Is the “July Effect” a Real Thing?

At the start of the summer, each teaching hospital welcomes its newest group of interns to start their first year of residency. It’s a time of promise and anticipation for many embarking on the next chapter of their career journey. But unfortunately, some believe there is something called the “July effect” that happens inside the hospital during this time.

The “July effect” means that the inexperience of the residents coming in negatively affects the quality-of-care people get in the hospital.

No one wants to end up in the hospital unexpectedly, regardless of what month it is. Still, some believe that as senior residents move on, others in training roles move up, and seasoned physicians take family vacations, July is the most dangerous time to be in the hospital due to the lack of training for those providing the care.

As a physician spouse, I’ve seen July from many different sides. The one where he was fresh out of medical school and it was his intern year, to the one where he was running an ICU overnight on his own later in training, to the one where we sat and celebrated his fellowship graduation. Each came with varying levels of confidence, experience, education, and belief.

There’s no doubt that as my spouse began training during his intern year, he was a different doctor than the one he was when he became an attendee. But, of course, the same goes for anyone as they travel through their career regardless of the industry. However, without that first July or that onboarding period, no physician or professional will have the experience they need to reach their fullest potential.

It makes sense that anyone would want to have the best doctor taking care of them, but that doesn't mean we won't just because it's July. People get promoted every day, professionals take vacation throughout the year, companies don't collapse because of it, and neither do hospitals.

No good hospital will be okay with letting things tank for a month every summer because of a schedule convenience. No one gets into healthcare for the convenient schedule. Trust a spouse of a physician on that.

Before letting the anxiety take over if you end up in the hospital in July, remember what it was like when you started your career. What was your onboarding process like?

Did you have a superior constantly quiz you about what you retained? And do so in front of your colleagues?

Interns do.

Did you have the life of others in your hands? And the weight of their family member’s concerns on your shoulders?

Interns do.

Before you start criticizing interns, take a good, hard look at what those in healthcare did for us from March 2020 through the present day. It didn’t matter if someone was 10 years in or 10 minutes. Every healthcare professional sacrificed for society as a whole to dig us out of an unbelievably challenging and scary time.

Sometimes we can quickly forget because life moves fast but take the time to hit rewind. Remember those eyes staring back at you behind a mask, face shield, and blue gown? Those could’ve been interns. Would you have turned them away from helping yourself or your family member?

Could the “July effect” be a real thing? I don’t know. But before you’re so quick to judge, remember your first day of training or onboarding period of a new job and cut interns some slack.

Your kindness and openness to having an intern treat you might help create an amazing physician who will forever impact the lives of their patients and their families. And what a fantastic opportunity to embrace.

Do you really believe in the "July effect," or do you think it's just something that creates unneeded hysteria in the healthcare system? Share your thoughts by commenting below.