Becoming ambidextrous

[knock0ut]

Right-hander going into a surgical specialty ... any thoughts on how to develop non-dominant hand coordination/ability to become a better surgeon? I've heard some people eat with their non-dominant hand, etc.

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[Doctor-S]

To become better at surgery, practice surgical skills.

Practice-practice-practice.

You do not need to become ambidextrous.

In general, medical centers provide generic "right-handed" instruments to surgeons. Although they exist and can be ordered by hospitals, left-handed surgical instruments are not always readily available at all medical centers. Just saying.

Based on its construction, there are a variety of subtle differences that renders a surgical instrument right-handed or left-handed. These subtle differences have a significant impact on how the surgical instrument actually works when the instrument is placed in the operator's hand.

For a right-handed surgical instrument, the natural (often subconscious) force that a right-handed operator applies to the instrument cannot be replicated by the left-handed operator without deliberate thought. Instead, an unnatural position needs to be assumed which is less intuitive being inefficient for the muscle groups involved, and will preclude deftness in execution.

TL/DR: practice, practice, practice to become a better surgeon.

 

[knock0ut]

Thanks for your input. The reason I ask the question is that, as an ENT resident, there are many situations when I will need to operate with my left hand, such as when I am removing the left tonsil. Any bad moves and I can really increase their postoperative pain, intraoperative hemorrhage, etc. So, although instruments are right handed, I still need to develop some level of dexterity with my left hand. For that reason I'm trying to see what others have done to develop this dexterity.

 

[mimelim]

I eat and brush teeth with my left hand. Started my intern year. Have no idea if it has actually improved my left hand dexterity, but I have been pretty consistent with it for 6 years now.

 

[libertyyne]

I eat and brush teeth with my left hand. Started my intern year. Have no idea if it has actually improved my left hand dexterity, but I have been pretty consistent with it for 6 years now.

One of the plastics residents i recently met said the same thing, that they were encouraged to do so to improve non dominant hand dexterity. I wonder if there are studies that back up this recommendation.

 

[Crayola227]

on my gen surg rotation a left-handed resident took great pleasure in telling us lefties that studies had shown that left-handed surgeons had a lower rate of surgical complications and were faster, compared to righties, and it was theorized it's because lefties tend to be more ambidextrous than righties

no, I don't have a citation for this

the last part, about lefties being more ambidextrous on average compared to righties, though, I absolutely know is true, and the two theories around that, one has to do with what it is to be a lefty in a righty's world, the other actually has to do with what's been studied surrounding the genetics involved in hand dominance

so it's not clear to me if righty's can gain that left-handed ambidextrous lean and advantage or not, through training, but I suspect they can

we do have studies showing that it's possible to improve motor skills with the non-dominant hand through a variety of ways

also evidence it's just good for the brain to challenge it in this manner

so brushing or eating with your non-dom hand might not make you a miracle surgeon, but it's a good idea all around.

 

[libertyyne]

on my gen surg rotation a left-handed resident took great pleasure in telling us lefties that studies had shown that left-handed surgeons had a lower rate of surgical complications and were faster, compared to righties, and it was theorized it's because lefties tend to be more ambidextrous than righties

no, I don't have a citation for this

the last part, about lefties being more ambidextrous on average compared to righties, though, I absolutely know is true, and the two theories around that, one has to do with what it is to be a lefty in a righty's world, the other actually has to do with what's been studied surrounding the genetics involved in hand dominance

so it's not clear to me if righty's can gain that left-handed ambidextrous lean and advantage or not, through training, but I suspect they can

we do have studies showing that it's possible to improve motor skills with the non-dominant hand through a variety of ways

also evidence it's just good for the brain to challenge it in this manner

so brushing or eating with your non-dom hand might not make you a miracle surgeon, but it's a good idea all around.

I wonder if playing guitar provides some of the this benefit. The left hand fretwork gets complicated and requires good dexterity.

 

[Doctor-S]

So, although instruments are right handed, I still need to develop some level of dexterity with my left hand. For that reason I'm trying to see what others have done to develop this dexterity.

You could practice tying knots with your left hand. You can use fishing line for the knots.

Embroidery, knitting or sewing with your left hand.

Text-messaging or typing on a keyboard with your left hand. You can post all of your SDN comments using your left hand.

Use eating utensils with your left hand.

 

[Crayola227]

right handed needle drivers kill my thenar eminence, but luckily I don't use them much

most leftys I talk to have mastered right-handed scissors, it's like a Kindergarten rite of passage

although I realize I do more manipulating of what I'm holding in my left hand to "feed" into the scissors cutting on the right, then I do moving those scissors around the curves

I feel like I wouldn't even be able to use left handed scissors if you gave them to me

anyway, I cut sutures right-handed like a boss
just as all the lefty's I know shift gears with their right hand no problem

 

[mehc012]

I just decided at some point that any new skill I learned, I would at least attempt with both hands while the patterns were still new and uncomfortable on both sides. Has made a world of difference in progressing me from a very right-handed person to a more ambidextrous one, though I'm left footed and left eye dominant, so perhaps that helped.