Applications are invited for a funded PhD to study ways of reducing noise during orthopaedic surgeries at Memorial University of Newfoundland.
We recently completed a study where we found that orthopaedic operating rooms can have peak noise levels above 135 dB SPL when using drills, saws and hammers. Moreover, we found that orthopaedic surgeons experience a temporary threshold shift after performing surgery, suggesting that operating room staff are at risk of hearing loss.
To continue this line of research, we are looking for a PhD student who is interested in exploring noise mitigation in the orthopaedic operating room. The ideal candidate would be interested in exploring this question from both an occupational health and safety perspective (i.e., hearing protection), and from an engineering perspective (i.e., designing hammers, drills or saws that produce less noise).
The student will have the opportunity to work with a team of surgeons, engineers, hearing scientists, and social scientists as part of their PhD. The area of study for the PhD could be in Medicine, Engineering, or in the Interdisciplinary Program, and will be decided by the student in consultation with the research team before they apply for admission.
Interested applicants should reach out directly to Dr. Benjamin Zendel (bzendel@xxxxxx) with an up-to-date CV and brief cover letter. Applications will be reviewed as they come in, and we will continue to accept applications until a suitable candidate is found. We hope to have a candidate in place by Sept 2026, but we would accept start dates as late at Sept 2027.