Surgical Ergonomics

Geeta Lal MD
  • 5.0 (18)
  • Medicine
  • Updated Biweekly

This podcast will discuss everything relating to surgical and procedural  ergonomics i.e. the people, ideas and technology that will help enhance your physical wellness and career longevity. 

  1. Sep 7

    From RULA to AI: Measuring Ergonomic Risk in Surgery with Dr. Ali Golabchi

    Episode details: In this episode,  we explore how ergonomic risk can be measured in surgical and procedural environments, and why simply asking surgeons whether they are experiencing pain or discomfort may not tell the whole story. About Our Guest: Dr. Ali Golabchi is the Chief Technology Officer and Director of Research at EWI Works International, Inc., Western Canada's leading ergonomics and wellness company. Ali joined EWI Works in 2016, where he oversees the development and adoption of technology-based, data-powered, science-driven solutions to improve health, safety, and productivity. His work focuses on bridging the gap between academic research and real-world application, using emerging technologies to address practical ergonomic challenges. In this episode, you'll learn: - Why measuring ergonomic risk is important instead of relying solely on surgeons' reports of pain or discomfort. - The difference between qualitative and quantitative approaches to measuring ergonomic risk. - What RULA and REBA are, how these observational tools work, and some of their limitations in surgical environments. - Why the operating room presents unique challenges for ergonomic measurement, including sterility, limited space, complex workflows, PPE, privacy, and multiple people in the surgical field. - The difference between marker-based, wearable sensor, and markerless motion capture systems. - How AI and computer vision can be used to analyze posture and movement from a standard video recording. - The story behind the development of PoseCheckerTM and how it evolved from research technology into a practical tool for ergonomic assessment. - How vision-based motion capture can potentially be used to evaluate ergonomic interventions by comparing risk before and after changes to equipment, workflow, or technique. - What Ali sees as the future of ergonomic risk assessment, including AI-powered tools, exoskeletons, wearable robots, and more proactive approaches to ergonomics. Resources Mentioned RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment)REBA (Rapid Entire Body Assessment)PoseChecker by EWI WorksFollow Surgical Ergonomics on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube 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 podcast If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a colleague or your perioperative team to help bring greater awareness to the role of ergonomics in career longevity. If you're enjoying the podcast, I'd be grateful if you left a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your reviews help others discover the show and support our mission of improving the health and longevity of surgeons and proceduralists worldwide.

    From RULA to AI: Measuring Ergonomic Risk in Surgery with Dr. Ali Golabchi

  2. Aug 24

    Beyond the OR: How Sociotechnical Systems Can Transform Surgical Safety and Clinician Well-Being with Dr. Abigail Wooldridge

    Episode details: In healthcare, patient safety and clinician well-being are often approached as individual responsibilities. But what if many of the problems we face are actually shaped by the systems in which we work? About Our Guest: Dr. Abigail Wooldridge is a human factors and ergonomics researcher whose work focuses on sociotechnical systems, team performance, and improving outcomes in healthcare. In this episode, we explore what sociotechnical systems are and why understanding the interaction between people, technology, physical environments, teamwork, and organizational structures is so important to healthcare safety. Whether you're a surgeon, healthcare professional, researcher, trainee, or healthcare leader, this episode offers a practical introduction to sociotechnical systems and the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in creating safer, more effective healthcare environments. In this episode, you'll learn: What sociotechnical systems are and why they matter in healthcare. How human factors and ergonomics can address both patient safety and clinician well-being. How people, technology, physical environments, and organizational structures interact to shape healthcare outcomes. What Dr. Wooldridge's research on maternal hemorrhage revealed about barriers and facilitators within clinical systems. How issues such as surgical lighting, alarm fatigue, team coordination, and role ambiguity can affect care. Why burnout can be influenced by workload, task demands, and insufficient resources. Why improving healthcare systems requires interdisciplinary collaboration between clinicians and human factors researchers. How clinicians and trainees can begin exploring human factors, ergonomics, and sociotechnical systems research. Resources You can reach Dr. Abigail Wooldridge via: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigailwooldridge/ University profile/email: https://ise.illinois.edu/directory/profile/arwool Publication discussed in this episode:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40077061/ Follow Surgical Ergonomics on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube 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 podcast If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a colleague or your perioperative team to help bring greater awareness to the role of ergonomics in career longevity. If you're enjoying the podcast, I'd be grateful if you left a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your reviews help others discover the show and support our mission of improving the health and longevity of surgeons and proceduralists worldwide.

