Manual Dexterity

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Hardbody

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Ok, so I find myself filling out the AADSAS application at 1:00am on a Saturday morning and the only thing I can think of to put down for manual dexterity is that I am good at video games. Would this be wise to put something like this down or should I just leave it blank?
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Hardbody said:
Ok, so I find myself filling out the AADSAS application at 1:00am on a Saturday morning and the only thing I can think of to put down for manual dexterity is that I am good at video games. Would this be wise to put something like this down or should I just leave it blank?
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Sure why not? A talent is a talent...
 
Hardbody said:
Ok, so I find myself filling out the AADSAS application at 1:00am on a Saturday morning and the only thing I can think of to put down for manual dexterity is that I am good at video games. Would this be wise to put something like this down or should I just leave it blank?
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definitely put it down. tell em how you beat level 60 in 2 days. you tell em, dawg. show whats up.
 
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yo i was wondering about the same thing, cuz street fighter and marvel takes madd, dexterity, hand eye coordination, reaction, and timing.

is it a good idea to put it in?
 
Heck yeah, that can demonstrate hand eye coordination.
 
peRsEVERENCE said:
yo i was wondering about the same thing, cuz street fighter and marvel takes madd, dexterity, hand eye coordination, reaction, and timing.

is it a good idea to put it in?
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nah. dental schools only consider your skillz at tekken 3 and above. they say, polarnut, can you do mad triple deluxe combos and triple toe axels? i'm like, yeah bitch, check it. then i twirl.
 
polarnut said:
nah. dental schools only consider your skillz at tekken 3 and above. they say, polarnut, can you do mad triple deluxe combos and triple toe axels? i'm like, yeah bitch, check it. then i twirl.
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lol.
 
that's what I put when I applied, and I firmly believe that growing up on video games helped me a great deal in lab work.... HOWEVER, I do have friends who can kick my ass in video games, but still fail the practicals... go figure.
 
polarnut said:
nah. dental schools only consider your skillz at tekken 3 and above. they say, polarnut, can you do mad triple deluxe combos and triple toe axels? i'm like, yeah bitch, check it. then i twirl.
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hahaha...classic, polarnut, classic :laugh:
 
LMAO... I'm really tempted to put how I cleared Tekken 5 in 7 minutes now... but also, would building models be considered manual dexterity?
 
Hardbody said:
Ok, so I find myself filling out the AADSAS application at 1:00am on a Saturday morning and the only thing I can think of to put down for manual dexterity is that I am good at video games. Would this be wise to put something like this down or should I just leave it blank?
Click to expand...

For what it is worth several of my classmates listed that as a manual dexterity skill and they weren't cross examined by adcoms about it.
 
Hardbody said:
Ok, so I find myself filling out the AADSAS application at 1:00am on a Saturday morning and the only thing I can think of to put down for manual dexterity is that I am good at video games. Would this be wise to put something like this down or should I just leave it blank?
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Article isn't about dentists but we can all improve our manual dexterity by playing more video games.

http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2005Feb/gee20050228029359.htm

I'm all for more video game play! :D
 
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Does decorating cakes count as manual dexterity too?
 
Uracil said:
Does decorating cakes count as manual dexterity too?
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Yeah I could see that can taking some serious pastry skills. :)
 
LOL. I am not quite sure if you guys are messing around or not but I am pretty damn good at video games. I have shamed many guys by it and have always secretly thought of it as a talent. Should I seriously put it on my application? haha. Sounds a little embarassing putting down: piano, knitting, arts and crafts, video games - specifically NBA 2K1.
 
ddfafari said:
LOL. I am not quite sure if you guys are messing around or not but I am pretty damn good at video games. I have shamed many guys by it and have always secretly thought of it as a talent. Should I seriously put it on my application? haha. Sounds a little embarassing putting down: piano, knitting, arts and crafts, video games - specifically NBA 2K1.
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LOL! I guess you should be fine! put it down :thumbup:
 
ddfafari said:
LOL. I am not quite sure if you guys are messing around or not but I am pretty damn good at video games. I have shamed many guys by it and have always secretly thought of it as a talent. Should I seriously put it on my application? haha. Sounds a little embarassing putting down: piano, knitting, arts and crafts, video games - specifically NBA 2K1.
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I'm dead serious! :eek: People in fields that require good hand-eye coordination and above average manual dexterity should play video games constantly. :idea: OK, you can also do stuff like cross-stitching, playing instruments, etc. but are't video games more fun?
 
ddfafari said:
This thread is hilarious!
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I'm with ddfafari, this thread is funny. And I have to say while I agree that video games do require great manual dexterity, I personally would feel embarrassed to put it down....I would call some schools anonymously and ask an admissions counselor. I actually suck at video games :( so I can't even put them down anyway.
 
