The risks of following the informal and hidden curriculums

Becoming a doctor is not just about applying the factual knowledge you are taught at medical school, it’s also about learning how to be a professional. This is reflected in the formal curriculums of medical schools, which teach the professional values expected of medical students and doctors by the General Medical Council.

However, much learning occurs outside the lecture theatre—through the informal curriculum—where your professional identity is forged by observing the attitudes, practices, and behaviours of senior doctors on the wards, on placements, and in non-clinical settings such as the doctors’ mess.

There is also the hidden curriculum. This comprises the ideology and values delivered subliminally, and also “the unofficial rules for survival and advancement” at medical school,1 which are communicated to students through the structures and culture of their learning environment (for example, through the prioritisation of some specialties over others). These unwritten lessons can sometimes create a tension for young doctors, when they see a contradiction between what they are taught in the lecture theatre and what they see in practice.

This article highlights examples of the informal and hidden curriculums, the risks of following them, and how you can raise concerns about behaviours and actions that are damaging to the doctor-patient relationship.