Medicine is designed for righthanded people

Left in a right world

From the beginning of my first year of medical school I noticed that the whole clinical environment was designed for righthanded use. Tradition dictates that you should stand on the right side of a patient when examining them, making it difficult—if not impossible—to use your left hand to do so. Moreover, the equipment used in clinical skills sessions and objective structured clinical examinations is almost always arranged with righthanded students in mind.

Instruments designed for lefthanded use are scarcely available. I’ve been assured that such equipment exists and can be requested by consultants, but I’ve never seen it myself. My experience is corroborated by the wider literature, which shows that lefthanded trainees are rarely catered for in training programmes1 and that lefthanded equipment is often outdated, difficult to find, and more costly than righthanded alternatives.2

In the absence of tools designed for lefthanded use, lefthanded surgeons have reported stress, fatigue, and even physical pain from using righthanded equipment.3 Were these instruments to be made more readily available it would alleviate unnecessary challenges for lefthanded members of the multidisciplinary team.

Some lefthanded surgeons believe that such equipment is unnecessary. One qualitative study of five senior lefthanded surgeons reported that, although they initially found learning to use righthanded tools difficult, they were all able to adapt with time.1 Others argue that lefthanded equipment is essential and suggest that the theatre environment should be adapted to the individual surgeon, not the other way around.345 While I agree that with time it’s certainly possible for lefthanded individuals to adapt to using righthanded equipment, I still think that medical students and staff should have access to lefthanded equipment if they wish to. Providing lefthanded medics with tools that are designed for them can allow them to concentrate on honing new skills and to progress more quickly than if they simultaneously have to learn to grapple with ill suited instruments.

The medical community’s division over this topic means that medical students and trainees lack clear direction on how to navigate their lefthandedness. This was underscored when I attended a surgical skills course where one consultant advised that I should use only my right hand to suture, while another advised that I should use only my left. Conflicting advice from the faculty left me feeling lost and confused about the best course of action.

Ambidexterity may benefit everyone

In the absence of the correct equipment and the pressure put on medics to use a specific hand, lefthanded students like me often resort to using the “right” hand when examining patients or performing procedural skills. Although it’s difficult, I’ve found that this has improved my confidence when using my left hand is impractical. For example, on several occasions I’ve found myself inserting a cannula into a patient’s right hand, and being able to use my right hand to do so has meant that I don’t have to awkwardly cross my hands to reach for equipment, so the process is much less arduous. Although the learning curve can be steep, I think that persisting is worth it.

After my previous experience in theatre I discussed with a lefthanded surgeon how challenging, and at times disheartening, it can be as a lefthanded medic in the hospital environment. The surgeon offered an alternative view. They thought that being left handed was in fact an advantage in medicine and described their belief that lefthanded individuals may show a greater degree of ambidexterity than their righthanded peers, from having had to use their non-dominant hand regularly. This view has led me to believe that encouraging all trainees to use both hands could lead to improved bimanual dexterity, greater flexibility when carrying out examinations and procedures, and better outcomes for patients.

Medical settings should move away from a right hand dominated system and give lefthanded trainees the option to use equipment compatible with their dominant hand. More widely, the medical community could benefit from recognising the advantages of promoting bimanual dexterity in the clinical environment. Not only would this help to alleviate the difficulties that lefthanded students and trainees face but it would promote improved clinical skills among righthanded colleagues—all contributing to a better standard of care for our patients.