| Subcultures are critical to the development of professional affiliations. Within this context, cultural styles determine the underlying structure of graduate medical education (GME) resident subcultures of each profession. Each GME program has its own leadership and management framework supported by hospital-based, medical, and surgical specialties. Divergent professional goals create conflict as programs compete for limited institutional resources; it is critical to understand the divergent nature of GME programs in an effort to circumvent or eliminate conflict. There is a gap in the literature for identifying and quantifying differences between the cultural styles of GME resident subcultures. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental, cross-sectional study was to identify, quantify, and compare the cultural styles of GME residency programs to better understand the complexity of subculture formation. The theoretical foundation for this study was drawn from Kotter's 8-stage process of change, Lewin's field theory, and Schein's 3 levels of culture. A proportionate, stratified random sampling design used the Organizational Culture Inventory to collect data from 112 GME residents at a research hospital. An ANOVA demonstrated that the primary and secondary cultural styles within the various GME residency programs were significantly different; 5 of the different cultural styles ranged from .001 to .019. These differences help explain why GME programs approach patient care and problem solving in such unique and diverse ways. By understanding resident subcultures, hospital administrators will be more capable of managing potential conflicts while contributing to social change by improving health care. |