    Beyond the OR: How Sociotechnical Systems Can Transform Surgical Safety and Clinician Well-Being with Dr. Abigail Wooldridge

  3. Aug 10

    Team Ergonomics: How Better OR Teamwork Can Reduce Injury and Improve Patient Safety with Anesthesiologist Dr. Fahad Alam

    This episode of the podcast is sponsored by NekSpine. You can learn about them and schedule a demo via  https://nekspine.com/nekspine-special-offer-surgical-ergonomics-podcast/ Disclosure:  NekSpine is a paid sponsor and the affiliate link above supports the podcast at no cost to you.  Episode details: In the operating room, ergonomics is often viewed as an individual responsibility—adjust your posture, raise the table, take a microbreak. But what if preventing injury requires something much bigger than individual habits? About Our Guest:  Dr. Fahad Alam is an anesthesiologist, medical education researcher, and leader in clinical ergonomics research at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the University of Toronto. Together, we explore the emerging concept of team ergonomics and why improving the physical, cognitive, and organizational environment of the operating room requires every member of the surgical team. Drawing from groundbreaking research conducted with Dr. Julie Hallet and colleagues, Dr. Alam discusses the alarming prevalence of musculoskeletal pain among operating room professionals, the lack of formal ergonomics education across healthcare training, and how psychological safety influences whether clinicians feel comfortable speaking up about ergonomic concerns. We also discuss innovative approaches to changing OR culture through simulation, virtual reality, ergonomic checklists, and team communication strategies that have the potential to improve both clinician well-being and patient safety. Whether you're a surgeon, anesthesiologist, nurse, trainee, or healthcare leader, this episode highlights why ergonomics should be viewed as a shared responsibility—and how small changes in teamwork may have a lasting impact on career longevity. In this episode, you'll learn: Why musculoskeletal pain affects the majority of operating room professionals—not just surgeons.How physical strain, cognitive workload, and organizational culture all contribute to ergonomic risk.Why ergonomics should be viewed as a team responsibility rather than an individual problem.What Dr. Alam's research revealed about the prevalence of pain and the lack of ergonomics education among OR staff.How psychological safety influences whether clinicians feel comfortable speaking up about ergonomic concerns.The role of simulation training and virtual reality in teaching team ergonomics.How ergonomic checklists and communication frameworks may improve teamwork and reduce injury risk.Practical ways surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, and trainees can support one another during cases.Why investing in team ergonomics has the potential to improve clinician well-being, performance, and patient safety.Resources You can reach Dr. Fahad Alam via:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fahad-alam-244796152/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.alam_md/?hl=en Publications discussed in this episode: The Society of Surgical Ergonomics publications on team ergonomics and the SORE (Simulation for Operating Room Ergonomics) Study. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39502068/ and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40794621/ Previous episode with Dr. Julie Hallet on surgical ergonomics. https://surgicalergonomics.com/2025/08/25/team-ergonomics-and-the-ergonomics-time-out-with-dr-julie-hallet/   Follow Surgical Ergonomics on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube 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 podcast If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a colleague or your perioperative team to help bring greater awareness to the role of ergonomics in career longevity. If you're enjoying the podcast, I'd be grateful if you left a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your reviews help others discover the show and support our mission of improving the health and longevity of surgeons and proceduralists worldwide.

    Team Ergonomics: How Better OR Teamwork Can Reduce Injury and Improve Patient Safety with Anesthesiologist Dr. Fahad Alam

  4. Jul 27

    Understanding Myofascial Pain, Trigger Points, and Referred Pain with Neurologist Dr. Hannah Park

    Episode Details: Many surgeons and proceduralists live with chronic neck, shoulder, jaw, or headache pain without realizing that the true source may lie elsewhere. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Hannah Park, fellowship-trained headache neurologist and founder of Park Your Headache, to explore the fascinating world of myofascial pain. Hannah shares her deeply personal journey from aspiring concert pianist whose career was ended by repetitive strain injuries to becoming a physician dedicated to helping others with chronic pain. Together, we discuss why so many healthcare professionals struggle to obtain an accurate diagnosis, why imaging is often normal despite severe symptoms, and how understanding trigger points, referred pain, and muscle compensation patterns can transform treatment. Whether you're a surgeon, proceduralist or anyone living with persistent muscle pain, this conversation will help you better understand your body, and why effective treatment often requires looking beyond where it hurts. In this episode, you'll learn: • Why myofascial pain is frequently overlooked or misdiagnosed • How repetitive strain and sustained postures create chronic muscle dysfunction • Why trigger points can produce pain far away from their actual location • The relationship between headaches, neck pain, jaw pain, and trapezius muscle dysfunction • Why normal imaging doesn't rule out significant pain • The importance of finding clinicians with specialized expertise in headache medicine and myofascial pain • How injection therapies fit into a comprehensive treatment approach • Why chronic pain develops over years—and why recovery also requires patience • The surprising similarities between musicians, surgeons, and other high-performance professionals Resources Learn more about Dr. Hannah Park: Website: www.parkyourheadachenj.com  LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-l-park-m-d-b555b729b Follow Surgical Ergonomics on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube 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 podcast If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a colleague or your perioperative team to help bring greater awareness to the role of ergonomics in career longevity. If you're enjoying the podcast, I'd be grateful if you left a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your reviews help others discover the show and support our mission of improving the health and longevity of surgeons and proceduralists worldwide.

