However the presentation is too long and is making rounds run late-again. They clearly followed through with the resident's recommendation to read-up on their patient’s condition and to ask more questions during rounds. It is organized, demonstrates clinical acumen above their level of training, and greatly improved since their last presentation. How role models behave around patients, staff, studentsĪ medical student is in the middle of their patient presentation.Peers and related hallway conversations.Stereotypes of people embedded in a case study.Set aside 5-10 minutes with the team regarding a specific interaction that touches upon: Currently we are gathering data on the impact these interventions have on student awareness of the hidden curriculum and their ability to navigate it.ĭiscuss a teaching point regarding a cultural value, belief, expectation and/or social practices emulated by a clinical encounter. The Medical School Starter Pack for incoming students provides advice and resources from prior classes on how to succeed academically, socially and emotionally in the formal curriculum.Īs students transition to clerkships, we offered a workshop about the hidden curriculum as well as the Clerkship Survival Guide which systematically addresses aspects of clerkships, such as performance evaluations, study resources, targeted core rotation advice, plus guidance on rounding etiquette. Our goal is to equip students with a basic skill set to thrive in the current culture, and to encourage positive deviance from undesirable behaviors. The Core authors annual guidebooks with fundamental information regarding how to successfully maneuver through the hidden curriculum. 7 Prior to this, UUSOM strategy for effecting change focused on returning to the humanistic roots of medicine however, it does not address the practicalities of navigating the hidden curriculum nor how to educate others about its existence. Kathryn Moore, we decided to address the knowledge gap between the formal and hidden curriculum by founding The Core: a student-led group dedicated to providing a medium for cultural knowledge to be passed down from class to class. Making the hidden curriculum visible: A student-led initiative

1, 2, 4, 5Īt the University of Utah School of Medicine (UUSOM), we instead found the hidden curriculum to be a neutral tool capable of both negatively and positively influencing students. 1 Historically, this transformation has been regarded as necessary by many educators, who viewed this as 'toughening up' students and preparing them for survival in the medical arena. The negative implications to conform to the hidden curriculum can manifest as a loss of empathy, compassion and moral reasoning. 1, 2, 3Though it plays a powerful role in the development of our professional identity, students are not typically formally taught how to manage these tacit processes of values, beliefs, expectations and social practices. This informal process overpowers formal curriculum as the “true educator” early in clerkships, and maintains this position throughout a physician’s career. 1 It is the accepted stereotypes, hallway conversations, power dynamics and perceptions that comprise our everyday interactions. The “hidden curriculum” is a cultural process in which behavioral modeling via unspoken learning socializes students to what is valued in medical practice. What is the “hidden curriculum” and why should you care?

Hidden curriculum in education