The Ecological-Dynamics Framework for Medical Skills

Abstract

Physicians are required to move and manipulate equipment to achieve motor tasks such as surgical operations, endotracheal intubations, and intravenous cannulation. Understanding how movements are generated allows for the analysis of performance, skill development, and methods of teaching. Ecological-Dynamics (ECD) is a theoretical framework successfully utilized in sports to explain goal-directed actions and guide coaching and performance analysis via a Constraint-Led Approach (CLA). Its principles have been adopted by other domains including learning music and mathematics. Healthcare is yet to utilize ECD for analyzing and teaching practical skills. This article presents ECD theory and considers it as the approach to understand skilled behavior and developing training in medical skills.

Keywords

• ecological-dynamics
• information-movement coupling
• active perception
• constraints
• affordances
• movements