Surgeons to turn to Wii to sharpen their scalpel skills?

Next time you’re about to go under the knife, you might want to ask your surgeons how much Wii training they've had to boost their medical expertise and manual dexterity. According to a report in New Scientist magazine, researchers at the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona have found that its surgical …

[Anonymous Coward]

insert title here

You mean Trauma Center: Second Opinion, don't you?

-Coward Wii Apologist

[Richard Joseph]

I hope these Surgeons realise that....

....when you make a real-life mistake, you can't just go back to the main menu and start again...

...I'll get my coat...

[Eponymous Cowherd]

So before they open you up.

It would be a good idea to ask if they are Wii trained.

Might be confusing for GUM surgeons, though..........

[Anonymous Coward]

I am worried now

I have Trauma centre and when it comes to doing the stitching, trying to be neat with small stitches almost aways gives you a bad rating. On the other hand if you use the nunchuck like Zorro and just do a massive Z shape, you almost always get the cool rating. Hardly precise, and I really do not want the surgeon coming to operate saying 'don't worry I've just been brushing up my skills on the wii for the last hour'

[Anonymous Coward]

You surely meant to say *Ninja* Surgeons...

Obligatory Sluggy Freelance reference:

http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=071224

[Anonymous Coward]

yes,,right

..and after playing Wii tennis yesterday I'm going to chance my arm at Wimbledon this year. Anyway, best dash, I'm off to do a quick appendectomy.

[Dan_Hibiki]

nothing new

There are many surgeons that strongly believe that playing games will improve hand eye coordination, and that's very useful for any surgeon. However the Wii is not the first choice for this kind of training, the DS offers a system does a far better job since it's far more delicate and uses a stylus which is a lot more like a scalpel then a Wii-mote.

[Anonymous Coward]

Doesn't masturbation also improve hand eye co-ordination.

Just goes to show that these surgeon types are the bunch of w*****s I always thought they were.

'Sorry sir, I can't remove your appendix today, I have played it on the Wii yet'

How about proper surgical training like the old days, on real patients under the tutelage of one who is already highly skilled.

[Highlander]

@Dan Hibiki

I couldn't agree more. The DS uses a stylus that in terms of the manipulation and precision is far more like the movements involved in wielding a scalpel than those used when chucking a Wii controller around the living room. Perhaps the increased hand eye coordination is more to the point, in which case one wonders whether these medical boffins performed a properly controlled experiment where some Doctors played Wii, some played PS3 and some played Xbox360. Of course the games played would need to be the same game for a properly controlled experiment, though perhaps a relaxation to games of the same genre would allow for an experiment featuring each of the three main consoles.

Otherwise how can any conclusions beyond improved hand eye coordination be made?

[Colin Wilson]

Echoes of spoof "rejected wii games"

...also found here (can't see the youtube link atm)

http://www.break.com/index/rejected-wii-games.html

[Sam]

Python

"Anaesthetic" .....CLANG!!

the surgeons gown, thank you

[LaeMi Qian]

Public health doctors....

....will only be able to practice on the old battery-and-buzzer game "operation."

(said as someone just hours home from key-hole kidney surgery spread across 2 hospitals as there was a bed shortage as usual - the op was fine though)

[Billy Verreynne]

Woohoo!

.. both my kids are going to turn into excellent surgeons, make loads of money, and look well after their old man and his wife in their golden years.