USA vs. UK: ASGBI Ep. 5 - Sustainable Surgical Practices

The evidence for climate change is irrefutable. But how does surgical care contribute to global emissions, and is there anything we can do to make surgery more sustainable? Join Jon Williams and our ASGBI partners for the next installment of our BTK/ASGBI collaborative series, where we discuss how to make surgical care greener. Mrs. Cleo Kennington from the UK and Dr. Benjamin Miller from the US are our guest experts, and provide valuable insights into local sustainability efforts you can take home to your hospital, broader concepts of how high-quality care is sustainable, innovations in sustainability, and what the future of sustainable surgery may look like. After listening, you get to decide–Who has more sustainable surgical practices? The UK or US?

Mrs. Cleo Kenington is a Consultant Emergency General and Trauma Surgeon at St George’s Hospital, London and was the recent ASGBI Sustainability Lead. She is a big advocate for practicing what she preaches, focusing on how we can reduce the environmental impact at all stages, from cycling to work, preventing complications and unnecessary surgeries, to reducing the use of disposable surgical components.

Dr. Benjamin Miller is a general and minimally invasive surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, with a clinical focus on complex abdominal wall reconstruction. After earning his MD from University of Minnesota School of Medicine in 2011, Dr. Miller went to Nashville to complete his general surgery residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Following this, he became a MIS/complex ab wall fellow at Cleveland Clinic, after which he joined as faculty in 2023. In addition to his clinical interests, Dr. Miller has a deep passion for sustainability efforts within surgical practice, carrying on the legacy of established sustainability efforts within surgical care at Cleveland Clinic and training the next generation of sustainable surgeons.

If you enjoyed this episode, stay tuned for more upcoming BTK/ASGBI collaborative content. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to us at hello@behindtheknife.org.

Please visit https://behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.

If you liked this episode, check out our recent episodes here: https://app.behindtheknife.org/listen