TY - JOUR
T1 - Humanism, the hidden curriculum, and educational reform
T2 - A scoping review and thematic analysis
AU - Martimianakis, Maria Athina
AU - Michalec, Barret
AU - Lam, Justin
AU - Cartmill, Carrie
AU - Taylor, Janelle S.
AU - Hafferty, Frederic W.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © by the Association of American Medical Colleges.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Background Medical educators have used the hidden curriculum concept for over three decades to make visible the effects of tacit learning, including how culture, structures, and institutions influence professional identity formation. In response to calls to see more humanisticoriented training in medicine, the authors examined how the hidden curriculum construct has been applied in the English language medical education literature with a particular (and centering) look at its use within literature pertaining to humanism. They also explored the ends to which the hidden curriculum construct has been used in educational reform efforts (at the individual, organizational, and/or systems levels) related to nurturing and/or increasing humanism in health care. Method The authors conducted a scoping review and thematic analysis that draws from the tradition of critical discourse analysis. They identified 1,887 texts in the literature search, of which 200 met inclusion criteria. Results The analysis documents a strong preoccupation with negative effects of the hidden curriculum, particularly the moral erosion of physicians and the perceived undermining of humanistic values in health care. A conflation between professionalism and humanism was noted. Proposals for reform largely target medical students and medical school faculty, with very little consideration for how organizations, institutions, and sociopolitical relations more broadly contribute to problematic behaviors. Conclusions The authors argue that there is a need to transcend conceptualizations of the hidden curriculum as antithetical to humanism and offer suggestions for future research that explores the necessity and value of humanism and the hidden curriculum in medical education and training.
AB - Background Medical educators have used the hidden curriculum concept for over three decades to make visible the effects of tacit learning, including how culture, structures, and institutions influence professional identity formation. In response to calls to see more humanisticoriented training in medicine, the authors examined how the hidden curriculum construct has been applied in the English language medical education literature with a particular (and centering) look at its use within literature pertaining to humanism. They also explored the ends to which the hidden curriculum construct has been used in educational reform efforts (at the individual, organizational, and/or systems levels) related to nurturing and/or increasing humanism in health care. Method The authors conducted a scoping review and thematic analysis that draws from the tradition of critical discourse analysis. They identified 1,887 texts in the literature search, of which 200 met inclusion criteria. Results The analysis documents a strong preoccupation with negative effects of the hidden curriculum, particularly the moral erosion of physicians and the perceived undermining of humanistic values in health care. A conflation between professionalism and humanism was noted. Proposals for reform largely target medical students and medical school faculty, with very little consideration for how organizations, institutions, and sociopolitical relations more broadly contribute to problematic behaviors. Conclusions The authors argue that there is a need to transcend conceptualizations of the hidden curriculum as antithetical to humanism and offer suggestions for future research that explores the necessity and value of humanism and the hidden curriculum in medical education and training.
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U2 - 10.1097/ACM.0000000000000894
DO - 10.1097/ACM.0000000000000894
M3 - Review article
C2 - 26505101
AN - SCOPUS:84954320857
SN - 1040-2446
VL - 90
SP - S5-S13
JO - Academic Medicine
JF - Academic Medicine
IS - 11 Association of American Medical Colleges Medical Education...
ER -