Session Design Submission Review

Yes

• Citizenship and Global Responsibility

Climate change is already impacting vulnerable populations worldwide and its negative effects on global health are set to become one of the greatest challenges of the 21^st century. The healthcare industry is responsible for 8-10% of carbon emissions in the United States, similar to the 10% contributed by the agriculture industry, and significantly higher than the 5.5% from the military. In order to avoid the worst effects of climate change, every industry will need to significantly decarbonize its activities to achieve a 45% reduction of carbon emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050 – including healthcare. The operating room is particularly energy-intensive and wasteful compared to other areas in the hospital, creating an opportunity for improvement not available to others. As surgeons, we are ethically called to mitigate climate change as key stakeholders in the interventions that will reduce our carbon emissions.

Many of the interventions already being conducted to mitigate surgery’s impact on the climate are a response to advocacy from healthcare workers at an institutional level. However, there will be increasing incentives to integrate these projects more widely from professional bodies, regulators, and the general public. Sustainability has already been included as one of the domains of healthcare quality since the Institute of Medicine’s landmark report “Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century” and a more visible role of climate change in our everyday lives will expand this domain to include environmental sustainability.

As surgical educators, we have the opportunity to include environmental sustainability action as part of the non-procedural skills taught in surgical training. By building on the fundamentals of climate change covered during the 2024 annual meeting workshop: “A Surgeon’s Role in Mitigating Climate Change: Finding Opportunities to Reduce Carbon Emissions in Our Everyday Lives as Surgeons,” the proposed panel will present up-to-date evidence on the main sources of carbon emissions from surgical services and the interventions to mitigate them.  The target panel for this audience will be surgical educators and trainees.

Participants will leave the panel empowered with deeper knowledge of our impact on climate change and the role of surgical educators in training the next generation of environmentally-conscious surgeons.

Identify the main sources of carbon emissions from surgical services

Rank potential interventions to mitigate the impact of surgical services on climate change by feasibility and effectiveness

Integrate climate change science with healthcare quality improvement into curricular solutions to mitigate climate change

Recognize the role for surgical educators in training the next generation of environmentally conscious surgeons