Visual spatial perception and surgical competence.
BACKGROUND
Proficiency in visual spatial perception (VSP) is a hypothetical component of surgical competence.


METHODS
Four tests of VSP, taken from the Cognitive Laterality Battery (CLB), were administered to 301 surgeons and surgical residents. Mean scores on each test were compared by Student t tests to those of the normative sample (n = 251) on which the test was originally standardized.


RESULTS
Mean scores on two of the tests (Orientation, Touching Blocks) were significantly greater (P <0.01) for the study sample than for the normative sample, while mean scores on the other two subtests (Form Completion, Localization) were not.


CONCLUSIONS
Surgeons tend to outperform the general population on tests of high-level VSP abilities (ie, envisioning depth and mentally manipulating two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional structures) identified previously as correlates of surgical skill acquisition. VSP proficiency is a valid component of surgical competence that should perhaps be included in career selection discussions with medical students and in assessment of the competence of surgeons.
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009048:Motor Skills; D011361:Professional Competence; D012016:Reference Values; D013028:Space Perception; D013337:Students, Medical; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014796:Visual Perception