left or right hand?

[504196]

Hey everyone. I had my surgery rotation this past summer. I'm left handed but was told to use my right hand for suturing and become comfortable with my right hand because it will serve me well in the future if I choose surgery. So I have been using my right hand to practice suturing and did a lot of lac repairs with my right hand during my EM rotation. I'm also eating and brushing my teeth with my right hand. Had some time to shadow some surgeons recently and on one day the surgeon asked me to close and asked what hand i was and i said left but i suture with my right and he said no you're left handed so I did it with my left hand and it felt pretty good. Then the following day I was asked to close by a different surgeon and I asked the tech to load the needle driver for a lefty and he said no you'll be better off using your right hand if you want to do surgery. I am a lot better with my right hand now compared to this summer but it's still not at the level of my left hand. It's just frustrating knowing that I can learn skills much faster with my left hand which also seems to have a bit more dexterity. But I know in the end if I keep using my right hand I'll be fine just may develop at a slower pace.

Anyways just wondering if any of you lefties have thoughts on this issue? It is a little frustrating being told two different things.

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[doc05]

I'm not a lefty, but my advice is always correct:

anyone who tells you to use your right hand is an idiot. Use your left if it's more natural. Keep in mind that certain instruments (scissors, needle holders) do come in lefthand versions - please ask.

 

[LucidSplash]

I think it is stupid to make people use their non-dominant hand. The reason people tell you this is because it is “easier” to operate with someone who is the same-handedness as the surgeon. And while you should develop your non-dominant hand (whichever hand that is) you should use your dominant hand. When you are in a Case and someone senior to you tells you different, just go along with it for the time being because some old-school surgeons feel strongly about this and you won’t change their mind. But otherwise get good with your dominant hand and then you can worry about the non-dominant hand. I can tie with my left hand about as well as my right and this is very useful but for sewing I’m using my dominant hand. I can get vascular access with either hand equally well but in a pinch I need to be as good as I can be and that’s with my dominant hand.

 

[Jolie South]

I think it is stupid to make people use their non-dominant hand. The reason people tell you this is because it is “easier” to operate with someone who is the same-handedness as the surgeon. And while you should develop your non-dominant hand (whichever hand that is) you should use your dominant hand. When you are in a Case and someone senior to you tells you different, just go along with it for the time being because some old-school surgeons feel strongly about this and you won’t change their mind. But otherwise get good with your dominant hand and then you can worry about the non-dominant hand. I can tie with my left hand about as well as my right and this is very useful but for sewing I’m using my dominant hand. I can get vascular access with either hand equally well but in a pinch I need to be as good as I can be and that’s with my dominant hand.

I agree with this. I would never make a resident or student sew with their non dominant hand. However, it is harder to teach someone that is not the same handedness, so people may struggle at times to explain how to do things.


FWIW, I am right handed and always tie with my left and suture with my right. It’s just the way I have always done it. Cutting suture, taking off clamps, bovie operation...I can do with my left but when I need super precise movement for suturing, making arteriotomies, using Potts, etc I always use my right.

People always try to say you should be ambidextrous and I mean I guess you should to degree. I don’t think it’s the end all be all and I don’t make it a goal of mine. The attending in my program with the best operative skills is the one who admits he is “painfully right handed.”

 

[Psai]

I can tie with both hands equally well because I practiced a lot but no matter how much I try, I can only suture right handed

 

[504196]

thank you all for the replies. So would you recommend using my left hand when I can during the rest of medical school. And if I run into people who insist i use my right hand just suck it up and use my right hand? What happens when I get to residency? Will I be able to more consistently use my left hand? Do programs ask you during interviews which hand you are?

 

[armybound]

thank you all for the replies. So would you recommend using my left hand when I can during the rest of medical school. And if I run into people who insist i use my right hand just suck it up and use my right hand? What happens when I get to residency? Will I be able to more consistently use my left hand? Do programs ask you during interviews which hand you are?

Yes, I would ask them to load left handed for you. Or get used to switching it yourself and sewing left handed. I don't think anyone should be forcing you to regularly use your right hand.

I have worked with residents and attendings who are left handed. It's not an issue at all, except on the robot. It shouldn't come up in interviews because it really doesn't matter

 

[TypeADissection]

I'm a lefty but for whatever reason committed to operating right-handed. I still tie dominantly with my left hand though because it just makes sense if I'm driving the needle with my right. But you should do what is most comfortable.

 

[doc05]

thank you all for the replies. So would you recommend using my left hand when I can during the rest of medical school. And if I run into people who insist i use my right hand just suck it up and use my right hand? What happens when I get to residency? Will I be able to more consistently use my left hand? Do programs ask you during interviews which hand you are?

Yes, but you will need lefty-specific needle holders and scissors.

 

[SLUser11]

Hey everyone. I had my surgery rotation this past summer. I'm left handed but was told to use my right hand for suturing and become comfortable with my right hand because it will serve me well in the future if I choose surgery. So I have been using my right hand to practice suturing and did a lot of lac repairs with my right hand during my EM rotation. I'm also eating and brushing my teeth with my right hand. Had some time to shadow some surgeons recently and on one day the surgeon asked me to close and asked what hand i was and i said left but i suture with my right and he said no you're left handed so I did it with my left hand and it felt pretty good. Then the following day I was asked to close by a different surgeon and I asked the tech to load the needle driver for a lefty and he said no you'll be better off using your right hand if you want to do surgery. I am a lot better with my right hand now compared to this summer but it's still not at the level of my left hand. It's just frustrating knowing that I can learn skills much faster with my left hand which also seems to have a bit more dexterity. But I know in the end if I keep using my right hand I'll be fine just may develop at a slower pace.

Anyways just wondering if any of you lefties have thoughts on this issue? It is a little frustrating being told two different things.

I'm left-handed for sports, etc, but I've always written with my right hand (choice made during first grade because my left hand kept erasing all the tally marks on the chalk board). I've thus spent my surgical career operating with both hands, which has been especially beneficial for laparoscopic surgery.

However, as advice I would recommend that you use your dominant hand and don't try to switch it up.

On a side note, many of us tie with our left hand despite suturing with the left because it's a more fluid workflow, often where the needle holder doesn't leave the right hand.

 

[filter07]

I thought the default tying hand on a right handed person is the left hand. Then all of a sudden in my chief year one of the attendings said I needed to know how to tie with either hand. I was like, bro, you should have told me that 7 years ago. But I'm a people pleaser so I learned to right with my right hand too.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I'm left-handed for sports, etc, but I've always written with my right hand (choice made during first grade because my left hand kept erasing all the tally marks on the chalk board). I've thus spent my surgical career operating with both hands, which has been especially beneficial for laparoscopic surgery.

However, as advice I would recommend that you use your dominant hand and don't try to switch it up.

On a side note, many of us tie with our left hand despite suturing with the left because it's a more fluid workflow, often where the needle holder doesn't leave the right hand.

I do the same thing lol

 

[armybound]

I thought the default tying hand on a right handed person is the left hand. Then all of a sudden in my chief year one of the attendings said I needed to know how to tie with either hand. I was like, bro, you should have told me that 7 years ago. But I'm a people pleaser so I learned to right with my right hand too.

We were required to demonstrate left and right handed, one-handed and two handed knot tying in med school. We were always told to be able to tie with both hands.

I'm right handed but almost always tie with my right hand. I guess I'm the odd one out.

 

[mimelim]

I am right handed, I suture with my right and tie 80%+ with my left, but depending on angle or what is going on, still do tie with the right when necessary. That having been said, I was told (like many on here I suspect) that I needed to be ambidextrous, so I did for the most part. I eat left handed, I brush my teeth left handed, I open doors left handed etc. all because someone told me that it would improve my coordination. After 5+ years, it did. I didn't really notice it until I was working on cardiac where everything seems to be smaller than I'm used to and requiring relatively fine motions with both hands, but it was noticeable. Or maybe I was imagining and wishful thinking... always possible...

 

[droliver]

It’s better to learn right handed in most instances if you can. There aren’t always left handed instruments available.

 

[themockjock]

thank you all for the replies. So would you recommend using my left hand when I can during the rest of medical school. And if I run into people who insist i use my right hand just suck it up and use my right hand? What happens when I get to residency? Will I be able to more consistently use my left hand? Do programs ask you during interviews which hand you are?

I'm a CT surgery resident and a lefty too. In med school I got frustrated using right handed drivers with my left hand so I just learned to sew with my right hand and now I mostly sew right handed. The exception is when I'm sewing something super fine like distal coronary anastomoses with 7-0 loaded on Castros. A lot of my staff were weirded out at first but I found that once they realized I knew how to do the anastomosis in a mirror image way (I practiced on the simulator first) they were fine with it.

