Enhancing Laparoscopic Simulation Skills Through Nondominant Hand Training in Daily Activities

Background Being in the large majority, right-handed people are not required to use their nondominant hands throughout their daily lives, resulting in a loss of motor dexterity. As technology continues to advance, improving motor dexterity in nondominant hands has proven to be not only advantageous but imperative for surgeons. In this study, we assessed how increasing the use of participants' nondominant hands impacted proficiency during laparoscopic simulator tasks.  Methods A total of 18 preclinical medical students, divided into experimental and control groups, were timed twice on three laparoscopic simulator tasks. The experimental group spent three weeks between testing phases using their nondominant hand for daily activities and recording compliance through a daily survey. Results Compared to the control, the experimental group showed a significant improvement in proficiency for two of the tasks (p<0.05). No participants in this group successfully completed the task requiring the greatest motor dexterity during either testing phase. Additionally, all nine experimental participants (100%) reported feeling substantially more confident in their laparoscopic abilities during the post-test.  Conclusion This study examined whether incorporating nondominant hand use into daily activities could improve laparoscopic task performance among preclinical osteopathic medical students. Results suggest that short-term, self-directed ambidexterity training may enhance basic laparoscopic skills and learner confidence, though gains in fine motor control were limited. This study can encourage physicians and residency programs to incorporate nondominant hand use into their curriculum and everyday life.