ABSTRACT
We report on a study that investigates the relationship between spatial ability tests scores and total score of instrument navigation in Procedicus KSA (simulator for training endoscopic surgery). Wanzel and colleagues (2002) tested whether junior surgical residents with high visual-spatial scores in six tests of visual-spatial ability, would perform better in completing and learning a spatial-complex surgical procedure than those with low scores in the tests. They found that visual-spatial ability, assessed by Mental Rotation test (MRT, Vanderberg and Kuse, 1978), correlates significantly with initial competency and quality of results in two- and four-flap Z-plasty procedures in pig thighs. We hypothesize that students with higher scores in visual-spatial tests would perform better in a KSA instrument navigation procedure than those with low scores in the tests.
