By Christina Frangou

An upcoming meeting of the International Hernia Collaboration will feature a surgeon wellness center where surgeons can access one-on-one appointments with different alternative wellness practitioners.

Organizers say the unconventional addition to the surgical conference is an attempt to raise awareness of poor physical and mental health in the surgical workforce.

“We need to look after ourselves as well as our patients. If the surgeon suffers, obviously the patient suffers, too,” said conference organizer Talar Tejirian, MD, a California surgeon who stopped performing surgery in 2019 after developing chronic pain after surgery for a herniated disk.

Dr. Tejirian said organizers want to introduce surgeons to wellness practices other than massage, yoga and physical therapy, traditional approaches for addressing work-related aches, pains and stress.

The treatments available at the conference include Pilates, shamanic healing, rolfing structural integration therapy and occupational therapy. They were selected by conference organizers because IHC members said they’d benefited from these practices.

Brian Jacob, MD, an associate professor of surgery at Mount Sinai Health System, in New York City, and a hernia and chronic pain specialist in private practice, invited shaman Payam Rahimian to the conference. Dr. Jacob sought care from Mr. Rahimian for help with his mental health.

“I found it life-changing, as it allowed me to work through deeper concepts that traditional therapy failed to do,” Dr. Jacob said.

The IHC, which was established in 2012 to connect surgeons around the world through informal mentorships and social media, will meet in Costa Rica April 5-7.

In addition to the surgeon wellness center, the conference will feature two days of presentations on hernia techniques from surgeons representing nine countries.