Do organizational cultures of Canadian medical schools promote a quality culture?

Abstract

Purpose: Medical schools are expected to engage in ongoing reflection to maintain the quality of the education they deliver, that is, to cultivate a Quality Culture. Quality Culture integrates the culture of an organization with its structure and management processes. The culture of medical schools has not been previously studied. Organizational cultures can be identified using the Competing Value Questionnaire, and classified into four types, based on organizations’ climate, leader style, reward systems, and strategic emphasis. Clan and Open cultures are typically positively associated with quality improvement. This study identifies the dominant organizational cultures of Canadian medical schools.

Method: Sixteen of the 17 Canadian medical schools were invited to participate; one school was excluded due to ongoing accreditation activities. Faculty members of participating schools were surveyed.

Results: Eleven (69%) schools participated. Nine had a dominant Hierarchical culture; two had a dominant Clan culture.

Conclusions: Only two schools had a Clan culture, which might better support ongoing reflections on quality improvement. Schools leaders should examine the staff climate, leadership style, rewards system, and strategic emphasis in place at their school; these will provide clues to the existing culture and help prioritize changes required to support the implementation of a Quality Culture.

Disclosure statement

The Principal Investigator is the Secretary to the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools. This is stated in the article. The article reports on quantitative data, less amenable to biased interpretation. The raw data are reported in the Tables, for readers’ own interpretation.

Glossary

Culture: The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterises an institution or organisation

Reference: Oxford English Dictionary-

accessed https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/culture

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Danielle Blouin

Dr. Blouin is Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences (Department of Emergency Medicine) and Faculty of Education at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Ara Tekian

Dr. Tekian is Professor, Department of Medical Education, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA.

Ilene B. Harris

Dr. Harris is Professor Department of Medical Education and Department of Pathology Education and Associate Dean for Strategic Communication, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA