Pre-existing hand-eye coordination

[JJr]

I was talking to my attending mentor who mentioned I should have some baseline hand-eye coordination built from activities such as sports, instrument performance or woodcraft, but how much do these activities actually matter or are they just a talking point for interviews?

[Guest]

Most neurosurgical procedures are not that difficult. However, there are definitely residents who "get it" in the OR much faster than others. No one is going to rank you higher just because you play X instrument/sport or have some hobby that requires a lot of dexterity. However, most applicants self-select based on their self-assessment of hand-eye coordination

[Guest]

Hey. I sent a screenshot. Did you get it?

[Guest]

Subarachnoid dissection, aneurysm dissection, bypass are technically difficult and require practice, I would agree that most other procedures not done under high magnification are not that technically demanding. I wouldn’t say that makes neurosurgery easy, though. Learning how to think three dimensionally, even for something as supposedly “easy” as a diskectomy, is an acquired skill and some have more aptitude than others. On the other hand, talent is overrated and in my opinion is less important than motivation and drive to improve.