Handedness in medicine: it makes sense to learn to use both sides

Milton says that medicine is designed for righthanded people.1While there is focus on handedness, there is much more to laterality, with the integration of both sensory and motor elements. I am right eye dominant even though I have a strong lefthanded preference. The binocular operating microscope often has the teaching attachment fitted to the right side. This is fine for a surgeon with right eye dominance as the image in the monocular teaching arm will be what the operator sees. Similarly, when the head mirror was used, the clinic was also set up for the right eye. When in clinic, I used to hold the telephone to my right (and preferred) ear and wrote with my left hand. If the mouse was on the right side of the keyboard, this caused no problem.I am now retired, but I learnt to examine patients using both hands and both sides of the…
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