How to know if hands are steady enough...

[KdotLB]

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Incoming med student here with an interest in ophthalmology! Are there typically ways for a med student to work with ophthalmic models, sims or instruments early on (like by accessing a wet lab or something) to be able to understand if microsurgery is something he/she is capable of or may enjoy?

I realize I need to keep an open mind since I’m not even a student yet, but also want to know as I move forward whether or not I could be capable of the surgical side of a specialty in which I’m very interested.


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[KdotLB]

Actually just posted in Medical student forum since I may get more responses there. My apologies mods, but any feedback still appreciated!


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[LightBox]

"Steady" hands is overrated. Any physical skill can be learned as long as you don't have some type of essential tremor or other medical condition. I've even seen great ophthalmic surgeons with bad tremors -- they just learn to compensate for it. Just put in the 10,000 hours, and you will be fine.

 

[CookieMonster55]

I think for most residents, becoming good at microsurgery is more about hard work, learning proper positioning, repetition, etc. rather than an innate ability to have "good hands." It certainly helps to have some degree of natural ability, but I think a very motivated person who is willing to put in extensive amounts of practice will continue to improve and can become a competent surgeon. I would not this question keep you from actively pursuing Ophthalmology at this point in your education if it interests you. It may be hard to assess you abilities until your surgical rotations in years 3 and 4 in medical school

 

[Equality]

There's no shame in taking beta blockers before surgery.

It can be impossible to know if you are good at surgery even after finishing surgery rotations.

Maybe practice origami.

 

[Slide]

You can train yourself if you feel you have shaky hands. There are many ways to minimize it. Keep in mind that we often rest our hands/wrists on a wrist rest, or even our elbows on a chair with arms.

Working with a wet lab is nice but not necessary as a student. The biggest thing I have discovered that helps with shaking/tremor is confidence. If you know your stuff, if you’ve practiced, your tremor goes way down.

Last, if you drink coffee, cut back. Doing 3+ cups of coffee in the AM is a good way to get a tremor.

 

[DrZeke]

I like to time my tremors when I'm over caffeinated 😉