When it comes to sticking tiny knives, telescopic lenses and fiber optic video cameras into our guts, practice makes perfect, right? According to research conducted at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center, playing games for about an hour prior to entering the operating room hiked surgical proficiency by nearly 50 percent. In the test, eight doctors-in-training were tasked with performing “virtual” surgeries on a 2D screen using the Nintendo Wii’s remote to make precise hand movements.

Cost of professional laparoscopic training technology: hundreds of thousands of dollars. Cost of a Wii: 250 dollars. Getting to play video games before scrubbing up: priceless.

Don’t give Nintendo all the credit, of course. Stories about video games boosting a sawbone’s skills easily predate the Wii. In 2004, research indicated that doctors who spent at least three hours a week playing video games made about 37 percent fewer mistakes in laparoscopic surgery and performed the task 27 percent faster than their counterparts who didn’t.

Source: PC World