Forget AP Biology and Latin class: get those pre-meds hooked on Call of Duty. The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston found that teenage video gamers were better at simulated surgery than medical residents.
The study used machines that simulated live surgical techniques, such as needle passing and suturing, and found that high schoolers who played an average of two hours of video games a day did “slightly better than our physicians in training,” said UTMB Dr. Sami Kilic (in a delightfully thick accent). “Our physicians in training have already participated in actual cases. It tells me that this computer games helps a lot to transfer the knowledge and skills gained from the computer games.”
The preliminary research corroborates a decade’s worth of evidence that playing recreational video games improves visual intelligence. The promising results have inspired video game-centered charter schools, such as GameDesk in Los Angeles, to find more productive ways of implementing video games into curriculum than replacing recess with Mario Kart.
Watch video of the study below: