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The innate aptitude's effect on the surgical task performance: a systematic review.
Michael El Boghdady1,2, Beatrice Marianne Ewalds-Kvist3,4
1Department of General Surgery, Croydon University Hospital, London, UK. michael.elboghdady@nhs.net.
Updates in Surgery
|September 26, 2021
Summary
Innate aptitude, not training, is crucial for surgical skills. Medical students lacking natural psychomotor and spatial abilities may not succeed in surgery, regardless of practice. Valid aptitude tests are needed for selection.
Area of Science:
- Surgical Education
- Human Aptitude Assessment
- Medical Training
Background:
- Surgery demands innate psychomotor and visuospatial skills.
- Current surgical trainee selection lacks aptitude testing for essential manual and psychomotor abilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the significance of innate aptitudes in surgical practice.
- To assess the impact of training on surgical skills and task performance.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review following PRISMA guidelines.
- Searched PubMed/Medline (2001-2021) for studies on surgical aptitude and skills.
- Assessed study quality using the MERSQI score.
Main Results:
- Low innate aptitude prevents surgical skill proficiency; training cannot compensate for deficiencies.
- Video gaming and musical instruments do not significantly enhance surgical aptitude.
- Space-relation tests predict laparoscopic virtual-reality performance, suggesting a valid predictive test may exist.
Conclusions:
- Innate aptitude is critical for surgical competence.
- Current training methods may not overcome inherent skill deficits.
- Aptitude testing in simulated environments is recommended for surgical candidate selection.
Keywords:
Aptitude for surgeryInnate aptitudeLaparoscopic surgeryManipulative abilitiesPsychomotor skillsSurgical performance
