Dosimetry

I'm a medical dosimetrist. Aaaand there's a high chance you don't know what that is. Don't worry, I didn't know what it was for the longest time, either! Never even heard of it. Well, medical dosimetrists work in the background, so it's only the people who actually work IN the Radiation Oncology department who seem to know what a dosimetrist is/does. I'm here to enlighten whoever is curious about a little known high salary medical career that doesn't require a ghastly number of years in education mode nor ungodly working hours nor the responsibility over the patient as a physician would have. 

I work within the radiation oncology department, with no training or education at all with regard to anything that has to do with chemotherapy or surgery. Those are all different departments. Patients come in to our department already diagnosed with cancer and referred to be treated with radiation. The radiation oncologists consult with the patient regarding their disease and prognosis to come up with a plan on how they would like to progress with radiation. 

Radiation can be delivered two different ways: internally or externally. Internally, we would place a radioactive source and leave it there for a designated amount of time according to the prescription dose and the activity of the radioactive source. This is called brachytherapy. Though it is invasive, it works much better at treating the tumor to high doses while sparing nearby structures much more than external beam radiation because of a more rapid dose fall-off. Because PHYSICS, yo. 

In the cases of external beam radiation therapy, a patient may lie on a table where a gantry rotates around the patient and delivers xrays at specific energies. My job is to customize exactly how the radiation will be delivered for each patient, taking into account the treatment site, prescribed dose, size of the tumor, patient positioning, patient anatomy, proximity of normal organ tissues, and intent of treatment (curative or palliative).

I don't see the patients very often: only if the therapists need help verifying patient positioning or set up. I work at a computer and use a treatment planning software to determine the optimal beam angles and treatment field blocking using a CT scan. 

I really love my job for many reasons. It can be very simple or very challenging. There's problem solving involved that helps keep my brain from decaying over time. It's important to have a good eye for detail and to be able to visualize things well in 3-space. I'm a very logical person, so I appreciate the processes of radiation therapy and how any changes I may make during planning have logical outcomes I can predict, at least with experience.

Depending on the facility and how many dosimetrists work at a given time, it can be really busy or very slow. For me, it has been realllllyyyy sloowwwww recently. In my down time, I've been browsing Pinterest on my phone or trying to teach myself French on Duolingo. Things like "Tu manges comme un cochon." LOL.

Medical dosimetry is an interesting career option for anyone interested in the medical field without having to get too hands on with the patients. After earning a bachelor's degree in any science along with some other prerequisite courses, you can be eligible to go to Dosimetry school, which varies from one to two years depending on where you go. Some universities actually offer bachelor degrees in Medical Dosimetry. You would learn all about gross CT anatomy, radiobiology, radiation physics, and treatment planning techniques. After that, you're ready for a job and you can earn the excessively BIG bucks once becoming board certified (which I am!). Not a bad way to attain a high paying job in so little time.