Experiencias sobre cultura organizacional, estrés laboral y estrategias de afrontamiento en practicantes de medicina: Un estudio cualitativo

Abstract

Objective: To understand the relationship between perceptions of organizational culture, experiences of work stress, and coping strategies among medical students during their hospital internships in Bogotá. Methodology: A qualitative study with a narrative design was conducted. Six medical interns from the ninth to twelfth semesters of two universities were recruited through non-probabilistic sampling. Virtual semi-structured interviews were used, transcribed, and analyzed through narrative analysis of topics, following a process of descriptive and analytical coding. Results: The narratives revealed a hierarchical and rigid hospital organizational culture that normalizes mistreatment and limits communication and support. This culture generates specific stressors such as work overload, role ambiguity, and hierarchical pressure. In response, interns deploy both adaptive (social support among peers, planning, reconnection with vocation) and maladaptive (avoidance, resignation) coping strategies, whose effectiveness is conditioned by the organizational context. Conclusions: Organizational culture acts as a structuring axis that not only defines work stressors but also delimits the possibilities for coping. The findings underscore the need for institutional interventions to transform hospital cultures, promoting more collaborative, educational, and sustainable training environments that protect the well-being of future physicians.