All in a Day's Work: Parham Alaei, a Medical Physicist at Hennepin County Medical Center

Q: What's a typical workday like for you?

A: I go over patient charts and make sure the dosimetrist has made the correct calculations to deliver the prescribed dose of radiation to the patient. I make sure the equipment that delivers radiation is functioning properly. I oversee more complex treatments and am called in whenever any technical difficulties with the radiation equipment or complications arise. I am also responsible for radiation safety issues, making sure the hospital staff, patients and general public are safe.

Q: How does your role fit into the bigger health care picture?

A: I am an essential part of the team that delivers radiation therapy to patients who are undergoing treatment using this modality to fight their cancer.

Q: Who do you interact with during the course of the day?

A: I interact with radiation oncologists, medical dosimetrists, radiation therapists, other health care professionals, and occasionally, patients.

Q: Why did you become a medical physicist?

A: I had a background in physics and an interest in health care, and I was looking for an applied branch of physics. Through my research for a career, I found medical physics, which applies physics principles to medicine, so it seemed to be a good fit.

Q: What do you like about your work?

A: I like the fact that I can help people in fighting their cancer, or at least improve their quality of life. In addition, medical physics is an evolving and highly technical field that keeps me engaged and motivated to acquire new knowledge.