Gamers rejoice – you could be unknowingly in training to be the world’s next leading surgeon ($$$). A new study from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), which tested high school and university gamers against studying physicians at UTMB found that the gamers were equal, and in some cases even better, at operating robotic surgery equipment.

When pitted against each other in simulation tests, the gamers could do surgical tasks such as passing a needle or lifting surgical instruments just as well as the training physicians.

The hours of practice in developing superior hand-eye coordination skills whilst gaming could inadvertently be training up some of our best surgeons. Although be warned – gamers who play for 4 hours are day are no better at operating the equipment than 2 hour per day players. Perhaps that extra 2 hours could be used to hit the books?

Read more about the study at wired.co.uk.