Medical student Sara @Stichflamme asks,
“What exercises such as suturing and other skills can I do to prepare for a
career in surgery?
I have always felt that more
important than technical skills are knowing both whom to operate on and when. I’m reminded of a blog I wrote in November of 2011 called “I
could teach a monkey to operate.” I pointed out that this cliché has been around
for a long time, but so far, there are no reports of a monkey successfully
operating.
At one time, applicants to surgical residencies had to pass
dexterity tests such as carving something from a block of soap or making a
model airplane. I know of no program that still requires such activities.
By the time you finish training, many operations may be
robot-assisted. Surgical robots purportedly eliminate tremors and facilitate
precise dissection. Devices such as the Ligasure have revolutionized both open
and laparoscopic surgery and reduced the need for tedious knot-tying. Staplers
for organs and skin have almost eliminated sewing. We even have looped and
barbed sutures that don’t require knot tying skills to secure.
I posted a version of this on Sermo yesterday. All of the
commenters felt that skills such as knot tying will be necessary for the
foreseeable future. However, I can think of many common minimally invasive
procedures that can be done without tying a single knot.
The consensus was that a budding surgeon should learn to tie
knots and sew. A study showed that surgeons who played video
games performed better at laparoscopic skills than those who didn't play video games. This is hardly proven but you
would be surprised at how many people believe it.
Bottom line: Practice knot tying on the bedpost until you
can do it quickly and smoothly with your eyes closed. I suggest using string or even clothesline at
first so you can see how the knots are formed. Regarding video games, I defer
to “docpark” on Sermo who said, “I would have to add that not all video games
help. 1st person shooters not as good as a 3rd person games, and classic games
are best. I recommend Defender, Asteroids, or it's iOS update Meteor Blitz.” I trust you will know what that means.
Good luck.
