factors affecting medical students´ hidden and nullexperiences (hidden and null curriculums)

Background: living in a university just through attending theacademic environment has always been full of different experiencesthat play a significant and unseen role in the formation of a formaland predetermined curriculum. the purpose of this study is tonarrate the seven-year lived experiences of medical students inmashhad university of medical sciences about the factorsconstituting the hidden and null forms of their curriculum.methods: this research was conducted with the qualitative method ofcontent analysis through 1- semi-structured personal interview withstudents of different basic and clinical levels of medicine, 2-performing two-group interviews(focus group) 3- reviewing andanalyzing the content of all medical students’ logbooks, the sectionwhich is about the expression of experiences, criticisms andsuggestions from attending different wards of the hospital and clinicaltraining by using graneheim and lundman method in data analysis.results: after analyzing individual and group interviews as well asanalyzing students' logbooks, 942 initial codes were obtained. thecodes were classified in 11 main classes with the following titles:existence of specific educational plan, content materials andeducational resources, master's pattern model, student role, teachingmethod, assessment method, teaching and learning strategies in theenvironment, the role of area, location, equipment andinfrastructures, teaching time, gender composition and mixing, andthe atmosphere governing relationships and the environment.conclusion: in this study the factors that formed the hidden and nullexperiences of medical students were examined. the studentsexpressed their experiences and their role in learning 11 dimensions.this demonstrated that attention by politicians, policy makers, andmanagers can create an environment full of dynamism and education.