Ooops. Be vigilant so hospital errors don't make a health problem worse.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—There's a term, "the July effect," that is well-known among medical professionals. It refers to the concept that new medical residents—who typically jump into hospital rotations in July—are inexperienced and worsen outcomes for patients. When researchers set out to discover whether the idea is true, and they found that, well, you should probably try to stay out of the hospital in July.

THE DETAILS: In a study published in 2010, researchers from the University of California–San Diego and UCLA looked at all U.S. death certificates between 1979 and 2006 and discovered that fatal medication errors spiked in the month of July, but only in teaching hospitals, where residents join the medical team at that time. The researchers found a 10 percent average jump in deadly medication mishaps, and found this increase only occurred in the month of July. In areas with more teaching hospitals, the increase in medication mess-up deaths was even higher. There was not a spike in any other causes of death.

WHAT IT MEANS: As with any new job, it takes time for new doctors to get acclimated and learn the ropes. The problem is, when we're talking hospitals, the job includes matters of life and death. While this research looked only at the July effect, other recent studies have pointed out harrowing problems related to preventable errors taking place in our medical system, especially preventable infections like Clostridium difficile (CDI or C. diff) and MRSA. So regardless of the time of year, if you or a loved one is unfortunate enough to land in the hospital, it's important to be involved in the treatment process and ask questions.