12-month industrial placement student post in Medical Physics

Job overview

* Please note: only current undergraduate students studying Physics BSc (or equivalent) at a UK university are eligible to apply. The posts being offered are a fixed one-year placement for students undertaking a sandwich degree.*

Applications are invited for three Industrial Placement Student posts in each of the following sections of the department of Medical Physics at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford: •    Nuclear Medicine Physics •    The Regional Radiation Protection Service •    Radiotherapy Physics

Successful applicants will be based in one of the sections listed above, but with opportunities to work with colleagues in other sections.  We have successfully hosted placement students from UK universities across the Medical Physics Department for many years.

Further description of the individual sections can be found below, however to be appointed in any section the successful applicant will have: •    a good understanding of nuclear and radiation physics; •    the ability to work well with other scientists, clinical colleagues, and patients;  •    a strong desire to apply their knowledge and expertise for the benefit of patients; •    good time management, self-motivation and attention to detail.

Previous work experience in medical physics would be advantageous but is not expected.

Main duties of the job

To assist the Nuclear Medicine Physics team in the delivery of scientific support to diagnostic and therapeutic Nuclear Medicine services within RSCH and through Service Level Agreements with other NHS Trusts and private companies; to contribute to research/project work within the Section.

To assist the Regional Radiation Protection Service team in the provision of a comprehensive radiation protection and radiological physics service within RSCH and through Service Level Agreements with other NHS Trusts and private companies; to contribute to research/project work within the Section.

To assist the Radiotherapy Physics team in the delivery of the brachytherapy/radiotherapy planning clinical services and other routine technical tasks to ensure the quality control of radiotherapy treatment delivery; to contribute to research/project work within the Section.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification

Post in Nuclear Medicine Physics Nuclear Medicine uses radioactive materials to diagnose and treat disease. It is multi-disciplinary, synergising expertise from clinicians, technologists and physicists.

The Nuclear Medicine team consists of 16 physicists, providing scientific support to a number of clinical nuclear medicine departments in the South East of England as well as fixed-site and mobile PET/CT services.  Facilities at the Royal Surrey include 3 SPECT/CT systems (including one with state-of-the-art solid state detector technology) and radionuclide laboratory facilities. We are active in research and development, with current collaborative projects with the University of Surrey and the National Physical Laboratory.  There is also an active programme of clinical trial research within the hospital.

The post involves a mixture of routine work and carrying out in-depth projects:  •    Assisting in routine testing of diagnostic nuclear medicine equipment, including SPECT/CT and PET/CT imaging systems, gamma probes, radionuclide calibrators, contamination monitors and dose-rate meters. •    Assisting in the routine delivery of the radionuclide therapy service, including preparation of ward facilities, carrying out in-patient measurements, post-therapy decontamination procedures and radioactive waste management. •    Carrying out experimental work, data analysis, report writing and results presentation for research projects in Nuclear Medicine Physics. •    Carrying out clinical and technical audits as required

Post in the Regional Radiation Protection Service You will join a team of more than 20, comprised of medical physicists, technicians, administrative staff and a computer scientist. The service provides comprehensive radiation protection, diagnostic radiology and X-ray engineering services to a wide variety of NHS Trusts, private healthcare providers, dentists, veterinary practices and others. We are active in research, development and training, organising courses both locally and at a national level. The service is closely involved in the University of Surrey’s MSc programmes in Medical Physics, Medical Imaging and Radiation and Environmental Protection.

The post holder will help other team members in the provision of a comprehensive radiation protection and radiological physics service to the NHS and outside bodies, including performing calculations, measurements and radiation surveys on all types of diagnostic X-ray systems and in other non-ionising areas such as MRI, ultrasound, lasers and UV. Radiation protection support is also given to a number of Nuclear Medicine departments, PET/CT scanners and radiotherapy centres. You will be given the opportunity to work independently on a variety of projects, with the potential to publish the work or present your project at a national conference. You will need to be enthusiastic, a good communicator and a team player.

Post in Radiotherapy Physics Radiotherapy is a field of healthcare where radiation is used to treat disease, predominantly cancer.  The field is highly multi-disciplinary involving clinicians, radiographers, technologists and physicists.

The Radiotherapy Physics team consists of over 25 physicists and 10 radiographers providing scientific support to Royal Surrey Cancer Centre and the Redhill Satellite Radiotherapy Service. Facilities in the department include 7 linear accelerators and 3 CT scanners (Split across main and satellite). There is also access to PET/CT and MRI facilities for treatment planning.  RSCH also delivers one of the largest brachytherapy services in Europe treating a wide range of clinical sites.

We are active in research and development and currently collaborate with the University of Surrey, the National Physical Laboratory and Varian Medical Systems.  We also have an active programme of clinical trial research within the hospital.

This post involves a mixture of helping with routine work and carrying out some in-depth projects and developments. For example   •    development and evaluation of models for Knowledge Based Treatment Planning for a number of clinical sites •    the Quality Assurance programme of the radiotherapy equipment •    provision of a physics service to brachytherapy •    Evaluation and audit of clinical techniques and dosimetry results in brachytherapy

Start date: between July and September 2025