For many years, teaching hospitals in the United States confronted what was known as the “July effect.” Each July, a fresh group of medical school graduates began their careers as physicians. Although these men and women had little experience beyond the classroom, teaching hospitals often gave them considerable responsibility for treating patients. That was how they learned their craft. The only downside of this approach is that patients often suffered from this on-the-job training—and July was the cruelest month. (In the UK, the month is later and the language more vivid. British physicians
...more
