In addition to training better future surgeons, the approach could help skill acquisition in other industries.

Motor learning allows us to develop new skills, like mastering a tennis serve or, in the case of a surgeon, developing precision suturing skills. These days, surgeons are likely to learn these types of skills in a virtual reality (VR) environment before they transition to the real world.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the US have developed a method of improving how medicos learn surgical skills in a virtual environment so that their learned skills are transferred more effectively to a real-life scenario.