Medical Physicist
What the work is
Undertakes research and provides advice on the safe and effective delivery of radiation as prescribed in patient care for radiation oncology, medical imaging and image-guided medical procedures.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Conducts research and development in radiation oncology, medical imaging, image-guided medical procedures, or medical radiation safety
- Designs and performs ongoing quality assurance testing and evaluation for radiation oncology and diagnostic imaging equipment and systems
- Consults with medical professionals on individual patients' radiation treatment using external radiation beams, internally placed radioactive sources, and radioactive substances
- Provides advice on balancing image quality, personnel and patient radiation dose, and associated risks in radiology and nuclear medicine imaging
- Applies knowledge of physics to the development and use of medical radiation treatments, devices and technologies that may be used for diagnosis and treatment of human diseases
- Provides scientific and technical advice on the design of radiation facilities and the safe handling, storage and disposal of radioactive materials
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in the pathology laboratory of a regional hospital, running day and night. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A tricky result you spotted helps a doctor decide what to do for a patient straight away
- A night shift runs smoothly and every urgent sample is answered on time
- You teach a new technician to read a slide and watch it click
Hard days
- A wave of urgent samples arrives just as an analyser stops working
- A doctor on the phone wants a result faster than the test can safely be done
- Night shifts and a lot of responsibility with very little face to face thanks
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 244732, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.