Dexterity

[easyas123]

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How does putting down 8 years of gaming experience involving simultaneous movement of all fingers sound? LOOL. There's a game called GunZ: The Duel that requires multiple keys to do basic moves... Imagine what advanced moves are like haha... But I put it down as a joke at first - intending to change it later - but what do you guys think?

 

[whitepapertree]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17309970

 

[Cello]

I was a professional gamer during high school and into early college (nerdy I know), I put it down. The amount of hand precision and dexterity required was very significant. I am also a musician, and I feel that the dexterity required for gaming at a high level and playing an instrument at a high level makes both noteworthy.

 

[PocketRocket]

No.... I played that game in middle school. In the game I stood in the corner looking out into the long hallway waiting for people to come out and BOOM headshot or whatever it was.The game is a joke imho. If you are going with gaming include COD/Halo or something not a cheap mmo lol.

 

[akog]

It's a gray area, but I personally wouldn't put it down.

I'm a musician, and I know for a fact that all the gaming I did as a kid had at least as much, if not more, to do with my hand dexterity.

But I'm not putting it down for the same reason I'm not going to wear a polo shirt to my interview. You're trying to prove to them that you can dance the professional dance. Video games still have mostly immature connotations and probably will for a few more decades.

But I could be wrong. There might be people on the committees who get it. But my guess is that it wouldn't make up for the points you'd lose with people who don't get it.

 

[Cello]

It depends on where you are including this. If it is under the manual dexterity section which only a few schools are likely to read anyway then why not? I wouldn't put it in your personal statement or anything however.

 

[easyas123]

No.... I played that game in middle school. In the game I stood in the corner looking out into the long hallway waiting for people to come out and BOOM headshot or whatever it was.The game is a joke imho. If you are going with gaming include COD/Halo or something not a cheap mmo lol.

I see. No offense but I don't think you were experienced enough to know the dexterity required to play that game at an advanced level. - judging by the fact that you "stood in the corner .... Waiting for people... ". But thanks for the input.

 

[RuffDay]

I play Pokemon puzzle, I think that requires a lot of manual dexterity.

When I was young, I also played counter strike. You know all that running and shooting someone to get a head shot?

I never played an instrument, so I can't really comment how comparable it is.

 

[PocketRocket]

Gunz sucks man!! haha jk you are probably right about me not playing at an advanced level but, like someone else stated here, its a gray area. Chances are, given that professional schools tend to prefer the conservative applicant, someone on the committee might think of videos games as insignificant. The only reason why I see anyone putting down video games is if they have something to show for it. Like, if you made a living doing it or played competitively, that's a whole different story. Regardless though, I spent an enormous amount of time playing HORSE in tony hawk proskater 4 with my buddies. The level to which we got is absurd. We were going back and forth with million point combos burning up the cheetos-stained joysticks. It took alot of time to get to that level and I would say that it did involve a lot of dexterity but when comparing it to the years I have spent and efforts I put into practicing technique on the guitar, one can see how to the admin people that would look more impressive.

 

[Cello]

When I was young, I also played counter strike. You know all that running and shooting someone to get a head shot?

That was my game. 🙂

CAL-I / CEVO-P back when people knew what that meant, haha.

 

[whitepapertree]

That was my game. 🙂

CAL-I / CEVO-P back when people knew what that meant, haha.

cs_militia on 1.6 was my favorite map of all time.

 

[RuffDay]

cs_militia on 1.6 was my favorite map of all time.

Haha I think my favorite map was the Aztec. It has been a while! Can't believe I played the game when I was 10 lol.

 

[whitepapertree]

Haha I think my favorite map was the Aztec. It has been a while! Can't believe I played the game when I was 10 lol.

I'm pretty sure I played it when I was like 9 and that was before Steam was a thing. Anyways, the first map I tried playing on was called cattsbutthole. So, there's that.

 

[Cello]

I started playing that game when I was 14, and I am probably significantly older than most of you. It seems there is some generational overlap at least! 😉

 

[RuffDay]

I started playing that game when I was 14, and I am probably significantly older than most of you. It seems there is some generational overlap at least! 😉

Haha no way. I am turning 24 soon. I think we might be around the same age.

 

[jsptr986]

How does putting down 8 years of gaming experience involving simultaneous movement of all fingers sound? LOOL. There's a game called GunZ: The Duel that requires multiple keys to do basic moves... Imagine what advanced moves are like haha... But I put it down as a joke at first - intending to change it later - but what do you guys think?

the description also says "activities that require hand-eye coordination" so just keep that in mind.

