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Surgery students spend so much time swiping on flat, two-dimensional screens that they are losing the ability to perform simple tasks necessary to conduct life-saving operations, such as stitching and sewing up patients. As a result, students have become less competent and confident in using their hands—leading to very high exam grades despite a lack of tactile knowledge.
Roger Kneebone, professor of surgical education at Imperial College, London, argues that two-dimensional flat screen activity is substituting for the direct experience of handling materials and developing physical skills. Such skills might once have been gained at school or at home, by cutting textiles, measuring ingredients, repairing something that’s broken, learning woodwork, or holding an instrument.
Kneebone now notices that medical students and trainee surgeons are not comfortable cutting or tying string because they don’t have practical experience developing and using these skills. He also mentioned that colleagues in various branches of medicine have made the same observation.
See also this BBC news item: Surgery Students ‘Losing Dexterity to Stitch Patients’.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Wednesday March 27 2019, @04:36PM (4 children)
Alternatively: putting devices onto tiny circuit boards, soldering, etc.
once upon a time in a magical land far away little girls weaved together magnetic core memory
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday March 27 2019, @04:41PM (1 child)
Most human surgery uses fine motor skills on the order of 0.1" pitch through hole electronics. This surface mount crap with 0201 components is for machines, and 0.1%ers who have the natural dexterity and eyesight to deal with them.
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(Score: 2) by RS3 on Wednesday March 27 2019, @05:30PM
And really nice Nikon stereo microscopes. :) (it's great for getting splinters out too)
Otherwise, yes, I wasn't a fan of surface-mount 20 years ago, and now I just can't believe how small resistors are. What bugs me is they use the 0.1 mm (or so they look) resistors on very sparse boards. They just look like some dirt that needs to be wiped off. And lots of BGA chips no more than 2-4 mm square.
For us who like to tinker, there are surface-mount to through-hole IC adapters. :)
(Score: 4, Insightful) by HiThere on Wednesday March 27 2019, @05:27PM (1 child)
Soldering items onto a circuit board doesn't use the *same* flexibility that braiding string and tying knots does. It does develop *a* flexibility, but it's not the same one. I'm rather surprised that cross-stitch does. Or maybe it's just closer.
The thing is, repetitive actions shape the way bones develop. You need to develop that skill over a long time, and it's better if you develop it while the bones are still a bit flexible and growing rapidly. By the time they get into medical school it may well be too late.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Immerman on Thursday March 28 2019, @03:34AM
>I'm rather surprised that cross-stitch does.
Why? Braiding isn't really a common surgical procedure, but stitching and tying are. And cross-stitch is all about making endless numbers of neat, precisely-placed stitches, and securely tying off your string whenever you change colors. Even a relatively small 50x50 stitch square involves making 5000 precise stitches (50*50 = 2,500, x2 stitches in each cross)
No doubt it's not exactly the same motions as stitching flesh, but it's similar in many ways, and there's not much else you can say that about. Upholstery sewing is a more similar needle motion, but the scale, precision, and forces involved are all very different. Not to mention it's not something many people are inclined to take up as a hobby.