Abstract
SummaryBackgroundLittle is known about the development of the hidden curriculum in the medical education system. It refers to a conglomeration of implicit beliefs, attitudes and forms of conduct that are unwittingly transmitted from one generation of teaching physicians to the next. How can we describe this process, what are the potential positive or negative impacts, and last but not least, how can we measure it?MethodsStudents of the Medical University of Vienna complete their clinical rotations in Vienna and in other accredited, mostly central European hospitals. They were subsequently invited to evaluate their rotations in an online questionnaire regarding dimensions, such as professionalism, teaching, integration and appreciation.ResultsIn total, 133 students participated in this pilot study and the average response rate was 10.1%, similar to evaluations conducted prior to that. Although the evaluation results on average were positive, several experiences of deprecation and less professional conduct were present in each evaluated rotation. Giving the students the opportunity to reflect upon their experiences could be seen as an intervention and investigation at the same time.ConclusionsThis survey serves as a precursor to a qualitative interview-based study, accompanying the implementation of case-based learning designed by collaborating residents and medical students. The findings of this pilot-study support the necessity of fostering a reflective capacity in the education of medical students, enabling them to speak up and live up to the expected professionalism despite shortcomings within the hidden curriculum.
Highlights
In the study course of the Medical Curriculum Vienna, the final years of studying medicine require clinical rotations throughout the departments of neurology, psychiatry, emergency medicine, pediatrics, gynecology and otorhinolaryngology/ophthalmology
134 The search for attitude—a hidden curriculum assessment from a central European perspective original article blended learning in an attempt to collectively approach and promote levels of knowledge, skill, and clinical reasoning [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]; medical education is more than a simple transmission of knowledge and skills; it is a process of socialization [2]
A total of 133 students started responding to the survey; 51% of the students were in their last to final year and 49% were in their final year when responding to the questionnaires and their average age was 25.9 years
Summary
In the study course of the Medical Curriculum Vienna, the final years of studying medicine require clinical rotations throughout the departments of neurology, psychiatry, emergency medicine, pediatrics, gynecology and otorhinolaryngology/ophthalmology. The hidden curriculum, taught (wittingly or unwittingly) in parallel to the defined curriculum goals, has been described as “processes, pressures and constraints which fall outside the formal curriculum, and which are often unarticulated or unexplored” [3] This lack of articulation and verbalization within the student population as well as within the curriculum itself is mostly due to one of the two ways thoughts are formed. Prospective studies on attachment theory, going back over the past 30 years, show that the attachment style affects the ability to reflect As defined by this theory, insecure-avoidant children would continue the relation to their attachment figure at the expense of their reflexive capacity [10]. Short-term clinical reflection groups, such as Balint groups, would be an asset supporting the professional development of medical students [16, 17]
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