BackgroundOne of the most important steps in curricular planning is to understand what students are expected to achieve, otherwise the curriculum could not fulfill their expectations. AimWe were looking to identify the educational needs of 7th semester medical students from Universidad del Rosario, who were trained at Instituto de Ortopedia Infantil Roosevelt in 2008, about specific curricular competences that the institutions were providing. MethodsWe applied a qualitative-interpretative tool of the social sciences, focused on pediatric medical education; the study was done based on a qualitative inquiry, framed by an epistemological phenomenological perspective, following a hermeneutical-historical model, with microethnography methodology. We searched to build knowledge by inductive processes, understanding several phenomena from the perspective of five students that fulfilled our inclusion criteria. Information was obtained by focal group and a semistructured interviews; we identified different topics according to the answer pattern, categorized with Atlas.ti. ResultsWe identified treatment, diagnosis, assessment and etiology as the main interest subjects for students. The institution’s hidden curriculum has a different structure as compared to the traditional one, because of the pediatric environment. The lectures, problem-based learning and recreational activities might help to develop pediatric abilities. Students want to share their view about their education and to be a part of it, to do their activities with confidence. ConclusionsWe identified that educational needs go beyond academic subjects; it involves non-academic subjects as topics related with hidden curriculum, didactic tools and curricular structure.