 

[strep mutans]

Most of the people on admissions committees are likely from a generation that may not view gaming as you do. It still has a connotation of immaturity and asocial behavior, so I wouldn't risk it.

 

[Cello]

That's what they told me for the Air Force and one of he biggest reasons they selected me was because of my gaming experience. Seriously.

 

[strep mutans]

That's what they told me for the Air Force and one of he biggest reasons they selected me was because of my gaming experience. Seriously.

They interviewed you first though, didn't they? You had a recruiter, who then vouched for you? The problem with health professional degree programs is that usually they only see you on paper before they decide if they want to see you in real life, so sometimes they form preconceived ideas of who you are and if you are a "good fit." I'm sure the Air Force knew what they were doing, and knew that success at gaming would correlate with success at your intended MOS. They probably also had already seen that you aren't perpetually covered in Cheeto dust (or that they'd change that real fast). 😉

 

[cpain]

Yes, write that you are good at GunZ on your professional school application. Tell the you have exceptional Lego building skills and that you are rank one at dungeons and dragons.

 

[postpitadh]

How does putting down 8 years of gaming experience involving simultaneous movement of all fingers sound? LOOL. There's a game called GunZ: The Duel that requires multiple keys to do basic moves... Imagine what advanced moves are like haha... But I put it down as a joke at first - intending to change it later - but what do you guys think?

BROOOOOOOO rs, butterfly, double butterfly haha good times. i would try to talk about something more professional in your personal statement though on the real

 

[postpitadh]

and yeah the game took manual dexterity for us, but maybe not for pocketrocket

 

[ajj70]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087597/

 

[Cello]

They interviewed you first though, didn't they? You had a recruiter, who then vouched for you? The problem with health professional degree programs is that usually they only see you on paper before they decide if they want to see you in real life, so sometimes they form preconceived ideas of who you are and if you are a "good fit." I'm sure the Air Force knew what they were doing, and knew that success at gaming would correlate with success at your intended MOS. They probably also had already seen that you aren't perpetually covered in Cheeto dust (or that they'd change that real fast). 😉

The research is clear, video games significantly improve your hand-eye coordination:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3772618/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9073766

Particularly "action" games:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2884279/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2871325/

And if it is relevant to surgeon's laparoscopic skills then why not dentists?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15865530

I studied very little for the PAT (scored 26) but was scoring very highly on practices tests early on. I believe I owe that to the CAD I did in high school and video games. If the PAT is a valid measure of your visual acuity, why not video games?

The method the Air Force recommends for practicing the TBAS (pilot test) is simply to play video games. The test is secret, so you can't study ahead of time except to know that it involves hand-eye coordination and there is no better way to enhance those skills than to play games.

Accessions recruiters vouch for you, sure, but no more than they vouch for any other candidate.

 

[strep mutans]

I never said anything about the actual usefulness of playing video games, so I don't know why you're defending it...? I said that adcoms may view it as an immature and asocial activity, and I stand by that statement.

 

[Cello]

And I said it depends on where you include it in your application. I wouldn't recommend including it on your personal statement. When you are explicitly asked to mention any and ALL activities which you believe may increase your manual dexterity, then why not include it there? What makes knitting, painting / building models, or sewing a socially acceptable activity? You do those things alone for hours on end too...

 

[strep mutans]

And I said it depends on where you include it in your application. I wouldn't recommend including it on your personal statement. When you are explicitly asked to mention any and ALL activities which you believe may increase your manual dexterity, then why not include it there? What makes knitting, painting / building models, or sewing a socially acceptable activity? You do those things alone for hours on end too...

Video games are primarily played by children and teenagers, historically. Knitting, painting, sewing, woodworking, etc. are primarily done by adults, historically. It's not that hard to figure out. I didn't say it's right or fair, but the connotations exist and are undeniable.

I gave my opinion on the matter, so I'm done here.

 

[PocketRocket]

Also, wouldn't you guys agree that there are different levels of dexterity required for console games with joysticks and computer games with keyboard/mouse?

 

[willwash]

I was once a top-30 worldwide player in Minesweeper and solved an Intermediate board in 15.6 seconds. I mentioned it. But I suppose Minesweeper is more of a "mature" game than shoot em ups. It's still a video game though.