology technologists and other BAMC staff. Development, oversight, and analysis of technician quality control testing of radiation producing, detecting and measuring equipment. This includes all of the Department's radiographic and fluoroscopic equipment (both analog and digital), computed radiography and film digitizer equipment, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imagers, mammography, ultrasound equipment, and nuclear medicine cameras. Performs all required studies, testing and analysis to ensure imagery acquisition and delivery systems are functioning at an optimum level. Additionally, the diagnostic and clinical viewing monitors of the various workstations throughout the Medical Center will fall under this program.The diagnostic imaging equipment quality control program:Design, monitoring, and continual evaluation of the quality control program for the Department, which includes adherence to U.S. Army Regulations as well as outside regulatory agencies such as the NRC, JCAHO, FDA which require a complete quality control program to minimize the risk of radiation exposure to patients, hospital personnel and the public at large. This program will produce optimal acquisition and display of diagnostic images. Maintains system documentation to verify compliance with regulatory body requirements. Performs comprehensive quarterly, semi-annual, and annual equipment quality control checks of diagnostic machines using professional guidelines, clinical experience, and manufacturer’s specifications. Determines the need for any additional spot checks required by the maintenance or replacement of selected parts. Investigates malfunctions and operational difficulties, formulates solutions and coordinates corrective actions with technologists. Insures corrective actions are taken to correct or repair equipment deficiencies. Initiates and performs equipment repairs consistent with legal constraints and reasonable levels of professional knowledge. Develops interim methods when immediate repairs are not possible to insure equipment is operating in accordance with reasonable safety precautions, or insures that the system is not used until safe operating conditions are met. Analyzes systemic problems, and develops written reports consistent with legal or professional requirements for dissemination through command channels. Prepares and provides written documentation to the Senior Diagnostic Medical Physicist, summarizing activities performed. Development of procurement specifications and site planning for all high cost medical equipment, performance of acceptance testing, and initiation of periodic quality control testing for all new equipment acquisitions within the Department of Radiology. Analysis and monitoring of the maintenance of imaging and PACS devices and pertinent accessories. Monitors patient doses from diagnostic radiological procedures. Monitoring involves the use of a computer program to estimate the absorbed doses to several tissues of a reference patient for a specified Radiology projection using tissue-air ratios generated previously by a Monte Carlo technique. Development of performance standards and contract stipulations for maintenance contracts. Evaluates adequacy of contract services insuring that either the original manufacturer's specifications or initial BAMC purchase contract specifications are met, whichever is more stringent. Assists the Senior Diagnostic Medical Physicist with the design, specification, and oversight of installation of ionizing radiation, radio frequency, and magnetic field shielding.2. Consultative/Training Duties:Provision of consultative services, as required, regarding radiation and medical physics, technology innovations and analysis, and PACS fielding to U.S. Army facilities in SRMC. Duties include performance of radiation safety surveys, calibration of instruments, acceptance testing, review of radiation safety and quality assurance programs, and the provision of recommendations to the local medical facility. Support to the Nuclear Medicine Service by providing expertise in and execution of quality control measures relating to gamma cameras, film, processors, radiopharmaceuticals, and computers. Provision of radiological physics education at a postgraduate level of instruction to radiological physicians, technologists, students, Family Practice residents, Medicine and Surgery residents, Podiatrists, Physician Assistants, and Physical Therapists and other physicists. Assist with the development and administration of appropriate materials and tests to assess student education. The knowledge imparted to the students is required for the passage of their certifying examinations. Evaluates various textbooks and selects one as the radiology subject area. Instructs or coordinates instruction of such topics as mathematics, statistics, electronics, physics, radiation biology, radiation protection, instrumentation, computer technology, dosimetry, image archiving and analysis, radioactive decay, ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic imaging. Provides on-site instruction to both groups and individuals. Provision of technical advice and guidance to staff physicians for optimizing clinical studies or procedures. For research protocols, calculates the radiation dose to critical organs and provides risk factors. Advises patients on radiation risks of studies or procedures when requested by staff radiologists.3. Radiation Safety Program:Oversight of the radiation safety program within the Department of Radiology. Evaluation of special dosimetry. When a patient fails to identify a pregnancy before a radiographic procedure, it is highly probable that the fetus will receive an unintended radiation exposure. It is then the responsibility of the medical physicist to perform fetal dose evaluations. This may require recreation of the geometric circumstance with phantoms to allow for physical measurement of the radiation dose, or may be accomplished from reference to tabular data. The Physicist is responsible for the preparation of statement of dose estimation and recommendation for the patient's obstetrician for evaluation of radiation risk relative to the need for therapeutic abortion. Review of radiation-shielding plans to prevent hazardous exposure of patients, hospital personnel, and the general public. Provision of technical supervision to the service and section Quality Control Technologists in the Department to maximize image quality throughout the Department.Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Pre-employment physical is required.Irregular Tour of Duty.Child Background check is required.This is a inclement weather position.