A recent study found out that surgeons who play with the Wii before a virtual surgery are more accurate than those who don't. It shouldn't actually be too surprising, as the actual hand movements of playing a Wii game should naturally help other similar skills. The most surprising thing to me is that Trauma Center - a game about being a surgeon - isn't mentioned as being used in the study.

From the article:

Video game training: it's not just for athletes and soldiers anymore. According to New Scientist Magazine, researchers are developing a surgeon training program for the Wii after a study showed surgical trainees performed better after play sessions with Nintendo's console.

The study found that eight surgical residents who played the Wii before performing virtual surgery with a professional training tool (called ProMIS) scored 48% higher in tool control and performance than those who didn't. Now Dr. Kanav Kahol and Dr. Marshall Smith, of the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, want to create Wii software that surgical residents could train with at home. This technology might also be beneficial for developing countries that can't afford expensive virtual training tools.

Read the full article over at 1up.com