Surgeons Who Play Video Games Err Less

April 7, 2004

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NEW YORK -- All those years on the couch playing Nintendo and PlayStation

appear to be paying off for surgeons.

Researchers found that doctors who spent at least three hours a week playing

video games made about 37 percent fewer mistakes in laparoscopic surgery and

performed the task 27 percent faster than their counterparts who did not

play video games.

" I use the same hand-eye coordination to play video games as I use for

surgery, " said Dr. " Butch " Rosser, 49, who demonstrated the results of

his study Tuesday at Beth Israel Medical Center.

Laparoscopic surgery -- using a tiny camera and instruments controlled by

joysticks outside the body -- is performed on just about any part of the

body, from an appendix to the colon and gall bladder.

The minimally intrusive surgery involves making tiny keyhole incisions,

inserting a mini-video camera that sends images to an external video screen,

with the surgical tools remote-controlled by the surgeon watching the

screen. Surgeons can now practice their techniques through video

simulations.

Rosser said the skill needed for laparoscopic surgery is " like tying your

shoelaces with 3-foot-long chopsticks. "

" Yes, here we go! " said Rosser, sitting in front of a Super Monkey Ball

game, which shoots a ball into a confined goal. " This is a nice, wholesome

game. No blood and guts. But I need the same kind of skill to go into a body

and sew two pieces of intestine together. "

The study on whether good video game skills translate into surgical prowess

was done by researchers with Beth Israel and the National Institute on Media

and the Family at Iowa State University. It was based on testing 33 fellow

doctors -- 12 attending physicians and 21 medical school residents who

participated from May to August 2003.

Each doctor completed three video game tasks that tested such factors as

motor skills, reaction time and hand-eye coordination.

The study " landmarks the arrival of Generation X into medicine, " said the

study's co-author, Dr. J. Lynch, a Beth Israel anesthesiologist who has

studied the effects of video games for years.

Kurt Squire, a University of Wisconsin researcher of video game effects on

learning, said that " with a video game, you can definitely develop timing

and a sense of touch, as well as a very intuitive feel for manipulating

devices. "

Squire, who was not involved in Rosser's project, said applying such games

to surgery training " could play a key role in preparing medical health

professionals. "

Beth Israel is now experimenting with applying the findings.

Rosser has developed a course called Top Gun, in which surgical trainees

warm up their coordination, agility and accuracy with a video game before

entering the operating room.

" It's like a good football player, " Rosser said, " you have to warm up

first. "

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April 7, 2004

Now this is interesting to me and I can see the benefits and correlation

between the two in terms of fine motor skills. However! I remember

watching a 20/20 show where they were examining the terribly addictive video

game 'Everquest'. I tuned into that show because my husband at the time,

was too addicted to it - he'd spend hours playing it and have no realization

of how much time had passed.

Well, one of the people they focused on was a cardiac surgeon who spent most

of his day doing open heart procedures. What he did at night though after

work was rather disturbing to me. They showed him beginning his work day at

around 7:00 am each weekday, and he'd leave the hospital about 12 hours

later - this was normal for him. He'd go home and login to the Everquest

game and have two monitors attached to one gaming system in the middle of

the familyroom while his kids watched television or played by themselves.

As a dad, he completely ignored them for the want of the game. His wife

reported that he'd often not go to bed until well after midnight, not

usually until well after 3:00 am on some occasions - only to get up and be

in the operating room three hours later! Shocking, because here was a man

who couldn't possibly have had enough rest to function optimally I should

think yet, off he went.

I am sure that after that show aired, there was a decline in elective

procedures for him, I wouldn't want to see him!!

Jill

April 7, 2004