E144 Geeta Lal on Ergonomics in Surgery

All of us at some point in our career experience physical pain while operating. We were lucky to be joined by Dr. Geeta Lal (@geetalalmd on twitter) on the show today to talk about the concept of surgical ergonomics. Make sure you check out the YouTube version of this episode, for a special segment where Dr. Lal looks at some actual footage of us operating and makes some recommendations on what we might do differently. This is such an important conversation on how we can take care of ourselves so we can better care for our patients.

Links:

1) https://surgicalergonomics.com/

2) The Society of Surgical Ergonomics has a variety of information and education materials (including articles): https://www.societyofsurgicalergonomics.org/

3) https://www.facs.org/for-medical-professionals/education/programs/surgical-ergonomics/recommendations/

4) Susan Hallbeck OR stretch videos: https://www.mayo.edu/research/labs/human-factors-engineering/or-stretch/or-stretch-videos

Bio:

Dr. Geeta Lal is a board-certified General Surgeon (both USA and Canada) with advanced Fellowship training in Endocrine Surgical Oncology. She is also a tenured Associate Professor of Surgery with a cross-appointment in Pediatrics at a major academic medical center. Dr. Lal has spent the last 17 years practicing Endocrine surgery and has extensive experience in thyroid and parathyroid surgery, including re-operative surgery and pediatric thyroid cancer. She is also involved in teaching surgical residents and medical students, both in the operating room and clinics.

Dr. Lal has served in many different roles throughout her career, including being the Co-Leader of her cancer center’s Endocrine Multidisciplinary Oncology Group and heading an NIH-funded basic science laboratory focused on the role of the Extracellular Matrix 1 (ECM1) gene for many years. She has since transitioned from the lab into an administrative role as the Associate Chief Quality Officer for the Adult Inpatient Services at her hospital. Dr. Lal continues to perform both clinical and quality and safety research and has presented and published her work extensively.