At Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Tara Cohen (’15, ’17) is on a mission to make healthcare safer for both patients and the medical teams who care for them. She applies two graduate degrees in human factors into the insights that transform operating rooms into safer, more efficient environments. “Surgeons will put themselves in harm’s way,” she says, describing her commitment to designing systems that protect medical professionals while ensuring optimal patient outcomes. “Seeing our ideas improve real lives—that’s what drives me,” she explains.
Pioneering Research and Surgical Ergonomics
Cohen’s role at Cedars-Sinai reflects the institution she serves. Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles is one of the nation’s leading nonprofit academic medical centers, known for providing top-tier patient care and groundbreaking research. As a teaching hospital, Cedars-Sinai is also dedicated to advancing medical education and training the next generation of healthcare professionals.
“I wear a lot of different hats,” she shares. As director of Surgical Safety and Human Factors Research, she addresses urgent challenges that rank among the top risks to patient safety and healthcare quality: communication breakdowns, threats to psychosocial safety, and physical and mental strain on healthcare providers.
One key project involved redesigning the operating-room turnover process, which reduced delays and enhanced efficiency. “In one phase of our project, we realized cleaning teams were performing exhaustive terminal cleans between surgeries when a simpler process would suffice,” Cohen explains. By refining this approach, her team only improved workflow but also boosted morale among the staff.
Dr. Ironman?
Beyond patient safety, Cohen works to protect surgeons from physical harm. She studies surgical ergonomics, focusing on how the surgical environment can be improved and adapted to prevent repetitive motion injuries and other physical strain. “Surgeons stand in awkward positions with poorly designed tools that often fail to fit their hands,” she notes, emphasizing the impact of these conditions. This led her to co-found the Society of Surgical Ergonomics, bringing together human factors engineers, surgeons, anesthesiologists and physical/occupational therapists to advocate for better-designed surgical work systems.
Among the advances are wearable devices, such as exoskeletons, which could reduce the physical strain on surgeons during long procedures, helping them maintain proper posture and alleviate stress on muscles and joints, ultimately improving endurance and reducing the risk of injury. “We’ve learned that many surgeons have to adapt their practice or leave the field entirely because they’ve been injured at work or over time from standing for hours with their bodies contorted,” she says. However, she acknowledges the need for hospital investment to make these innovations widely available.
Bringing Human Factors to Healthcare Training
Cohen is dedicated to educating healthcare professionals on the principles of human factors, which can improve safety, efficiency and well-being across the healthcare system. “In most cases, people have no idea what human factors is,” she says, describing the lightbulb moment when medical staff understand how these concepts can change outcomes. Her teaching focuses on human factors methods that can be applied to investigate critical areas like reducing medication errors and improving teamwork during care, both of which are recognized by healthcare organizations as persistent threats to patient safety.
Cohen helped develop high-fidelity trauma simulation scenarios to understand factors influencing team performance during trauma surgeries. This training incorporated the use of cut suits, which are realistic training tools that allow for surgical procedures to be simulated, enhancing the learning experience and research outcomes.
Professor Scott Shappell’s Nudge
Cohen’s path to human factors began in California, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Southern California. Initially considering architecture, she shifted to psychology to study how people interact with their environments. It was Scott Shappell, a professor and chair of the Department of Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology at Embry-Riddle, who responded to her query about human factors and then guided her to apply this expertise to healthcare. “He helped me realize that applying human factors to healthcare was where I could make the most meaningful impact,” she recalls.
Her decision was solidified after watching many high-stakes medical activities as a student. “I observed cardiac surgeries and trauma resuscitations focused on disruptions to the flow of care, and I was hooked,” she says. Witnessing firsthand how communication breakdowns, inadequate environments and poorly designed tools and technology could put lives at risk inspired her drive to improve healthcare systems.
Collaborating with Embry-Riddle
Cohen continues to collaborate with Elizabeth Lazzara, an associate professor in the Department of Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology, Joseph Keebler and Shawn Doherty, professors in the same department. As adjunct faculty, she stays connected to the university, serving on dissertation committees and reviewing research proposals.
Her advice for students? “Learn as much as you can, get involved and don’t be afraid to try new things,” she says, knowing firsthand the power of interdisciplinary learning. Cohen’s commitment to human factors continues to make a significant impact in healthcare, ensuring that both patients and providers are better protected from risks that once seemed inevitable.