Visual spatial perception and surgical competence.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND:
Proficiency in visual spatial perception (VSP) is a hypothetical component of surgical competence.

METHODS:
Four tests of VSP, taken from the Cognitive Laterality Battery (CLB), were administered to 301 surgeons and surgical residents. Mean scores on each test were compared by Student t tests to those of the normative sample (n = 251) on which the test was originally standardized.

RESULTS:
Mean scores on two of the tests (Orientation, Touching Blocks) were significantly greater (P <0.01) for the study sample than for the normative sample, while mean scores on the other two subtests (Form Completion, Localization) were not.

CONCLUSIONS:
Surgeons tend to outperform the general population on tests of high-level VSP abilities (ie, envisioning depth and mentally manipulating two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional structures) identified previously as correlates of surgical skill acquisition. VSP proficiency is a valid component of surgical competence that should perhaps be included in career selection discussions with medical students and in assessment of the competence of surgeons.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Risucci, Donald A (DA);

Affiliation: Department of Surgery, New York Medical College, Munger Pavilion, Valhalla, NY 10595, USA. Donald_Risucci@nymc.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Evaluation Studies; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: American journal of surgery (Am J Surg), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Sep; vol 184 (issue 3) : pp 291-5

Dates: Created 2002/09/30; Completed 2002/10/16; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12354602, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

This article has not been indexed for related articles as yet, however you can still use the live related article search links below.

See 100+ related articles.