The hidden curriculum across medical disciplines: an examination of scope, impact, and context.

BACKGROUND

While research suggests that manifestations of the hidden curriculum (HC) phenomenon have the potential to reinforce or undermine the values of an institution, very few studies have comprehensively measured its scope, impact, and the varied clinical teaching and learning contexts within which they occur. We explored the HC and examined the validity of newly developed constructs and determined the influence of context on the HC.

METHODS

We surveyed medical students ( =182), residents ( =148), and faculty ( = 140) from all disciplines at our institution between 2019 and 2020. Based on prior research and expertise, we measured participants' experience with the HC including perceptions of respect and disrespect for different medical disciplines, settings in which the HC is experienced, impact of the HC, personal actions, efficacy, and their institutional perceptions. We examined the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the HC constructs using exploratory factor analysis Cronbach's alpha, regression analysis and Pearson's correlations.

RESULTS

Expert judges (physician faculty and medical learners) confirmed the content validity of the items used and the analysis revealed new HC constructs reflecting , and . Evidence for criterion validity was found for and the constructs and were significantly associated with the stage of respondents' career and gender. Support for convergent validity was obtained for HC constructs that were significantly correlated with certain contexts within which the HC occurs.

CONCLUSION

More unique dimensions and contexts of the HC exist than have been previously documented. The findings demonstrate that specific clinical contexts can be targeted to improve negative expressions and impacts of the HC.