his episode of the podcast is sponsored by Q-optics. You can learn about them and schedule a demo via : https://q-optics.com/pages/surgicalergonomics-drlal

Disclosure:

Q-optics is a paid sponsor and the affiliate link above supports the podcast at no cost to you. It also provides you with a discount and a giveaway to listeners of the podcast, so we hope that it is a win-win!

Episode details:

Dr. Thomas Varghese Jr. is the Chief, Section of General Thoracic Surgery at the University of Utah; Chief Value Officer (Ambulatory and Inpatient) at the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI); Associate Chief Medical Quality Officer at Huntsman Cancer Hospital; and a Professor (Tenure-track) in the Department of Surgery at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Tom is a health services researcher whose clinical, research and operational experience span the fields of innovation science and implementation science. He helped create the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Strong for Surgery program and is a co-PI on the National Cancer Institute RO1-funded clinical trial on the role of Precision Exercise Prescription (PEP) for elective lung cancer surgical resection .

Dr. Varghese has served in several leadership positions in various organizations and is the immediate Past President of SUS (presidential term 2024-2025), and is the Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS)

In this episode, Dr. Varghese:

- Shares his journey with musculoskeletal symptoms, which developed on a background of childhood hip dysplasia

- Discusses the culture of surgery as a huge barrier to surgeons and procedualists getting the help that they need when they initially develop symptoms

- Emphasizes the high rate of musculoskeletal symptoms ("not if, but when") in cardiothoracic surgeons and the risk factors for their development as described in this paper https://www.jtcvs.org/article/S0022-5223(23)00749-3/abstract

- Shares his best practices for improved ergonomic health inside and outside the OR

Dr. Varghese can be reached via his social media handles and website:

X: @tomvarghesejr

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tomvarghesejr

University of Utah Academic Website: https://healthcare.utah.edu/fad/mddetail.php?physicianID=u6001828

Follow us on LinkedIn, X, Instagram and Facebook and please reach out to us if you have any suggestions regarding episode ideas and guests or if you'd like to be a guest on the show

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by PearsonRavitz Insurance. You can learn about them and schedule a consultation on my website at: https://pearsonravitz.com/surgicalergonomics/

Disclosure:

PearsonRavitz is a paid sponsor and the affiliate link above supports the podcast at no cost to you.

Episode details:

Dr. Corwin is a Clinical Associate Professor on the faculty of the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. As both a surgeon and occupational / environmental medicine physician, she has broad clinical experience that informs her public health practice. She currently serves as Associate Director of Employee Health for the University of Iowa. In this role she engages her expertise in, collaborative work related to the health and safety of healthcare system workershazard recognition, evaluation, control, and policy development.

In this episode Dr. Corwin:

- Shares her journey from training in General and Transplant surgery and then switching career paths by pursuing her Masters in Public Health and training in occupational medicine

- Describes that surgeons, other proceduralists and OR personnel have a high rate of work-related MSK injuries, on par with prevalence rates in construction workers

- Defines work-related injury per OSHA's description and the conditions that need to be met for a worker's symptoms to be considered work-related (i.e. temporality and plausibility)

- Elaborates on the difficulties of instituting work restrictions for surgeons and proceduralists, both due to individual and system-related issues (lack of infrastructure). This is in contrast to the situation among departments of nursing.

- Clarifies the differences between impairment (loss of structure and/or function which is very algorithmic per AMA guidelines) and disability (inability to perform duties of the job)

- Shares her advice for early career surgeons/proceduralists i.e. urges them to get evaluated early by physical therapists familiar with the OR work environment and learn preventive strategies, not to ignore their symptoms and to share them with trusted colleagues and get the help they need

You can reach Dr. Corwin via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ccorwin31/

Follow us on LinkedIn, X, Instagram and Facebook and please reach out to us if you have any suggestions regarding episode ideas and guests or if you'd like to be a guest on the show

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by Q-optics. You can learn about them and schedule a demo via : https://q-optics.com/pages/surgicalergonomics-drlal

Disclosure:

Q-optics is a paid sponsor and the affiliate link above supports the podcast at no cost to you. It also provides you with a discount and a giveaway to listeners of the podcast, so we hope that it is a win-win!

Episode details:

Dr. Sanjay Kumar Yadav is a Breast, Thyroid, and Endocrine surgeon at NSCB Medical College, Jabalpur. A pioneer in low-cost innovations for breast cancer and endocrine surgery, he has led work to make advanced surgical care accessible in underserved regions. An international awardee and educator, he is deeply committed to research, mentorship, and health equity.

In this episode, Dr. Yadav:

- Shares that he became interested in ergonomics during fellowship training when he started developing neck pain and stumbled upon the Surgical Ergonomics Interest group

- Discusses the results of his study of the prevalence of work-related MSK symptoms among surgeons and trainees in India which showed that > 70% of them had symptoms from operating. Learn more here at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37308348/

- Describes how a single webinar sharing ergonomic best practices improved awareness and implementation of basic best practices up to 6 months afterwards

- Shares how implementing breaks (and stretches) has been a crucial and easy to implement strategy for the physicians and nursing staff which allows one to circumvent intrument and OR set up issues. You can implement this strategy is to use the OR stretch app available for free here: https://orstretch.mayoclinic.org/ or using resources by the Society of Surgical Ergonomics: https://www.societyofsurgicalergonomics.org/education

- Describes that the major challenges to implementing best practices are primarily financial, even for low-cost interventions such as anti-fatigue mats (which they purchased themselves)

- Shares that there is growing momentum in spreading awareness about surgical ergonomics within various conferences in India and efforts are being made to incorporate ergonomics into surgical training programs

You can reach Dr. Yadav via the following social media platforms:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjay-yadav-ms-mch-facs-36268282/?originalSubdomain=in

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yadav_sanjaykumar/

X: https://x.com/drskyind

Follow us on LinkedIn, X, Instagram and Facebook and please reach out to us if you have any suggestions regarding episode ideas and guests or if you'd like to be a guest on the show