“Video games have made me a better provider”: Video Games in Medical Education

By: Nicole Damari, MD, MS

Video games are increasingly popular across multiple demographics, with 47% of men and 39% of women reporting playing video games sometimes or often,[i] and that number is as high as 85% for teenagers.[ii] While many conversation about the impact of video games focus potential negative consequences, emerging data may also suggest that, in some cases, video games may be affording unexpected benefits, including in medical education. In speaking with seven physician-gamers, one common thread is the perceived impact of video games on their procedural skills.

Video Games and Psychomotor Skill Development

Anecdotally, multiple physician-gamers credit their time spent gaming with psychomotor skills development. “Truly, video games have made me a better provider in that training on certain skills came faster for me,” says Scot Brush, DNP, a CRNA who has played video games since childhood and was ranked in the top 20 nationally in Gears of War 3, a multiplayer online shooting game. “Fiberoptic intubation is the ultimate anesthesia test of accuracy, hand/eye coordination, and fine motor skill. I am quite good at driving a fiberoptic scope, and I do credit this to my time playing video games.”

In addition to the development of fine motor skills, multiple providers highlighted the benefits of having a baseline comfort interpreting and manipulating images on a screen. Austin VonAxelson, MD, a gastroenterology fellow who has been playing video games since childhood, noted that “the endoscope is literally like a big game controller. I think the comfort I feel with using my hands and fingers while looking away from what I am doing at a screen came built in for me.” Similarly, Ben Damari, DO, an anesthesiologist who has been playing predominantly fighting videogames since elementary school, feels that his gaming skills have impacted his comfort with ultrasound-guided procedures. “Being able to look at a screen and direct my hands to change what’s on the screen was a very comfortable and familiar feeling. Gaming also made me comfortable with the idea that there is always a learning curve to developing that muscle memory.”

While the literature remains sparse, there is some emerging evidence that may support what these providers anecdotally report. Multiple studies have explored whether a history of videogaming impacts performance in robotic surgery[iii], endovascular procedures[iv], technical dental skills[v], laparoscopy[vi] [vii] [viii], bronchoscopy[ix], arthroscopy[x] with mixed results. While some have shown a positive correlation, like robotic surgery and laparoscopy, others have not, including bronchoscopy and arthroscopy.[xi] Notably, the smaller scale and variable measured outcomes of these studies make drawing definitive conclusions challenging.

Not All Games Are Created Equal

As we explore current gaps in the literature, considering the nuances in the question will be critical. The question of whether videogaming impacts procedural skills is incomplete, and should also consider specific gaming factors like the types of games they play, how much they played, and what console they used, for example.

“I don’t tend to play games that require too much hand eye coordination. But it probably would have come in handy when cathing,” says Hans Gao, MD a cardiology fellow who prefers turn-based roguelikes. While he does not feel that his particular brand of gaming impacted his technical skills, he thinks it’s possible that other genres of game might have done so, citing catheterization skills like mentally translating two-dimensional images into three-dimensional objects, as well as the ability to manage multiple different streams of visual inputs.

Some studies have begun to explore the question of genre that Dr. Gao highlights in the setting of surgical skills, with results suggesting that game genre is a relevant factor, in addition to game complexity.[xii] Another study noted that videogaming console may impacts laparoscopic skills for gamers, with a stronger correlation seen with Nintendo Wii compared to Xbox.[xiii] There remains significant opportunity to further investigate to what degree prior gaming impacts baseline skills, and to unpack some of these additional nuance.

Beyond the Psychomotor Skills

While psychomotor skills are an intuitive opportunity for translation of skills across settings, multiple providers note that procedural skills go beyond simply what we do with our hands. Keith Anderson, MD is a vascular surgery fellow who has played multiple types of video games over the last 25 years, including first-person shooters, role playing games, and puzzle games. He feels that in addition to psychomotor skills, games have provided him with patience in more tedious or detail oriented vascular procedures, an ability to function well under stress, and strong problem-solving skills. “Video games, especially logic-based ones, require critical thinking skills and good troubleshooting analysis that carry over well.”

For Alex Oei, DO, a combined emergency medicine / family medicine resident who has played games as long as he can remember, the heart of a game is a good story, and the impact on training has been as much about mindset as it has been about psychomotor skills. “There is something about experiencing a story through the character you play… I’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from them by living vicariously through their protagonists and the struggles they endure. Medicine is a lot like gaming because we are constantly growing, or leveling up.”

Christine Zhou, DO, pulmonary and critical care fellow who has been playing games like Age of Empires, Starcraft, and League of Legends since middle school, agrees that games promote a mindset to support us in “leveling up” through repeat practice and immediate feedback. “Games make it easy to assess your performance, because it’s impossible to hide that your performance was a factor that led to the result that you got… You can’t blame anything but yourself and that means that to keep playing, you just have to get better… Practice will make you better. So, there’s no excuse. You simply have to put in the time.”

Leveling Up Our Understanding

The impact of prior gaming is an interesting question, but perhaps the more actionable one is whether procedural skills can be impacted by targeted serious games designed specifically to enhance procedural skills. Videogame-based education has been designed to support training in ultrasound[xiv], endovascular procedures⁴, laparoscopy[xv] [xvi] [xvii], and robotic surgeryⁱⁱⁱ with some early evidence suggesting that targeted educational games may offer benefit to learners. However, there remains significant room to identify the ideal features of game-based procedural curriculum.

While so much discourse about videogames focuses on concerns about negative impacts, anecdotally, many physician-gamers feel their time spent gaming has positively impacted their procedural training and ability, citing translatable psychomotor skills, patience and problem solving, or development of a growth mindset. Empirically, the data remains sparse, but some of the evidence tends to agree with them. There remain many gaps to fill in considering the role of video games in medical education, including skills impacted by different features of videogames and durations of gameplay as well as how these features could be leveraged to develop targeted serious games for education.

In considering how far we have left to go in deeply understanding the relationships between gaming and medical education, it’s helpful to consider Drs. Oei and Zhou’s insights into what gaming has taught them about growth: time and focused effort are the pathways skill building and understanding. Through this effort, I look forward to watching this body of literature continue to “level up.”

Photo courtesy of istock

References

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Raja-Elie Abdulnour on April 29, 2026 at 9:55 am

As a lifelong gamer, I can attest that playing video games has impacted several clinical skills. Strategy games such as the Civilzation series taught me how early decisions can have long-term consequences, while action games (platformers, shooters) improved my psychomotor skills. But the main reason I love games is the sense of uncertainty I get from starting a game, discovering the world, and learning the rules. Great games have very well-designed learning curves, making sure players are always in their “zone of proximal development.” With time, I’ve learned to thrive in that zone and the inherent uncertainty it creates. Of course, what came first? My love of uncertainty that promoted my love of games? Or games that promoted my thirst for uncertainty? Not sure. But I’m certain that my relationship with games has shaped all aspects of my life – including becoming an ICU doc.

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Video Games and Psychomotor Skill Development

Not All Games Are Created Equal

Beyond the Psychomotor Skills

Leveling Up Our Understanding

References

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