EP-19 The innate aptitude's effect on the surgical task performance

Abstract

Abstract Aims Surgery is a craft profession requiring individuals with specific innate aptitudes for manipulative skills, visuospatial and psychomotor abilities. The selection process of surgical trainees excludes aptitude testing for the psychomotor and manual manipulative skills of candidates for required abilities. We scrutinize the effect of innate aptitudes in surgery and its skill-training by systematically reviewing its significance on the surgical task performance. Methods A systematic review was performed by PRISMA guidelines. A search on PubMed/Medline for English language articles was performed from January 2001 to January 2021. Search terms were ‘aptitude for surgery’, ‘innate aptitude and surgical skills’, ‘manipulative abilities and surgery’ and ‘psychomotor skills and surgery’. The quality of quantitatively researched citations was assessed by MERSQI scores. Results The results yielded 1142 studies and 21 met the inclusion criteria and 6 high-quality citations rejected our 3 null hypothesis and all medical students cannot reach proficiency in skills necessary for a career in surgery. Playing video games and/or musical instruments do not promote surgery skill; yet, a valid test with predictive value for novices aspiring for a surgical career is helpful. MERSQI mean score was 11.07 (SD= .98; range 9.25 to 12.75). Conclusion Visuospatial aptitude, rate of skill acquisition and quality of surgical performance predicted baseline surgical ability. Additionally, visuospatial aptitude along with psychomotor skills and perceptual talent, furthered laparoscopic simulator performance. The selection process for candidates suitable for a career in surgery requests a simulated surgical environment, where the candidates’ skills also in forms of non-technical aptitudes are assessable.