Valve stitches, etc. I all do right handed although I'm finding that the angle (especially on the mitral) for some of the sutures is easier if you can do it left handed. Most of my staff don't care as long as I have the right needle angle, depth, etc. and there are several staff I work with who are right handed but do parts of the operation left handed.

I was never asked what hand I was during interviews.

The one thing I just can't learn to use with my right hand is the damn Bovie. It is super difficult for me. Dunno why.

 

[bottombracket]

My two cents:

I’m a left-handed plastic surgeon.

1. Learn with your dominant left hand. Learning how to sew is difficult enough when you’re a student. Become good with your dominant hand, and in a couple years, if you’re forced to by an attending, sew with your right hand. You need to build speed and expertise with your dominant hand first.

2. You don’t need left-handed needle drivers or scissors. In fact, I’ve only seen one left handed driver and two left-handed pairs of scissors in over a decade in the operating room.

You will find however that you cannot palm open a needle driver, as you will have to open the jaws with the ulnar side of your thumb- you’ll have to stick the tip of your thumb through the needle driver to unlock it. All it means is that you’ll get a callus in a different place on your thumb than your right-handed colleagues.

3. Learn to cut suture for others using your right hand. Using right handed scissors with your left hand to cut suture, especially heavy braided suture can be difficult because, like the needle driver, to make the blades cut, you will have to push backwards against them, lifting up with your thumb instead of just scissoring open and shut. It’s more pain than it’s worth.

I ended up very ambidextrous. This is a benefit to me because I just switch hands back-and-forth to dissect. I don’t have to twist my body around or switch to the other side of the table. It took a decade of practice, though.

 

[504196]

I'm a CT surgery resident and a lefty too. In med school I got frustrated using right handed drivers with my left hand so I just learned to sew with my right hand and now I mostly sew right handed. The exception is when I'm sewing something super fine like distal coronary anastomoses with 7-0 loaded on Castros. A lot of my staff were weirded out at first but I found that once they realized I knew how to do the anastomosis in a mirror image way (I practiced on the simulator first) they were fine with it.

Valve stitches, etc. I all do right handed although I'm finding that the angle (especially on the mitral) for some of the sutures is easier if you can do it left handed. Most of my staff don't care as long as I have the right needle angle, depth, etc. and there are several staff I work with who are right handed but do parts of the operation left handed.

I was never asked what hand I was during interviews.

The one thing I just can't learn to use with my right hand is the damn Bovie. It is super difficult for me. Dunno why.

thank so much for the response; i was actually scrubbed in for a CABG during my winter break and was watching the surgeon do the anastomoses and i thought to myself i hope they don't force me to do that with my non dominant hand haha; but its good to hear there's some flexibility at your level

 

[Gastrapathy]

This is an interesting discussion as a lefty who basically ruled out all surgical specialties because I spent 12 weeks as a MS3 being told I had to do everything right handed. It was the best day of med school for me when I discovered that endoscopes are held in the left hand.

 

[balaguru]

While learning its worth keeping in mind that as an attending you will be able to use whichever hand you prefer. You can also ask the OR to order and maintain needle drivers, etc as needed or purchase them yourself and ask them to maintain them in separate peel packs for your cases. I had the OR order a few 7" Crile-Wood needle drivers for my cases. I use it for just about everything but laparotomy closure. It has a lighter action than the usual needle drivers.

 

[naranoth]

The one thing I just can't learn to use with my right hand is the damn Bovie. It is super difficult for me. Dunno why.

Seconded. I’m a left handed surgery resident and have managed to adjust to doing pretty much everything right handed at this point (PGY6). The only exception is the Bovie... I’m noticibly worse with my right hand. Glad to know that I’m not alone.

 

[GenSurgONLY]

I'm not a lefty, but my advice is always correct:

anyone who tells you to use your right hand is an idiot. Use your left if it's more natural. Keep in mind that certain instruments (scissors, needle holders) do come in lefthand versions - please ask.

I am right handed and have two children who are left handed. I saw it as their dominant hand when they were barely toddlers so I went out of my way to teach them the way that came naturally for them. Another example, had a Cellist teach those who were left handed in my class, in a similar fashion. I completely agree with what you have said here. Companies now days are manufacturing more products for the “lefties”. OP(and those like my kids) should not be made to feel “weird” about a natural ability.

Teachers did this with my husband and feel like his dexterity suffered growing up. IMO, it shows a level of laziness on the “teachers’ ” part.