The hidden curriculum in undergraduate medical education: qualitative study of medical students' perceptions of teaching
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Objective To study medical students' views about the quality of the teaching they receive during their undergraduate training, especially in terms of the hidden curriculum. Design Semistructured interviews with individual students. Setting One medical school in the United Kingdom. Participants 36 undergraduate medical students, across all stages of their training, selected by random and quota sampling, stratified by sex and ethnicity, with the whole medical school population as a sampling frame. Main outcome measures Medical students' experiences and perceptions of the quality of teaching received during their undergraduate training. Results Students reported many examples of positive role models and effective, approachable teachers, with valued characteristics perceived according to traditional gendered stereotypes. They also described a hierarchical and competitive atmosphere in the medical school, in which haphazard instruction and teaching by humiliation occur, especially during the clinical training years. Conclusions Following on from the recent reforms of the manifest curriculum, the hidden curriculum now needs attention to produce the necessary fundamental changes in the culture of undergraduate medical education.
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Consideration of power imbalances between participants and researcher is especially important when researching medical students and doctors, who already may be operating within a hierarchical structure.
“Like all research, there must be consideration of power imbalances between the participants and researcher, and this is especially important when researching medical students and doctors, who already may be operating within a hierarchical structure.46,49”
From Cultural Historical Activity Theory for Studying Practice-Based Learning and Change in Medical Education (2021) · cites this paper as [49]
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- Authors
- Lempp, H., & Seale, C.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- Brunel University of London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Lempp, Heidi
- ORCID
- Lempp, Heidi
- Venue
- BMJ
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2004-09-30
- Volume
- 329
- Issue
- 7469
- Pages
- 770-773
- ISSN
- 0007-1447 (ISSN-L)
- 0959-8138
- 1468-5833
- PMC
- PMC520997
- OpenAlex
- W2089969749
- Cited by
- 846
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 32 · 2025: 48 · 2024: 44 · 2023: 39 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 55 · 2020: 47 · 2019: 63 · 2018: 47 · 2017: 48 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 34 · 2014: 55 · 2013: 62 · 2012: 35
- FWCI
- 17.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.bmj.com/company/legal-information/terms-conditions/legal-information/tdm-licencepolicy (tdm)
- Locations
- BMJ (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Innovations in Medical Education
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Diversity and Career in Medicine
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health and Medical Education
- Keywords
- hidden curriculum, undergraduate medical education, medical students' perceptions, teaching quality, role models, gender stereotypes, clinical teaching, medical school culture
- MeSH terms
- Attitude, Curriculum, Education, Medical, Undergraduate, Female, Humans, London, Male, Perception, Students, Medical, Teaching
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