Since the old days, Video Games have been the center of attention for their usefulness and/or the harms to the society. Some believe that gaming is a blessing in disguise, while others believe it to be related to some sort of evil.
Science however, has also been active in determining the validity of both the positive and negative views and statements about gaming. One such study, has recently evaluated whether playing video games can enhance the “Surgical Skill” of Doctors or note. The Objective of the literature review reads:
To systematically assess literature examining the impact of being a gamer or participating in video-game–based training on surgical skills acquisition amongst medical students
For this studies, Scientists managed to test and evaluate 575 participants from 16 different studies. After doing all that statistical and observational magic, the authors of the paper reached to the following conclusion:
Video games demonstrate potential as adjunctive training in surgical skill education, with a history of gaming and video-game–based training being beneficial in robotic surgery and laparoscopy, respectively. Methodological heterogeneity amongst included studies limit the ability to make conclusive decisions; thus, future studies with long-term follow-up, larger sample sizes, outcomes stratified by video-game characteristics, and up-to-date technology are necessary.
So although there were limitation for a full-scale assessment, the results showed that video games can be beneficial in improving certain Surgical Skills in the medical field.
In the recent past, Video games have been proving more useful in the medical field as compared to before. The rise of technologies like Virtual Reality have been quite useful for healthcare. Video Games have also been used as therapeutic agents by different companies too.
So next time when someone comes to you and say that “Video Games are only a waste of Time”! Show them these studies. And yes, do tell them that these studies are scientifically backed.