If you’re going to get sick, don’t get sick in July

Whatever you do, don’t get sick in July. You might get pulled under by the learning curve.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, looked at more than 244,000 U.S. death certificates where the deaths were due to medication errors. They found that in counties with teaching hospitals, medication error deaths in medical institutions spiked 10 percent over normal every July.

Levels of other causes of death remained normal during the same period.

The researchers also note that there’s no mystery here. July happens to be the month when thousands of young doctors begin their medical residencies.

So the UCSD team has a suggestion: Increase medication safety education.

Gee…these young guns are coming right out of medical school. Maybe someone at their schools could, you know, GO OVER a little pharmaceutical safety before they hand them a fresh diploma and shove them into busy emergency rooms.

I’m guessing there’s one other summertime issue that comes into play here: vacations. Just when young residents need guidance, many experienced nurses and doctors are probably away at the beach.

So if you do get sick in July, get sick at the beach.

Source:
“New medics in death spike study suggests inexperienced medical staff make fatal medication errors” Springer press release, 6/2/10, sgim.org