Study on the benefits of video games for surgeons has an interesting irony . . .

[BaliBabyDoc]

CNN

Surgeons who warmed up by playing video games like "Super Monkey Ball" for 20 minutes immediately prior to performing surgical drills were faster and made fewer errors than those who did not, said Dr. James "Butch" Rosser, lead investigator on the study slated for release Wednesday.
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Doctors were measured on their performance of the "cobra rope" drill, a standard laparoscopic training exercise used to teach how to sew up an internal wound.

Researchers found that surgeons who played video games immediately before the drill completed it an average of 11 seconds faster than those who did not.

Any errors committed during the training lengthened the time it took to complete the task -- indicating that faster finishers made fewer mistakes.

At first glance, I thought this study was just mildly interesting. It was kinda funny the lead author used to play Pong in the dark ages. Then the real gem came at the end.

His ultimate goal is to clamp down on medical errors that are estimated to contribute to 100,000 deaths each year in the United States by giving surgeons training tools akin to flight simulators used by pilots.

"We can't practice on patients," he said.

Uhh . . . yeah we do. Granted, no one was crazy enough to let me run a blade during a laparoscopic procedure in med school but I cut a whole bunch of people . . . and the only thing worse than my suturing was my staple gun skills. For the record, I didn't kill anyone . . . to my knowledge.

Don't go to the hospital in July . . .

 

[CaptnKirk]

I'm not sure which would be a more exciting game . . .

Capture the Pancreas

or

Invade the Isles of Langerhans


Milton Bradley

 

[PingSpike]

They also played Innerspace II: Escape from Martin Short's Anus.