Non-Academic Attributes of Hidden Curriculum in Medical Schools

Objective: To identify the non-academic attributes developed during 5 years of training in medical school. Study Design: Sequential mixed method. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted on final year medical students of four medical colleges in the city of Lahore, from March to September 2010. Methodology: Probability random sampling was employed to identify public sector medical colleges for inclusion in the study through Lottery method. In the first phase, survey was done with the help of questionnaires, distributed amongst 280 students, selected on the basis of convenience sampling. It was triangulated with data collected by in-depth structured interviews on 46 students selected using purposive sampling after formal informed consent. For quantitative data percentages of the categorical variables were calculated through SPSS version 10. For qualitative data, themes and patterns were identified using Content Analysis technique. Results: Majority of the medical students (80%) learn the attributes of integrity, self-reliance, tolerance and independence during their schooling. Sixty five percent students thought that the values of humanity, forbearance, righteous attitude in face of adversities and sympathetic behaviour towards peers and patients helped them in being better medical students. Thirty five percent said they faced the negative influences of gender bias and gender discrimination which has led to their impaired professional growth. Eighty percent of the students believe that the teaching methodology employed is teacher centric which does not let them become problem solvers, team players, reflective learners and hampers development of effective communication skills. Conclusion: Medical schooling in our part of the world helps in developing untaught attributes such as integrity, self-reliance, tolerance, independence, sympathetic attitude and good communication skills which are the same as are developed in the medical students of advanced countries, which can be fostered further by formally addressing them in the curriculum.