More specifically, "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."

The test was conducted on 303 surgeons as they performed laprascopic drills.

You can read the entire article here.

On a personal note, I remember reading years and years ago how surgeon's change room often had an arcade machine (usually Pac-Man). Those among us who play these games know how it can help your hand eye coordination, so it's natural to assume that it would carry over to this sort of procedure, which is basically using a controller and watching a video screen.

Certainly it wouldn't make you a better surgeon from a clinical standpoint, just like clicking a button to shoot a gun in a game doesn't make you a marksman. But reaction time and hand-eye coordination are definite benefits. I hope to see more of these studies in the future.

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