Previous research has suggested that patients that receive medical care earlier in the academic year may be at a higher risk than at other times, according to the release. This is sometimes called the “July Effect.”
Researchers sought to look at the outcomes and efficiency of the procedures performed in a fellowship setting, including length of operation, amount of bleeding, complications and length of hospital stay, to determine whether any significant differences existed between the early and later training months. They analyzed outcomes from the early (July-September) and late (March-May) academic year and found the time periods to be equally safe.
Researchers reviewed all operative and post-operative data from the fellowship program during the identified months when a fellow was participating in a complex operation — in this case a laparoscopic Heller myotomy — and determined if either time period was associated with poorer results.
Researchers noted that this study focused on a single training institute and a single procedure, although other surgeons at Carolinas had made similar observations when evaluating other complex laparoscopic procedures.
Read the DDW release on laparoscopic surgery during fellowship training.
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