Learning in the Shadows: Experiences of the Hidden Curriculum and Gender Inequalities in Medical Training.
Abstract
Introduction: The medical internship is a key stage in clinical training, where learning extends beyond technical instruction and becomes intertwined with relational, emotional, and institutional experiences that shape professional identity. Objective: To explore how medical trainees make sense of their internship experience and to identify the implicit forms of learning involved in this formative process. Method: A qualitative study with a phenomenological interpretive approach was conducted. In-depth interviews were carried out with medical trainees from a public university in Mexico. Data were analyzed through an inductive process of categorization and interpretive reflection. Results: The internship emerges as a formative space shaped by hierarchical structures, institutional demands, and emotional strain. Through everyday clinical practice, trainees internalize implicit lessons related to authority, management of distress, and legitimate ways of relating within the hospital setting. These experiences are internalized in differentiated ways according to gender and contribute both to the reproduction of normalized practices and to critical reflection on medical practice. Conclusions: The medical internship functions as a central process of professional socialization in which the hidden curriculum plays a decisive role. Acknowledging these dimensions is essential for fostering more reflective medical education attentive to the human experience of clinical training.
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