    Understanding Myofascial Pain, Trigger Points, and Referred Pain with Neurologist Dr. Hannah Park

  5. Jul 13

    When Injuries End a Surgical Career with Otolaryngologist Dr. Melanie Seybt

    This episode of the podcast is sponsored by Smart Step Surgical LLC. You can learn about them and schedule a demo via https://www.smartstepsurgical.com/blogs/news/surgical-ergonomic-podcast-promotional-discount Disclosure:  Smart Step Surgical is a paid sponsor and the affiliate link above supports the podcast at no cost to you. They also provide our podcast listeners with a discount (20%), so we hope that it is a win-win! Episode details: What starts as "just another ache" can gradually become a career-ending injury. Whether you're early in training or decades into practice, this episode is a reminder that taking care of your body isn't a luxury—it's an investment in your career longevity.  About Our Guest Dr. Melanie Seybt is a board-certified Otolaryngologist with fellowship training in head and neck endocrine surgery.  She has been on faculty at the Medical College of Georgia as an Assistant professor where she also served as the co-director of the MCG Thyroid Center. She subsequently practiced as a high volume thyroid and parathyroid surgeon with Palmetto ENT and Allergy in South Carolina. After years in practice, repetitive work-related shoulder injuries ultimately forced her into early retirement from clinical work. She now advocates for greater awareness of surgical ergonomics, career longevity, and protecting surgeons from preventable musculoskeletal injuries.  In this episode, you'll learn:  Why persistent shoulder pain should never be dismissed as "part of being a surgeon."  How repetitive overhead work contributed to multiple rotator cuff tears and failed repairs.  The hidden ergonomic challenges faced by many ENT and endocrine surgeons.  Why women surgeons may face additional ergonomic risks related to stature, equipment design, and midlife hormonal changes.  How small ergonomic changes, such as proper positioning and height adjustments, might reduce long-term injury risk.  Why surgeons often delay seeking care, underestimate recovery time, and continue working despite significant injury.  The emotional impact of losing a surgical identity and navigating medical retirement.  What every surgeon should know about disability insurance, documentation, and protecting their future career.Follow Surgical Ergonomics on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube 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 podcast If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a colleague or your perioperative team to help bring greater awareness to the role of ergonomics in career longevity. If you're enjoying the podcast, I'd be grateful if you left a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your reviews help others discover the show and support our mission of improving the health and longevity of surgeons and proceduralists worldwide.

    When Injuries End a Surgical Career with Otolaryngologist Dr. Melanie Seybt

  6. Jun 29

    How Lighting Affects Performance, Fatigue, and Musculoskeletal Health in the Operating Room with Visual Ergonomist Dr. Hillevi Hemphala

    This episode of the podcast is sponsored by Sunoptic Surgical. You can learn about them and schedule a demo via   https://sunopticsurgical.com/surgicalergonomics/ Disclosure:  Sunoptic Surgical is a paid sponsor and the affiliate link above supports the podcast at no cost to you.  When we think about surgical ergonomics, we often focus on posture, equipment, and operating room setup. But what if one of the biggest contributors to fatigue, performance, and musculoskeletal strain is something we rarely consider—the visual environment? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Hillevi Hemphälä Assistant Professor at Lund University and one of the world's leading experts in visual ergonomics. Drawing on her unique background as both an optometrist and lighting designer, she explains how lighting influences not only what we see, but how we perform, feel, and function in the operating room. In this episode, you'll learn: Dr. Hemphälä's journey from optometrist to visual ergonomics researcher led her to uncover the important relationship between lighting, performance, and musculoskeletal health.Why poor operating room lighting affects more than visual comfort—and how glare and excessive brightness may contribute to fatigue, workflow challenges, and patient safety.The fascinating research demonstrating that eye strain is associated with increased neck and shoulder muscle activity, providing another pathway by which poor visual environments may contribute to work-related musculoskeletal disorders.Why "more light" isn't always better, including the surprising finding that healthcare workers may require up to two minutes to fully recover visual performance after exposure to excessively bright surgical lighting.Practical recommendations for improving lighting in both open and minimally invasive operating rooms, including strategies that healthcare organizations can implement to create safer and more ergonomic work environments.Simple techniques you can use to identify glare and problematic LED flicker in your own office or workspace, and what to do about it.Articles referenced: Visual Ergonomics in Open surgery: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1477153520903355 VERAM https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-74605-6_92 Dr. Hemphala thanks the Bertil och Britt Svenssons Stiftelse för Belysningsteknik (Bertil and Britt Svensson’s Foundation for Illumination Technology) for financial support. Follow Surgical Ergonomics on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube 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 podcast If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a colleague or your perioperative team to help bring greater awareness to the role of ergonomics in career longevity. If you're enjoying the podcast, I'd be grateful if you left a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your reviews help others discover the show and support our mission of improving the health and longevity of surgeons and proceduralists worldwide.

