Entry Level Physicist Jobs in Michigan (NOW HIRING)

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply.Qualifications:Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.
Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g, this part.)
• English Language Proficiency: TMPs must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d).
• Education: 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:
    • The American Board of Radiology (ABR) in any of the following field titles:
      1. Therapeutic Medical Physics
      2. Therapeutic Radiologic or Therapeutic Radiological Physics
      3. Radiologic Physics or Radiological Physics
    • The American Board of Medical Physics (ABMP) in the subfield of Radiation Oncology Physics.
    • The Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine (CCPM) in the subfield of Radiation Oncology Physics.

Loss of Board Certification. Once board certified, TMPs must maintain a full, valid and unrestricted board certification to remain qualified for employment. Loss of board certification may result in termination of employment.
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. This experience may include but is not limited to: plans, delivers, verifies, and monitors quality assurance of radiotherapy at all levels of complexity. Specific tasks include: recommending an optimal modality and treatment technique for the patient; evaluating the quality, safety, and accuracy of radiation treatments planned and delivered to patients, thus ensuring that radiation dose is carried out correctly and completely; and safely operating all radiation planning and delivery devices. The TMP implements radiation therapy of outstanding technical difficulty and responsibility, providing knowledge-based solutions to resolving issues where no rule-based solutions exist. The employee plans and directs a specialized program encompassing all physics and clinical aspects of external beam and brachytherapy treatment procedures from treatment simulation to treatment planning to the actual treatment delivery. The TMP provides technical oversight for the work of entry level TMPs, medical dosimetrists and radiation therapists. The incumbent oversees radiation therapy treatment planning; designs and approves treatment plans; monitors the accuracy of treatment data recorded in the patient's medical records; provides consultation to the radiation oncologist regarding difficult treatment cases; performs patient-specific treatment validation measurements; and develops medical physics policies and procedures for the delivery and quality assessment of advanced treatment modalities such as intensity modulated radiation therapy, stereotactic body radiation therapy, and brachytherapy. The TMP develops, operates and fully documents the medical physics quality assurance program and ensures regulatory compliance within the Radiation Safety Officer's radiation safety program. The employee safely utilizes and properly operates all radiation oncology equipment, and is therefore qualified and responsible for educating radiation oncology team members including radiation oncologists, radiation therapists and dosimetrists in safety issues that relate to radiotherapy planning and delivery.
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 of ancillary radiation oncology delivery, imaging, dosimetry, metrology, and computational systems.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-14.
Physical Requirements: Moderate lifting (15-44 lbs); Moderate carrying (15-44 lbs); straight pulling (1 hour); pushing (1 hour); reaching above shoulder; use of fingers; both hands required; walking (8-12 hours); standing (8-12 hours); ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously; near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaegar 1 to 4; far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other; both eyes required; depth perception; ability to distinguish basic colors; ability to distinguish shades of colors; hearing (aid permitted). Transferring patients and objects may be required. Don protective clothing in isolation situation or operative / invasive procedures. May occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019
Continued under EDUCATION below...Education:Creditable Experience

1. Knowledge of Current Medical Physicist Practices. To be creditable, the experience must have required the use of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) associated with current professional TMP practice. The experience must be post-master's degree or above. Experience satisfying this requirement must be active professional practice, which is paid/non- paid employment as a professional TMP.
2. Quality of Experience. Experience is only creditable if it is obtained following graduation with a master's or doctoral degree in medical physics, physics, or another relevant physical science or engineering discipline from an accredited training program and includes work as a professional TMP directly related to the position to be filled. Qualifying experience must also be at a level comparable to TMP experience at the next lower grade level. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significantly larger scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time.
3. Part-Time Experience. Part-time experience as a professional TMP is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time workweek. For example, a TMP employed 20 hours a week, or on a 1/2-time basis, would receive 1 full-time workweek of credit for each 2 weeks of service.
4. Clinical Training/Clinical Residency. TMPs go through a post-graduate clinical training program in therapeutic medical physics before they are eligible to work as a TMP. The post-graduate clinical training may be substituted for creditable experience on a year- for-year basis.

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).
Grandfathering Provision. All persons employed in VHA as a TMP on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualifications requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and certification that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following apply.

1. Such employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journeyman) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may 2 not be promoted beyond the journeyman level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
2. TMPs who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
3. Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or certification that meet all the basic requirements of the qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.
4. TMPs who are converted to title 38 hybrid status under this provision and subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry as a TMP.

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Transcripts must be official or unofficial college transcripts.
A copy of your certificate/degree or screenshot of your current classes are not a replacement of your transcript and they will not be used in the qualifying process. Your transcript must include your name and the name and full address of the institution.
If the position has an education requirement or you are qualifying based on education, you need to list your education history including the type of degree and your major of study. If the position requires a certain number of credit hours, you are strongly encouraged to list the relevant courses in your resume.
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.Employment Type: OTHER