The Hidden Toll of Veterinary Medicine with Dr. Sara White

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. Sara White is a veterinarian and has worked in mixed animal, small animal, shelter medicine and High-Quality, High-Volume Spay Neuter (HQHVSN) practices. Since 2006, Sara has operated Spay ASAP Inc, a nonprofit MASH-style mobile spay/neuter clinic. While working in spay-neuter, Sara developed an interest in ergonomics, health, wellbeing, and injury in veterinarians and staff, and  completed a Masters of Science in Health Ergonomics from University of Derby in the UK. She has been named Veterinarian of the Year by the Association of Shelter Veterinarians, coauthored the Association of Shelter Veterinarians Spay Neuter Guidelines and is the editor of the textbook High-Quality, High-Volume Spay and Neuter and Other Shelter Surgeries In this episode, Dr. White:- Shares her journey into working in a high-volume spay/neuter practice and how that sparked her interest in ergonomics-Describes the high rate of work-related MSK injuries among veterinarians and especially those in high volume spay-neuter practices. The period prevalence of MSD was 99.1%, with 76.7% experiencing hand or wrist pain and 98.2% experiencing body pain. Further details can be found here: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/3/1/85- Emphasizes that increasing career length, increasing weekly hours in surgery and decreasing job satisfaction were the work-related factors with the greatest relative risk of hand pain severity and total pain. Interestingly, gender differences were not as prominent in her study, possibly because of the lack of instrument and hand size mismatch in the veterinary population- Shares that there wasn't any formal ergonomics training when she trained in veterinary medicine, however, there is now some incorporation of ergonomics teaching in programs and textbooks- Describes her journey into coaching veterinarians about ergonomicsYou can reach Dr. White via her website ergovet.com or via LinkedInFollow 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 podcastIf 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.