Recently the movie ‘Pushpa’ was creating waves in India. One of the famous scenes in the movie is when the protagonist/hero of the movie vehemently declares that he will not bend. His dialogue reminds me of a great cardiac surgeon who was in AIIMS, New Delhi.
While doing his junior residency in MS General Surgery at AIIMS, New Delhi, Dr. Dev (fictional name) was posted in the Cardio-Thoracic-Vascular Surgery (CTVS) department on rotational posting during. Once, he was assisting in the operation of CABG, cardiac bypass grafting, in which the vein of the leg was taken and attached as a bypass graft between the Aorta and the heart arteries for blockage of the heart arteries. While the chief surgeon was busy doing the main part of the operation in the chest region, Dr. Dev was suturing the skin and subcutaneous tissue in the leg.
As the leg was at a lower level than the chest, Dr. Dev bent at his waist level and was stitching the wound. Dr. Murli (fictional name) who was his batchmate and was posted in the adjoining operation theater (OT) came to see what was going on in that theatre.
On seeing Dr. Dev bending while applying the stitches, he remarked, ‘Dr. Dev you are lucky that you are not posted in my OT with Professor Sampath Kumar. Dr. Sampath is very particular in having a good posture while working in OT. According to him a surgeon should always stand straight and never bend while performing surgery. If he sees some trainee surgeon take a stitch while bending, he will ask the trainee to remove the stitch and apply it once again while standing in the correct posture.’
Not just for surgeons but poor posture at work if ignored and not actively avoided can lead to chronic pain, fatigue, poor performance, and productivity. This is so important that a branch of science, Ergonomics is devoted to the study of people in their working environment to improve safety and reduce chances of injury.
Some recommendations for people working for a prolonged period while sitting at their desk are:
Choose a chair with good lower back support.
The chair should be adequate width and depth with proper padding. There should be a gap of around 2 inches between the edge of the chair and the back of your knees.
The chair should have an adjustable armrest so that your arms rest gently on them with your shoulders in a relaxed neutral position.
While sitting, the thighs should be parallel or slightly inclined upwards so that your knees are at the level or slightly higher than your hips. Your feet should rest flat on the floor. The height of the chair should be adjusted or use a footrest. You can use other items such as a small stool, empty boxes, etc. if a proper footrest is not available.
Keep routinely used objects such as your telephone, mouse, highlighters, stapler, etc. close to you to minimize twisting, bending, or overstretching to reach them.
Use a speakerphone or headset to use the phone while working. Avoid cradling the phone between your head and neck.
The monitor should be directly in front of your eyes, around 2 to 2½ feet from you. The top of the screen should be slightly below your eye level as our eyes are most comfortable position while seeing objects 10-15 degrees below the eye level.
The monitor and the keyboard should be in a straight line.
The keyboard should be about an inch above elbow level.
The mouse should be close to you and on the same level as the keyboard. Try to learn using the mouse with both hands and alternate between them.
There should be adequate space under the desk for your knees, thighs, and legs. The legs can be easily moved and stretched.
🎯 Be aware of your posture while working. Avoid bad posture even if it is easy in the short term. Learn and practice good posture so that it becomes a habit. Take the service of a physiotherapist or ergonomist to get professional advice if needed. You can also search on the internet for specific advice for your particular job or working condition.
Lastly, if Pushpa was the resident of Dr. Sampath Kumar he might have said something like this:
Professor Sampath is my Guru's name
This disciple will not bend
NB: This is not a scientific article. Please verify the facts yourself before trying anything.
— ND
(Based on allegedly true incident.)
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DISCLAIMER: This article is intended only for fun purposes. The author does not promote or recommend any behavior illustrated here or claim it to be useful. Use the information herein is at your one's own risk. Before trying to emulate or follow anything the reader is well advised to take into account ethical, moral, legal, and other considerations. The author recommends that Medical Practice should be of the highest ethical and moral level keeping in mind the interest of the patient as foremost. The author recommends that Medical Education should be of the highest ethical and moral level keeping in mind the interest of the patient as foremost and according to NMC and other Board norms.
/sO9kswqqAgqTPYFbhMVdhttps://record.reverb.chat/s/sO9kswqqAgqTPYFbhMVd
NB: This is not a scientific article. Please verify the facts yourself before trying anything.
— ND
(Based on allegedly true incident.)
© Author. All rights reserved.
Please share this post on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.
If viewing from Mobile, switch to Webpage view to see a list of popular posts and index of topics of previous posts.
Please give your valuable feedback via the comments below. Please note that comments will appear later only after moderation. Please Log in with Google Id before writing comments.
You can receive a notification on the latest post by subscribing via clicking on the bottom of the page on the Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
DISCLAIMER: This article is intended only for fun purposes. The author does not promote or recommend any behavior illustrated here or claim it to be useful. Use the information herein is at your one's own risk. Before trying to emulate or follow anything the reader is well advised to take into account ethical, moral, legal, and other considerations. The author recommends that Medical Practice should be of the highest ethical and moral level keeping in mind the interest of the patient as foremost. The author recommends that Medical Education should be of the highest ethical and moral level keeping in mind the interest of the patient as foremost and according to NMC and other Board norms.
Excellent post sir 🙏🙏🙏
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