Day in the life of a (trainee) radiotherapy physicist

I've had a very busy day today full of an eclectic mix of tasks so I thought it might be a good day to do a bit of "day in the life of"/ reflecting. It's also Healthcare Science week so the perfect opportunity to share! 07:20 Arrive at work. I'm "on the early" which means … Continue reading Day in the life of a (trainee) radiotherapy physicist →

Future life tips

Creating a new category to add my thoughts on management, leadership and teaching so I can document best practice and have a place to refer back to it in the future! Today's pointer is about the importance of being an open and welcoming senior member of staff. If you want (very) junior members of staff … Continue reading Future life tips →

Ode to brachytherapy

It's my second month in my specialist placement and so I've moved on from a dosimetry rotation into a brachytherapy rotation. Seeing a brachytherapy operation in my rotational placement was the first time I thought "maybe I want to be a radiotherapy physicist" and so this was a big deal for me! Brachytherapy uses sealed … Continue reading Ode to brachytherapy →

Radiotherapy Physicist Week 1

My new desk detritus! I'm one whole week into my career as a radiotherapy physicist! I've got my professional hedgehogs mug, my bunnies 2020 calendar, my homemade diary cover and I am ready to smash it! I have learnt an astonishing amount in just one week, from the uses of in-vivo dosimetry to the use … Continue reading Radiotherapy Physicist Week 1 →

General Ultrasound

#MedicalPhysicistOnTourPart3 Christmas Eve Eve saw me heading to General Ultrasound. I've had a good few ultrasounds in my time but never on my liver so it was very interesting to watch a specialist sonographer and radiology consultant who specialises in ultrasound performing liver ultrasounds in advance of a liver clinic later on in the morning. … Continue reading General Ultrasound →

Vascular ultrasound

#MedicalPhysicistOnTourPart2 Today in Medical Physics on Tour Part 2, I spent the morning in Vascular Ultrasound. Vascular scientists perform routine and urgent ultrasounds on the vascular (blood vessel) system all over the body to diagnose and rule out a range of conditions including Deep Vein Thrombosis, aneurysms and checks on fistulas used for kidney dialysis. … Continue reading Vascular ultrasound →

Echocardiography

#MedicalPhysicistOnTourPart1 One of the great things about the STP is the ability to parachute into other departments to have a look at how your decisions as a clinical scientist would affect the department's working life. It also enables you to have a further insight into the workings of other parts of the hospital and how … Continue reading Echocardiography →

Classic trainee panic in Nuc Med

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, I'm contaminated, oh my goodness how did this happen!?!?! I was only dealing with non-active waste why is my right hand so radioactive!?!?Me, 2019. Spoiler alert- if a patient having a stress/rest myocardial perfusion scan and then comes over to ask you a question whilst you're monitoring yourself on a hand and foot monitor, … Continue reading Classic trainee panic in Nuc Med →

Patients come first!

Today we're scheduled to spend a whole day on radiotherapy machine quality assurance (QA), performing the monthly checks on a particular machine to ensure that we are operating within the approved procedures with which we're allowed to carry out radiotherapy. These checks include mechanical checks of the couch positioning and isocentres (laser, mechanical, radiation), dosimetric … Continue reading Patients come first! →