Driving institutional change in surgical ergonomics

Marc S. Rubin,MD is a colon and rectal surgeon who has been practicing on Boston’s North Shore for 30 years. He is Chair of the department of surgery at Mass General Brigham – Salem hospital, previously served as Division Chief of Community Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and is an Assistant Professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. Nationally, he is a past Governor of the American College of Surgeons and has served as an Associate Editor of the journal Diseases of the Colon and Rectum.
In this episode, Dr. Rubin:

- Tells us about his own journey with musculoskeletal symptoms pertaining to his neck, which ultimately led to a career-altering injury

- Emphasizes that surgical leaders need to take an active role in not only shining a light on the problem of work-related repetitive strain injuries among surgeons but also work to help remedy the current situation

- Shares how he advocated for ergonomics coaching and equipment  with administration at his institution by making both a wellness and financial case

- Stresses the importance of including all the stakeholders when advocating for ergonomic changes in procedural areas (which might have helped reduce some of the pushback and barriers to implementation) i

- Points out that education may not be effective on its own and it is therefore important to hardwire changes in the environment so that good ergonomics is the default situation 

- Shares his own experience with my video-based ergonomics coaching (using AI based proprietary software developed by my partner Linda Miller) and how it helped improve his ergonomics both inside and outside the OR

- Suggests that we need to work with our hospitals and specialty societies to develop ergonomics guidelines that can implemented without being burdensome

- Recommends that we work to make safe spaces for early reporting of symptoms so that employees can get the help they need before injuries become chronic or permanent

You can reach Dr. Rubin here.

You can learn more about Sugical Ergonomics coaching I offer here.

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