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Playing Video Games Makes For Better Surgeons

Steve Wallach writes "ABC News on line is reporting that surgeons that play video games at least three hours a week make 37% fewer mistakes in laparoscopic surgery and complete the surgery 27% faster than their non-video game playing colleagues. '"I use the same hand-eye coordination to play video games as I use for surgery," said Dr. James "Butch" Rosser, 49, who demonstrated the results of his study Tuesday at Beth Israel Medical Center.'"

33 of 201 comments (clear)

  1. Somehow by dj245 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Somehow I doubt that Harvard is going to accept high school students who took only business classes and write in big bold letters on their applications "I Kick Ass at Dr. Mario!!!"

    --
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  2. Yes but... by da3dAlus · · Score: 3, Funny

    What life skills are learned through car-jackings and running over of hookers from GTA? ;)

    --

    Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
    1. Re:Yes but... by JosKarith · · Score: 2, Funny

      Sim hospital. Perfect for learning those administrative tasks that you need to master in order to become a middle management consultant - the most essential level of the hospital infrastructure

      --
      'Don't worry' said the trees when they saw the axe coming, 'The handle is one of us.'
    2. Re:Yes but... by Zocalo · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'm more concerned with the surgeons who gain their 27% speed increase from performing incisions using a chainsaw instead of a scalpel myself... On the otherhand, it certainly gets the job done for amputations: Bzzzzzt! "OK, my work here is done. Stitch that up for me please, nurse..."

      --
      UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
    3. Re:Yes but... by JohnGrahamCumming · · Score: 5, Funny

      > What life skills are learned through car-jackings
      > and running over of hookers from GTA? ;)

      You obviously don't live in New York.

      John.

    4. Re:Yes but... by theLOUDroom · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'm more concerned with the surgeons who gain their 27% speed increase from performing incisions using a chainsaw instead of a scalpel myself.

      What you need to do is find a surgeon who can beat Hitman II using only the scalpel (a real weapon in the game).

      Of course it might get annoying that they keep sneaking up on you from behind......

      --
      Life is too short to proofread.
    5. Re:Yes but... by Bombcar · · Score: 3, Funny

      Scapel.

      Check.

      Tweezers.

      Check.

      Quad Damage.

      Check.

      ????!?!?!?!?!

    6. Re:Yes but... by Marsala · · Score: 2, Funny

      Just watch out for the ones who come bunnyhopping out of the pharmacy screaming "QUAD DAMAGE!"

  3. Certificates on the Wall by Dhericean · · Score: 2, Funny

    Does this mean surgeons are going to place screen shots of their high-scores next to their Diplomas on the Wall?

    --

    Gamma Testing - Where testing is extended to the full user community (AKA Shipping the Program)
  4. faster? by KillerLoop · · Score: 1, Funny

    I guess videogames indeed help a lot with efficient, fast surgery... ... and, of course, the surgeon's nickname "Butch".

  5. Surgeons Playing Videogames by ironwill96 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ha! They've been doing this for years. Its a boardgame called "Operation". Picture of Boardgame I never could get the pieces of the patient out without setting off the alarms. Hopefully the real doctors are good at this game.

    --
    "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - Tennyson
  6. Downsides... by MosesJones · · Score: 5, Funny


    Game playing doctors did however show a 25% increase in car-jacking, 14% increase in shooting incidents and 23% increase in slashing peoples throats with a knife.

    They also had 46% fewer complaints than other doctors but this could be attributed to other factors. One patient saying...

    "Would you complain to a guy who claims he is a crack shot with a railgun ?"

    --
    An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
  7. Of course it does by frankthechicken · · Score: 2, Funny

    Indeed I know for a fact that I wouldn't be half the surgeon I am today were it not for the hours I spent playing operation.

  8. Buying my surgeon a PS2 by The+I+Shing · · Score: 1, Funny

    I guess I'd better go buy my surgeon a PS2 or an XBox just to be on the safe side. Actually, I think his medical malpractice insurance company already sent him one.

    --
    You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
  9. At the surgery day ... by gustgr · · Score: 4, Funny

    Patient: "Hi doctor, how are you doing? Are you ready to start ?"

    Doctor: "Ohhh yeah .. I was playing some Quake I .. That Axe really rocks!"

    Patient: "Oh god..."

  10. Cheat Codes for Surgery by AtariAmarok · · Score: 5, Funny

    HAWKEYE PIERCE - Invincibility (on/off)

    FLY - Float around (invoked by taking nitrous)

    NOTARGET - Nurses don't see you (on/off)

    KEVORKIAN - Cut your losses and move to the next patient

    NOCLIP - Don't shave patient before incision

    STELSEWHERE - Teleport to other hospital

    GIVE S # - Gives you # retractors

    GIVE N # - Gives you # nails

    WALLETDRAIN - Remove contents of patient's bank account to pay for operation

    IMPULSE 9 - Gives all knives and tools

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  11. New signatures? by Tedium+Unleased · · Score: 5, Funny

    Some doctors sign their initials in marker next to the stitches after a surgery. That happened to me once and I was a little annoyed seeing it months later after removing my cast. I'd have been even more pissed if they signed "Ownt j00".

