Medical physicist

Research new techniques and develop medical equipment for hospitals. Make sure it's safe and works well.

About the job

Salary (before tax)

Entry

Experienced

£35,522

£53,789

Entry

£35,522

Experienced

£53,789

In this job, new workers in Scotland start around £35,522 per year. Experienced workers can earn up to £53,789.

Source:

NHS

A day in the life – Medical physicist

What it's like

Do you have a passion for physics? Imagine using it to fight cancer, improve diagnoses and develop new medical technology.

You'd work with advanced equipment used in hospitals to diagnose and treat patients. This equipment can be dangerous to use. Your job would be to make sure it's effective, looked after and that other medical professionals know how to use it correctly.

As a medical physicist, you'd specialise in one of five areas:

Radiotherapy

You'd look after radiotherapy equipment and help plan and deliver treatment for cancer patients. You'd use targeted radiation beams to fight tumors in a safe and effective way.

Nuclear medicine

You'd use radioactive substances to help diagnose and treat patients. Using specialist equipment, give patients small amounts of these substances. You'd then take images and measurements to see what's happening inside the body.

Radiation protection

You'd make environments where radiation is used safe for staff and patients. This involves working with equipment to measure radiation levels and giving advice to staff.

Non-ionising imaging

You'd work with safe imaging techniques used by healthcare professionals to monitor and treat patients. These include ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and optical imaging.

Imaging physics

You'd work with imaging techniques that use radiation. These include x-rays, computed tomography (CT) and nuclear medicine imaging.

Hours

You'd usually work around 37.5 hours a week. You may have to work evenings or weekends as part of an on-call rota, depending on your role.

Environment

You'd be based in a hospital, clinic or laboratory setting and you may need to travel to other hospitals to meet with other scientists. You'd wear protective clothing and take other safety measures when working with hazardous substances and radiation.