perceptions of dental students regarding the practice and impact of the hidden curriculum at al-neelain university, sudan

Background & objective: the hidden curriculum (hc) represents the cultural process of medical training, where students acquire attitudes and values. understanding the hc enables educators to develop more impactful learning experiences. therefore, this study aims to assess the perceptions of al-neelain university dental students regarding the frequency and impact of positive and negative aspects of the hc. materials & methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted among a randomly selected sample of fifth-year dental students at al-neelain university (sudan). data were collected using the self-administered hidden informal curriculum assessment tool (hicat). the data were analyzed using the mann-whitney u test, kruskal-wallis test, and mcnemar test.results: the response rate was 100% (81 out of 81), with 70.3% of respondents identifying as female. approximately 53% of the respondents were single, and 86.4% were citizens. the most commonly reported positive scenario was a satisfactory patient-doctor consultation, noted by 60% of participants. in contrast, the least frequently observed positive scenario was the presence of high professional standards in their learning environments, reported by only 25%. on the negative side, the most frequently cited issue was discriminatory attitudes in learning environments, affecting 52% of respondents. conversely, ethnic discrimination and gender discrimination were the least frequently reported negative scenarios, at 7% and 9%, respectively. data revealed a statistically significant association between perceptions of certain hc scenarios and gender (p = 0.047), citizenship (p = 0.045), and social status (p = 0.003). the top two influential scenarios identified were having a positive role model doctor and developing strong patient-doctor skills.conclusion: respondents frequently reported positive patient-doctor consultations, while discriminatory attitudes in learning environments were the most common negative scenario. understanding students' perceptions of healthcare is essential, as it can help reinforce positive aspects and improve negative ones in the future.