The game Operation debuted in 1965, and so generations of kids have tried to remove a patient's funny bone, spare ribs, or butterflies from the stomach. If you screwed up, an electric buzzer and a red nose pointed out your failure. The tasks are not at all realistic ....or are they? Real surgeons love the game, and many of them receive an edition for medical school graduation. Some were inspired by it, or used it for practice for their future profession. Dr. Anthony Rossi of Sloan Kettering said,
I actually played Operation a lot as a kid — I was obsessed with it. From an early age I knew I wanted to be a doctor, and I loved that game because of the precision that you needed. It’s also the rare game where both winning and losing was fun — even hitting the buzzer was fun. I’m left-handed, so I’d play the game left-handed and then I’d try it right-handed just to see how good I was. I love that game so much I recently bought it for my nephews and told them to try it with their dominant hand, and then their non-dominant hand.
Rossi and two other surgeons are quite familiar with Operation, and take us through the various organs included in the game, explain how it builds fine motor skills, and describe what happens when you "touch the sides" in real-life surgery, at Mel magazine.
(Image credit: PaRappa 276)