make sure you bring your PSP to your interview if you write it down on your app. they may ask you about it, and if they do...boy, are they in for a treat. you just whip out your PSP and show mad skillz, foo. YOU FEELIN IT? I FEEL IT, DAWG. I FEEL IT. YOU FEEL IT? YEAH!!! GOGOGOGO!

if you want advice on what titles to bring that maximize your presentation of manual dexterity, let me know.
 
polarnut said:
make sure you bring your PSP to your interview if you write it down on your app. they may ask you about it, and if they do...boy, are they in for a treat. you just whip out your PSP and show mad skillz, foo. YOU FEELIN IT? I FEEL IT, DAWG. I FEEL IT. YOU FEEL IT? YEAH!!! GOGOGOGO!

if you want advice on what titles to bring that maximize your presentation of manual dexterity, let me know.
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GREAT IDEA polarnut!!

A friend of mine paints miniatures and actually brought some minis that he painted to his interview. He told me the interviewers were impressed. He got an offer of acceptance within 2-3 days. :eek: Maybe his stats, which were excellent, made him a shoe-in already and the interview was just held to make sure he was sane. ;)

Anyway, I don't see why a gamer can't whip out his DS or PSP when questions of manual dexterity come up during the interview and prove just how great his/her manual dexterity is. :D I mean any body can say, "I like working with my hands" or "I have great manual dexterity" but not everyone can back those words up. Besides, whipping out your DS or PSP during your interview to play a game to show off your skills will make your interviewers remember you REAL well. :cool:
 
You won't believe this.... or maybe you will.... apparently surgeons who play video games for 20 minutes before surgery tend to work faster and make fewer mistakes...

Yahoo! News Link

Maybe you can write this stuff afterall :D
 
For good practice or perhaps to impress the interviewer, you should play DDR on heavy using the control pad. :eek:
 
I don't play video game either and I do not know what to put for that.... I played the Clarinet and piano when I was younger...but not anymore. Could I still put that??? Can we put that we like dissection labs? I do not know! Help
 
Dr.Dientes said:
I don't play video game either and I do not know what to put for that.... I played the Clarinet and piano when I was younger...but not anymore. Could I still put that??? Can we put that we like dissection labs? I do not know! Help
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You can probably put that down but do you do anything else (presently) that requires some manual dexterity?
 
did anyone else put down racquet sports (such as tennis/ping pong/squash)?
 
I read from UNC's guide that they would prefer that people don't talk about skill sports because they use large muscle groups :confused: so I would think it would be good if you wrote stuff down that requires use of your hands and fingers
 
prez_al said:
I read from UNC's guide that they would prefer that people don't talk about skill sports because they use large muscle groups :confused:
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As opposed to -small- muscle groups?

Tell me... what qualifies as a large muscle group? :smuggrin:
 
ddfafari said:
As opposed to -small- muscle groups?

Tell me... what qualifies as a large muscle group? :smuggrin:
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I would guess they are looking for fine motor coordination (Things like guitar, harp, model building, painting, etc.). Those larger muscles (biceps, deltoids, tricepts, etc.) will probably only be helpful for those REALLY stubborn extractions :) .
 
Perhaps if you could splint a tennis racquet to your index finger and hit a cross court winner, that would count. :laugh: But if you could do that then you shouldn't be a dentist anyway.

Anyone know about ultimate though? I mean throwing a forehand takes some finger skills. Any thoughts?
 
You kids are all nerds.

Playing sports like baseball and basketball could only help hand-eye cordination, no matter which muscles it tones in the process. I don't care what adcoms said, I put it in there anyway.

Second you don't impress anyone by saying you play video games, you look like a hermit with no interpersonal skill, because you probably are.

I do alot of manual labor and they seemed impressed when I explained one of the last jobs I worked on like putting something together, house projects, car repair
 
LOL, well, if anyone is good with a rubix cube, I guess you can write that down. I swear, i saw these guys at school solve one in < 15 seconds, it was sick. Not sure about the video game comment, I would think if we played games to that point, we wouldn't even be considering applying for dentistry since we'd be on academic probation :D. I would be more concerned about the radiation frying our retinas than the whole making us look like hermits.
 
hey guys im new to the thread but im actually in the same dilemma...i was wondering if you guys think doing martial arts (tae kwon do) would count? Its movements rely on the motion of the entire body including hands like when we need to do our forms (poomsae) and definitely helps with the reflexes and coordination especially during sparring sessions.

oo by the way, i do think that video games are fun, but regardless of one's own opinion of them, they still require the necessary reflexes and manual dexterity one needs to accomplish meticulous tasks that could prove useful while doing dentistry...such as using both your hands at the same time (this develops both sides of your brain which is always good i think heh)
 
hmm..what about scrapbooking?
 
