103 - Anna Roe Rasmussen - What happens when a doctor applies the rigour of clinical research to the carbon footprint of surgery? - The Sustainable Healthcare Podcast | Lyssna här

What happens when a doctor applies the rigour of clinical research to the carbon footprint of surgery?

In this episode, Frederik speaks with Anna Roe Rasmussen, MD, MSc Health Policy — a scientific researcher at the Regional Unit for the Green Transition in Region Zealand.

Anna recently defended her PhD at the University of Copenhagen and the Technical University of Denmark, where she applied lifecycle assessment (LCA) to total hip replacement surgery, working towards the integration of environmental impact into clinical decision-making.

About Anna:
Anna has spent over a decade at the intersection of climate and health — as a co-founder of Doctors for Climate Denmark (Læger for Klimaet), as part of the working group that drafted the Danish Medical Association's climate and health policy (published 2022), and as a scientific researcher applying LCA methodology to surgical care pathways.

Three things you'll take away:

Why the field needs to distinguish more clearly between carbon footprint screenings and full ISO-compliant LCAs — and what gets lost when clinicians can't tell the difference.
Why specialty-level carbon literacy is the missing link between organisational sustainability targets and meaningful action on the ground in clinical departments.
Why acting — finding someone to act with — is Anna's personal antidote to climate anxiety.

Timestamps:

00:00 — Introduction
03:00 — Anna's PhD: applying LCA to total hip replacement surgery
08:00 — From medical student at COP to co-founding Doctors for Climate Denmark
10:00 — The Danish Medical Association's 2022 climate and health policy
13:00 — A passionate but fragmented global movement of healthcare workers
17:00 — The publication explosion in healthcare LCA — and why quality must keep pace
21:00 — Carbon screening vs. ISO-compliant LCA: the precision vs. direction trade-off
27:00 — Specialty-level carbon literacy as the next step for healthcare decarbonisation
33:00 — Carbon budgets and financial budgets: an uncomfortable but necessary analogy
38:00 — The hard conversations healthcare systems avoid
41:00 — What makes Anna hopeful: engaged colleagues and the power of acting together

References and links mentioned:

ISO 14040/14044 standards for lifecycle assessment (see iso.org)
DTU Centre for Absolute Sustainability
Doctors for Climate Denmark / Læger for Klimaet — Facebook [Joachim/Frederik: add official website if available]
Danish Medical Association climate and health policy 2022 [Frederik: add direct link]
International Federation of Medical Students' Associations: ifmsa.org

Guest links: