Dr. Pamela Hess is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions in the Department of Occupational Therapy, with a joint appointment in the Department of Surgery. Her clinical background includes inpatient acute care pelvic health. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Care Administration and a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy, specializing in women's health and surgical ergonomics and wellbeing. In her current role, she is developing programmatic initiatives to support the surgeon’s wellbeing in the out of the OR. Lastly, she is also a certified pilates instructor.

In this episode, Dr. Hess:

a) Shares her personal journey, training and how she became interested in surgical ergonomics

b) Explains the details and components of the Comprehensive Operating Room Ergonomics (CORE) program she helped launch at the University of Indiana, where she worked prior to moving to Florida. The program was focused on preventing surgeon work-related musculoskeletal disorders and led to a publication in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy.

c) Emphasizes the importance of assessing work both inside and outside the operating room and highlights best practices including paying attention to one’s setup, posture and taking short breaks.

d) Stresses the importance of a strong core and provides information about Surgilates, a strength and stretching program she has developed (based on her Pilates training) specifically for surgeons and other personnel working in the OR.

e) Discusses some of the specific issues relating to ergonomics for women proceduralists, and provides tips for working in procedural areas while pregnant.

f) Reminds us that pelvic floor dysfunction can affect all proceduralists, regardless of sex, and consulting a physical therapist or occupational therapist is essential in this scenario.

You can follow Dr. Hess on LinkedIn and email her at pamgotr@gmail.com if you’re interested in surgical ergonomics coaching,

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Dr. M. Susan Hallbeck, PE, CPE is the Scientific Director of Human Factors Engineering and Professor of Health Care Systems Engineering in the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Healthcare Delivery and a Consultant in Health Care Delivery Research, as well as a Consultant in Surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Dr. Hallbeck is the Past-President of both the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) and the Society for Surgical Ergonomics. Dr. Hallbeck is a licensed professional engineer and a certified professional ergonomist.

In this episode, Dr. Hallbeck:

• Shares her personal journey, training and how she became interested in surgical ergonomics
• Defines the term “Ergonomics”, which is derived from the Greek words “ergon” meaning work and “nomos” meaning natural law.
• Shares that 60-80% of surgeons and procedural staff report suffering from work-related musculoskeletal (WRMSK) symptoms and that 50% of them fear that the symptoms will affect that career longevity
• Emphasizes that WRMSK symtoms have consequences for the individual health care worker (including being associated with burnout) and society as a whole.
• Provides some tips for healthcare workers wishing to improve their ergonomics both in and out of the operating room
• Discusses the importance of taking breaks and performing posture resets as an important ergonomic intervention which improved both physical and mental wellbeing, without increasing OR time. You can use the free OR stretch app to get started with taking breaks during procedures.
• Shares the initial results from the hand-size study being performed via the Society of Surgical Ergonomics. The purpose of the study is to better inform future instrument design by learning how surgeon hand and glove size correlate with grip strength and other variables. Please take a few minutes to contribute to this study here.
• You can follow Dr. Hallbeck on LinkedIn and access other important resources pertaining to her work here.

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