Hardbody said:
Ok, so I find myself filling out the AADSAS application at 1:00am on a Saturday morning and the only thing I can think of to put down for manual dexterity is that I am good at video games. Would this be wise to put something like this down or should I just leave it blank?
Click to expand...

Where's the manual dexterity section on the AADSAS app???? im really new at this n im taking the DAT next week n in the process of applying for 2007 :confused:
 
HC_smiles said:
Where's the manual dexterity section on the AADSAS app???? im really new at this n im taking the DAT next week n in the process of applying for 2007 :confused:
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Under the background information section
 
FatalExtraction said:
hey guys im new to the thread but im actually in the same dilemma...i was wondering if you guys think doing martial arts (tae kwon do) would count? Its movements rely on the motion of the entire body including hands like when we need to do our forms (poomsae) and definitely helps with the reflexes and coordination especially during sparring sessions.
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I used my martial arts training (Wing Chun Kung Fu and Thai Chi) in the manual dexterity section.
 
hey this is my first post.... idk why i cant create a new thread...

anyways, idk where to start but i'm just wondering what you guys think about my chances as a whole..

i have a 3.490 cummulitave right now, and probably around 3.4ish for science gpa, but i got 2 A's in organic chem, do you think that will help me out at all... also i play the piano professionally and have gotten pretty good at guitar lol.. (manual dexterity)

but any feedback would be great i wasnt really sure what to put down this is my first post like i said OH and i just finished my sophomore year at University of Rhode Island...
 
I listed everything that applied...cake decorating, scrapbooking, quilting, piano, French horn, dissecting...but if they think I dissect things in my spare time, they might get a little worried... ;) I taught high school biology, though, so I had a good excuse.
 
I listed that I've been painting miniatures for 7 years (woot nerd life word life) and that I play french horn, trumpet, mellophone and bass guitar (and I'm learning to play concertina!)
 
They recently conducted a survey showing that doctors performing surgery that prepped themselves by playing video games were less likely to make surgical errors or something like that. Caught it on NPR.
 
Hardbody said:
Ok, so I find myself filling out the AADSAS application at 1:00am on a Saturday morning and the only thing I can think of to put down for manual dexterity is that I am good at video games. Would this be wise to put something like this down or should I just leave it blank?
Click to expand...

I put video games as well (thank you Mario and Luigi) and I also added knitting, crocheting, and hair braiding . What the hell, they never asked me about them during the interviews, and if they needed proof, my thumbs were all theirs :)
:laugh:
 
Yeah I read that magazine article months ago about video games building brain power, but they were mainly talking about the games that require some sort of strategy vs. just mowing people down with machine guns. Hehe, and about putting that down on your application, I'd make sure you have a pretty damn good GPA. Otherwise putting video games down with a low GPA (like me) may work against you big time. That throws a flag up in reference to your "priorities" in college. So guess who WON'T be putting video games down? ;)
 
IcemanDDS said:
Yeah I read that magazine article months ago about video games building brain power, but they were mainly talking about the games that require some sort of strategy vs. just mowing people down with machine guns. Hehe, and about putting that down on your application, I'd make sure you have a pretty damn good GPA. Otherwise putting video games down with a low GPA (like me) may work against you big time. That throws a flag up in reference to your "priorities" in college. So guess who WON'T be putting video games down? ;)
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LOL, yeah "mowing people down with machine guns" in a video game is always fun. I guess the kids that play those corny RPG's are probably getting smarter by the second. Oh well.
 
Old school Nintendo games like Tetris and Dr. Mario are definitely good indicators of your manual dexterity/hand-eye coordination. My dad is a dentist and I can still remember being in elementary school and watching him playing my Nintendo and totally kicking @$$ at it. I don't know how much Doom/Halo is going to help. Also, the thing you need to remember about surgeons and video games...surgeons are doing most surgeries nowadays using a laproscope or the like, so a video game is not a far cry from surgery since both are being done on a video screen. Dentists on the other hand are doing their work directly. I'm not saying that study doesn't apply at all to dentistry, I just don't think it applies as well as all the pre-dent gaming crowd would like.
 
Hardbody said:
LOL, yeah "mowing people down with machine guns" in a video game is always fun. I guess the kids that play those corny RPG's are probably getting smarter by the second. Oh well.
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LOL, can't argue about the mowing down people with machine guns being fun, I'll just make a note if I'm ever asked about my many many years of being a gamer, to mention tetris rather than San Andreas :cool:. Would you guys consider Madden being a game that builds dexterity?

Also in response to us needing a high GPA to put down video games, that's questionable because a lot of hobbies can be deemed "time wasters", such as sports.... but I see your point.
 
Sprgrover said:
For what it is worth several of my classmates listed that as a manual dexterity skill and they weren't cross examined by adcoms about it.
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Sprgrover is talkign about me, and I can confirm that this was NEVER questioned by anyone on the interview process. Don't hesitate to put it down.
 
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