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RESEARCH: Gerard J Gormley, Martin Dempster, and Rachael Best Right-left discrimination among medical students: questionnaire and psychometric study BMJ 2008; 337: a2826 [Abstract] [Full text]

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Right-Left Confusion and Wrong-Side Error in Surgery

John W Senders   (5 January 2009)

Right-Left Confusion and Wrong-Side Error in Surgery 5 January 2009
John W Senders, Prof. Emer. Univ of Toronto 295 Indian Rd., Toronto, ON CANADA M6R 2X5 Send response to journal: Re: Right-Left Confusion and Wrong-Side Error in Surgery	I have written on some possible mechanisms that might give rise to wrong-side error in surgery. (Senders & Kanzki; Qual. Saf. Health Care 2008;17;396-400) and appreciate seeing good data on right-left confusion in medical students. I have gathered such data, more informally, by asking listeners in grand rounds, lectures and so on, to raise a hand (any hand) if they have inability to distinguish right from left. The response rate is about 4 percent from students and practitioners in medicine, psychology and engineering. That rate is about what was found by Wolf (whom we cite). In 2004 I informally mentioned to the Associate Dean of the Medical School (Miami) that two of the 40 students I had in my lecture that morning said that they could not distinguish right from left. He was shocked and asked whether we should select against right-left blindness. I gladly left that problem with him. Competing interests: None declared