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Are hospitals truly more dangerous in July, when new medical trainees start working at teaching hospitals, or is that just an urban legend? While past studies have offered little evidence to support the so-called “July effect,” a new paper published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggests the theory may have some credence.

To gain a better understanding of the July effect, researchers examined 40 studies on the subject. The New York Times (NYT) reports that while the team did find many inconsistencies in past research, the data derived from larger and better-designed studies showed that patient death rates increase 8% at teaching hospitals in July. Past studies also show that patients stay longer, medical procedures are more drawn out, and hospital charges are higher in July, when a fresh crop of new doctors arrive at teaching hospitals to get hands-on experience with patients.

“This changeover is dramatic, and it affects everything,” Dr. John Q. Young, the paper’s lead author, told the NYT. “It’s like a football team in a high-stakes game, and in the middle of that final drive you bring out four or five players who never played in the pros before and don’t know the playbook, and the players that remained get changed to positions they never played before, and they never practiced together. That’s what happens in July.”

Comforting. Dr. Young is associate program director for the residency training program in psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco.

Though there isn't much patients can do to protect themselves from the July effect, the study's authors recommend that concerned men and women schedule elective procedures any month but July and request a senior medical professional to oversee junior doctors on their case.

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Categories: Men's health