Surgeons Perform Better After Playing Wii

Update and continued interest in with the Wii, how about a nice friendly competition match between Beth Israel Medical Center in Massachusetts and Good Samaritan Medical Center in Arizona? All the recent reports and articles posted sure seem to indicate that it might not be a bad idea for hospitals to invest in a couple of these...in the doctor's lounge perhaps? Could get some stress relief and gain some skills at the same time..and if it improves the skills of the surgeons, I'm all for it...BD

You might think it a bad idea for trainee surgeons to play games on the Nintendo Wii when they should be studying, but it might be time well spent.
Kanav Kahol and Marshall Smith of the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, have found that surgical residents performed better during simulated surgery after playing on the Wii console. They put it down to the console's novel "Wiimote" control system, which allows players to direct on-screen action using a wireless wand that detects acceleration in three dimensions. James Rosser of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York had previously found that video games can also improve the dexterity crucial to performing minimally invasive surgery (Archives of Surgery, vol 142, p 18).
The researchers also found that some games - such as Marble Mania, in which the player guides a marble through a 3D obstacle course - are especially good because players must use small, precise movements of the wand. Others were less useful: "You don't gain a lot from swinging an imaginary tennis racket," says Kahol.