title: Medical students pursuing surgical fields have no greater innate motor dexterity than those pursuing nonsurgical fields.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Medical students pursue different career paths based on a variety of factors. We sought to examine the impact of innate manual dexterity, both perceived and objective, on the career interests of medical students.
  
  
  METHODS
  Third-year medical students from the University of California, Irvine were recruited for this study. Subjects completed a pretest questionnaire followed by assessment of gross and fine motor dexterity using the Purdue Pegboard test. A total of 6 independent trials were performed, 3 for each hand. The scores were recorded as an integer value between 0 and 25. A statistical analysis was performed using student t tests, the Fischer exact test, or the χ(2) test, where appropriate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 100 students completed the questionnaire while 58 completed the dexterity testing. Students interested in a surgical field (SF) were similar in handedness, gender, video game exposure, and learning style as those interested in a nonsurgical field (NSF). In the SF group, "personal skill set" was reported as the most common factor influencing career selection, and "interest in disease process/patient population" was reported most commonly by NSF students (p = 0.015). Although a perceived innate manual dexterity was higher among SF students compared with NSF students (p = 0.032), no significant objective differences were found in right hand, left hand, or combined dexterity scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Perceived "personal skill set" may influence strongly a medical student's career choice. Despite greater perceived manual dexterity, students interested in an SF do not have greater objective innate manual dexterity than those interested in an NSF.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University of California, Irvine, Orange, California 92868, USA. jasonjason.lee@utoronto.ca
authors.forename: Jason Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Kerbl
authors.forename: Elspeth M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: McDougall
authors.forename: Phillip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mucksavage
mesh_terms: D002321:Career Choice; D002982:Clinical Clerkship / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003657:Decision Making; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008511:Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires