Clinical psychomotor skills among left and right handed medical students: are the left-handed medical students left out?

BMC Medical Education

Research Article

Aljoharah Nasser Alrashoudi¹  Shafiul Haque¹  Hala Alotaibi¹  Alanoud Alkahel¹  Mody Alaqeel¹  Ghadeer Al-shaikh²  Sultan Ayoub Meo³  Abdulaziz Alsaif⁴  Waseem Hajjar⁵  Sami Alnassar⁶ 

[1] Department of Medical Education, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;Department of Surgery, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;Department of Thoracic Surgery and Department of Medical Education, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;Department of Thoracic Surgery and Department of Medical Education, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery (37) and Department of Medical Education, College of Medicine, King Saud University, PO Box 7805, 11472, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;

关键词: Clinical psychomotor skills left-handed;    Right handed;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12909-016-0611-7

 received in 2015-06-16, accepted in 2016-03-08,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThere is a growing perception that the left handed (LH) medical students are facing difficulties while performing the clinical tasks that involve psychomotor skill, although the evidence is very limited and diverse. The present study aimed to evaluate the clinical psychomotor skills among Right-handed (RH) and left-handed (LH) medical students.MethodsFor this study, 54 (27 left handed and 27 right handed) first year medical students were selected. They were trained for different clinical psychomotor skills including suturing, laparoscopy, intravenous cannulation and urinary catheterization under the supervision of certified instructors. All students were evaluated for psychomotor skills by different instructors. The comparative performance of the students was measured by using a global rating scale, each selected criteria was allotted 5-points score with the total score of 25.ResultsThere were no significant differences in the performance of psychomotor skills among LH and RH medical students. The global rating score obtained by medical students in suturing techniques was: LH 15.89 ± 2.88, RH 16.15 ± 2.75 (p = 0.737), cannulation techniques LH 20.44 ± 2.81, RH 20.70 ± 2.56 (p = 0.725), urinary catheterization LH 4.33 ± 0.96 RH 4.11 ± 1.05 (p = 0.421). For laparoscopic skills total peg transfer time was shorter among LH medical students compared to RH medical students (LH 129.85 ± 80.87 s vs RH 135.52 ± 104.81 s) (p = 0.825). However, both RH and LH students completed their procedure within the stipulated time.ConclusionsAmong LH and RH medical students no significant difference was observed in performing the common surgical psychomotor skills. Surgical skills for LH or RH might not be a result of innate dexterity but rather the academic environment in which they are trained and assessed. Early laterality-related mentoring in medical schools as well as during the clinical residency might reduce the inconveniences faced by the left-handed medical personnel.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Alnassar et al. 2016