Differential Prior Socialization: A Comparison of Four Professional Training Programs

Analysis of intensive interviews with persons entering postgraduate training programs in biochemistry, internal medicine, and two psychiatric residencies reveals considerable difference between the internal medicine cohorts and the other cohorts in levels and kinds of prior socialization. The internists show greater elaboration and scope in their imagery of the specialty, there is more consensus among the group, and they have gone further in their career projections than any of the other groups. These results are explained in terms of the differential pathways feeding recruits into these programs. Some implications for the socialization process are suggested.