Hobbies/sports to improve skills in ophthalmology

[Pierat]

This is going to sound like a strange question. I heard from a medical colleague who aspires to be a neurosurgeon that he's taken up meditation. Why? To help him improve his focus.

Do any of you do something (hobby/sports/whatever) to help you hone your mental and surgical skills in ophthalmology, given the field's emphasis on manual dexterity and depth perception etc? I'm considering taking up archery to help me focus. Thoughts?

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[DrZeke]

This is going to sound like a strange question. I heard from a medical colleague who aspires to be a neurosurgeon that he's taken up meditation. Why? To help him improve his focus.

Do any of you do something (hobby/sports/whatever) to help you hone your mental and surgical skills in ophthalmology, given the field's emphasis on manual dexterity and depth perception etc? I'm considering taking up archery to help me focus. Thoughts?

I think you should take up archery, because you think you will like archery and not because you think it will make you a better surgeon. It seems there is natural talent to surgery, but most of the dexterity and ability to learn it come in training as well as several years after residency.

My understanding is that neurosurgery involves very high pressure surgeries where you need to clip aneurysms at exactly the right moment(?). Maybe I'm wrong... But The liability and pressure in neurosurgery seems to weigh on people.

I think ophtho can have its ****ty moments or complications like anything, but in general our surgeries seem less stressful.

 

[cms5423]

For what it's worth, I did get multiple questions on the interview trail about if I had any hobbies that would lend themselves to improved ophthalmology skills.

 

[Pierat]

That's interesting. What did you say?

I know that the gen surg guys would say they play games because there are studies which show that gaming improves surgical skills. Likewise for playing a musical instrument. Then again eye surgery is a lot more refined and precise.

 

[Phaco]

I draw a lot. I like to believe this helps the manual dexterity and fine movements.
I am right-handed and right after matching, I started eating, writing, and using a mouse with my left hand. Not sure how much that helps but a couple of my attendings back in the days did comment on the fine motor skill.
Also, I asked the scrub nurse to give me unused 10-0 nylon and practiced suturing pig eyes (from an butcher).

 

[Slide]

I've always played video games and I've taken up fishing recently. I'd like to think the former helps with my manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination; the latter helps me unwind from the actual stress of the job. Using my left hand for eating and shaving seemed to help some with ambidexterity but my left hand has always had some motor skill due to video games.

 

[MstaKing10]

Once out in practice, It is very important to get involved in some kind of extracurricular activity and/or hobby that you greatly enjoy. The stress relief and ability to "wind down" from a hard days work and stress will help prevent the burn out that we hear about so often.

I think the reason this is asked on the interview trail is not to asses your abilities as an ophthalmologist, rather, it is to gauge your interests outside of medicine. A well rounded applicant will have multiple outlets whereas a lesser candidate will not. It also makes for a much more interesting interview to hear about someone else's passion outside of medicine as opposed to the more mundane "why did you choose ophthalmology" question I used to disdain!

 

[ophthope]

I don't think any interviewers asked me about hobbies that would improve my Ophthalmic surgery skills. But if they had I would have led them to the nearest Xbox, loaded up an FPS, and smoked 'em. Nothing says "I'm going to be a baller cataract surgeon" like headshots and multikills.