This story is a little outdated but it is information that most people do not know and whenever someone learns finds very interesting. In a small victory for video game geeks around the word the government has actually conducted an empirical academic study which has revealed that surgeons who play video games regularly perform 34% better than those who don’t. The organizers of the study understood that there is a certain mind to muscle connection that is made when people learn how to play video games and in order to play video games takes a great deal of hand eye coordination. The organizers of the study wanted to test if there may be a direct correlation between video games and hand to eye coordination in surgeons. If so, how could the skill developed learning to play video games translate to real world actions such as conducting delicate surgery or suturing.
One of the most popular training methods for young surgeons is something called the Top Gun program which is an “Advanced Laparoscopic Skills and Suturing Program“. The study took all the students who who enrolled in this program and broke them in to two segments, those who play video games regularly and those who do not. Then monitored how each of the students performed over the course of the program.
The study Concluded: “Video game skill correlates with laparoscopic surgical skills. Training curricula that include video games may help thin the technical interface between surgeons and screen-mediated applications, such as laparoscopic surgery. Video games may be a practical teaching tool to help train surgeons.”
Video Game Surgeon Study Highlights
- Student who played video games committed 32% fewer surgical errors
- Students who played video games completed exams 26% faster
- Overall test scores were 33% higher for students who play video games
- Students who played video games more then 3 hours a week scored 42% higher then everyone who does not
Read & Download The Full Study Here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17309970
Again, not breaking news but this is information that might just change the next surgeon you pick and might help you feel a little better about all the young people in the world playing games. Some surgeons and hospitals have actually used the information gained in this study to change the way they go about business. For example some hospitals are actually doctors to “warm up” before surgery by playing video games for at least 6 minutes prior to surgery: http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/surgeons-play-video-games-to-prepare-for-surgery/
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