  12. Dr Butch? by spectasaurus · · Score: 2, Funny

    DrButch gonna frag yo ass.

  13. coming soon to the med. office near you... by BigGerman · · Score: 1, Funny

    Colon Strike 2004!

  14. This will certainly change TV... by The+Ultimate+Fartkno · · Score: 5, Funny



    Frightened parent: Doctor? Our son... how is he?

    Clooney: As you know, your son was hurt very badly in the accident. He lost a lot of blood and there was severe damage to his heart.

    Frightened parent: Give it to me straight, doctor. How is he!

    Clooney: PWNED!

    ---------

    Tune in next week to see Dr. Clooney attempt to save Tess Trueheart's life when her heart stops.

    Clooney: Charging to 500, ready... UUDDRLRLBABA!

  15. Hand Eye by dolo666 · · Score: 2, Funny

    The side effect of this benefit is that surgeons who use video games perform less surgeries than those who do not use them, thus leaving far more patients in need of care. Why? Because video games take a considerable amount of time that surgeons do not have.

  16. In other news ... by supergiovane · · Score: 2, Funny

    Nurses used to do at least 50 frags per day with a railgun are 18% more accurate in giving enemas.

    --
    Signatures are for stupids.
  17. Like a Surgeon by AtariAmarok · · Score: 5, Funny

    I finally made it through MYST
    Somehow I made it through
    Don't know how I did it
    Broke a joystick or two

    I was last in my class
    Barely passsed at the institute
    Now I'm trying to avoid, yah I'm trying to avoid
    A malpractise suit

    Hey, like a surgeon
    Cuttin' for the very first time
    Like a surgeon
    Trained by playing DOOM, while online

    Like a surgeon, hey
    Cuttin' for the very first time
    Like a surgeon
    Here's a waiver for you to sign

    Woe, woe, woe

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  18. Extra lives by martingunnarsson · · Score: 4, Funny

    They are faster because they are less worried about the patient. You know, I'm sure they've got at least a couple of extra lives left.

    --
    Martin
  19. Ha! I was right all along! by Jameth · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't count the number of times I got in trouble for talking back to my mother with that. She'd tell me to get off the video games, that it was a waste of my time, and I say that she was just going to watch some cheesy soap opera's anyway, which didn't do anything for her, while my video games were training my coordination and reaction time.

    Now, at long last, I am proven correct.

  20. Some of the Games They Play by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 2, Funny

    Some of the games surgeons are playing are:
    Super Mario Gallbladder Removal
    Sonic The Foreign Object
    Sim HMO
    Unreal Tournament - Mega Colostomy
    Tomb Raider X - Laura Croft Gets Endometriosis
    Myst - Secret of the Waiting Room

    --
    It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
  21. Now I hope these surgeons do understand by apillowofclouds · · Score: 2, Funny

    that the hand-eye part transfers to surgery but NOT the fragging part....

    "Heh heh... he thinks he made it through the surgery but wait'll he comes across the tripmine I left in his wheelchair!!!"

  22. Great by 0x0d0a · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Look at Junior, Hubert."

    "What's he up to, Nancy? Oh. Wow!"

    "Oh, I'm so proud, Hubert. He's sure to grow up to be a world-famous brain surgeon."

    *************

    or "I *would* be doing my homework, Ma, but I'm busy preparing for a career in the medical sciences!"

  23. Pac-Man Sound effects during Operations by LabRat007 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wouldn't it be cool if, when a patient dies on the table the Pac-Man you've-been-caught-by-a ghost noise (BE-OOP! Be-Oop be-oop) would play?

    --
    "Capital punishment makes the state into a murderer. Imprisonment makes the state into a gay dungeon-master"
  24. Alternatively... by 0x0d0a · · Score: 4, Funny

    "My God! She's bleeding all over! Smegley, call for an ambulance immediately! Is there a doctor in the house? Anyone?"

    [everyone is still sitting in shocked silence -- nobody rises to the occasion]

    "Well, anyone with exceptional hand-eye coordination...how about a video game player, then? Surely *someone* among you must have stomped on a few walking mushrooms in your time!"

  25. Games For Surgeons? by pandrijeczko · · Score: 3, Funny
    Unreal Tourniquet?

    Total Amputation: Kingdoms?

    --
    Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
  26. Re:No doubt by multipartmixed · · Score: 4, Funny

    > Anyway, give me a study that shows that surgeons who play video games
    > have a lower mortality rate during surgery and I'll be impressed.

    That would be a tough statistic to measure, as I suspect it is extremely uncommon for a surgeon to die while operating on a patient. You would need hundreds of years of clinical data collect enough data to be able to measure this.

    --

    Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
  27. In other news... by nEoN+nOoDlE · · Score: 2, Funny

    Other recent studies have shown that while doctors who play games are 37% less likely to make mistakes and 27% faster, there is also a 67% increased chance that they will kill someone on the operating table "just to watch them die."

    --
    Don't trust a bull's horn, a doberman's tooth, a runaway horse or me.