Value-rich exposures in medical education:  phenomenology of practice according to the lived experiences of medical students in Iran

Hakimeh Sabeghi; Shahram Yazdani; Seyed Abbas Foroutan; Seyed Masoud Hosseini; Leila Afshar

doi:10.18502/jmehm.v14i9.6753

Hakimeh Sabeghi PhD Candidate in Medical Education, Virtual School of Medical Education and Management, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Shahram Yazdani Professor, Virtual School of Medical Education and Management, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Seyed Abbas Foroutan Associate Professor, Permanent Member, Academy of Medical Sciences of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
Seyed Masoud Hosseini Department of Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Leila Afshar Associate Professor, Department of Medical Ethics, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jmehm.v14i9.6753

Keywords: Medical students; Medical ethics; Medical education; Value-rich exposure; Phenomenology of practice.

Abstract

Values predispose people to make the right and especially ethical decisions, and are important for good performance in medical sciences. Students’ lived experiences and the value-rich exposures during their education are some effective means of achieving professional values that help them build their own value frameworks. In this phenomenology of practice study, we aimed to explore and describe the lived experiences of a sample of medical students in Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences regarding their value-rich exposures. In-depth interviews, students’ written stories, recorded video interviews related to past trips and photographs were used to collect data. The data was analyzed based on Van Manen’s thematic analysis method.

Five themes emerged from the data: “in the shadow of a supportive mentor”, “a well-orchestrated, value-rich program”, “human interactions in a value system”, “acquiring values in a real-life environment”, “and seeking values in oneself”. Our study identified different dimensions of value-rich exposure based on the lived experiences of medical students and pointed out some issues that medical education planners can consider to improve the quality of value-based education for medical students.