    How Lighting Affects Performance, Fatigue, and Musculoskeletal Health in the Operating Room with Visual Ergonomist Dr. Hillevi Hemphala

  7. Jun 15

    How Basic Interventions Can Improve Ergonomics With Pediatric Otolaryngologist Dr. Deborah Kacmarynski

    This episode of the podcast is sponsored by Sunoptic Surgical. You can learn about them and schedule a demo via   https://sunopticsurgical.com/surgicalergonomics/ Disclosure:  Sunoptic Surgical is a paid sponsor and the affiliate link above supports the podcast at no cost to you.  Dr. Deborah Kacmarynski, is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at the University of Iowa, working at Stead Family Children’s Hospital as a pediatric otolaryngologist and a cleft and craniofacial surgeon with co-directorship for the cleft and craniofacial team.   Her research focuses on biomedical collaborations with oral cleft and craniofacial surgical problems including craniofacial airway, tissue engineering solution development, outcomes research and patient-centered outcomes research collaboratives.  Prior to medicine, she worked as a biomedical engineer in process and product development at 3M Company which continues to influence her  approach to improving patient care, surgeries and processes. In this episode, Dr. Kacmarynski: - Shares her journey from being an engineer at 3M to becoming a pediatric otolaryngologist - Describes how her interest in surgical ergonomics evolved very early in training and practice due to a combination of her attention to safety as an engineer,  underlying conditions and her desire to preserve her function through the rigors of surgical training - Shares how she ensures that her trainees understand the importance of basic interventions such as attention to changing posture, taking breaks and stretches inside and outside the OR - Provides her routine for good ergonomics - setting cases up differently, adopting deflection loupes, physical therapy exercises, massage therapy etc. - Shares how learners and surgical leaders can take the lead on driving increased attention to physical being and ergonomics in procedural workspaces Follow Surgical Ergonomics on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube 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 podcast If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a colleague or your perioperative team to help bring greater awareness to the role of ergonomics in career longevity. If you're enjoying the podcast, I'd be grateful if you left a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your reviews help others discover the show and support our mission of improving the health and longevity of surgeons and proceduralists worldwide.

    How Basic Interventions Can Improve Ergonomics With Pediatric Otolaryngologist Dr. Deborah Kacmarynski

  8. Jun 1

    How Hospital Leaders and Professional Societies Can Drive Improved Ergonomics with Surgeon-Executive Dr. David Berger

    This episode of the podcast is sponsored by Smart Step Surgical LLC. You can learn about them and schedule a demo via https://www.smartstepsurgical.com/blogs/news/surgical-ergonomic-podcast-promotional-discount Disclosure:  Smart Step Surgical is a paid sponsor and the affiliate link above supports the podcast at no cost to you. They also provide our podcast listeners with a discount (20%), so we hope that it is a win-win! Dr. David Berger is  a physician executive and former hospital CEO turned digital health advisor — helping early-stage startups and healthcare investors navigate the complexity of building and scaling in the healthcare system. With 30+ years of leadership experience in care delivery, he now works with founders and VCs to bring clinically sound, operationally feasible innovation to market.   In this episode Dr. Berger: - Shares details about his career pivots, including his journey dealing with work-related MSK issues  - Describes how he navigated coming back to work after the multiple surgeries he needed, including altering his practice from full-scale surgical oncology to do mainly shorter cases due to ongoing symptoms - Discusses how hospital leaders (including Chairs of Surgery) can and should track lost days of work from MSK injury and support initiatives aimed at improving ergonomics in procedural specialties. - Shares why and how surgical societies, including the American College of Surgeons  and the ACGME can take steps to highlight the issue of the high rates of MSK injuries among surgeons You can reach Dr. Berger via his Linked in profile here. Follow Surgical Ergonomics on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube 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 podcast If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a colleague or your perioperative team to help bring greater awareness to the role of ergonomics in career longevity. If you're enjoying the podcast, I'd be grateful if you left a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your reviews help others discover the show and support our mission of improving the health and longevity of surgeons and proceduralists worldwide.

    How Hospital Leaders and Professional Societies Can Drive Improved Ergonomics with Surgeon-Executive Dr. David Berger
See All (42)

5
out of 5
18 Ratings

About

This podcast will discuss everything relating to surgical and procedural  ergonomics i.e. the people, ideas and technology that will help enhance your physical wellness and career longevity. 

Information

  • Creator
    Geeta Lal MD
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    42
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Surgical Ergonomics
  • Show Website
    Surgical Ergonomics

You Might Also Like