Dental students' experience of hidden curriculum: A qualitative study

Abstract

Background & Objective: Hidden curriculum plays an effective role in developing professionalism and improving the quality of education in the fields that constitute the structure of the health system, such as medicine and dentistry. The present study was designed to clarify the experience of dental students with a hidden curriculum at Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran. Material & Methods: This study was conducted with a qualitative approach and using the conventional content analysis method in 2021. The participants consisted of 15 dental students studying in the 3rd to 6th academic years at Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran, who were selected by purposive sampling method. Data collection continued until reaching saturation using semi-structured interviews. Results: The mean age of the participants was 23.8 ± 1.7 years, of which 66.7% were women and 66.7% were men. In this research, 100 codes were obtained that were categorized into 14 subthemes and 6 main themes. The main themes included the professor’s educational characteristics, professor’s professional characteristics, interactions and communication, attitude and expectations, rules, facilities, and educational environment. Conclusion: The results of our study showed that teaching and assessment methods, professional behaviors, and professors’ role modeling, as well as the interactions between the professors, students, and staff, their attitudes, educational environment, and rules, should be taken into consideration before planning the hidden curriculum for dental students.

Keywords

• dental students
• hidden curriculum