en آموزش پزشکی Medical Education پژوهشي اصیل Orginal Research <span style="line-height:2;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:16px;"><b>Background & Objective:</b> Professional identity formation is a context-dependent process in medical education. Despite the major focus of research on Western educational systems, there is limited understanding of how this process develops within Iran&#39;s national general medical curriculum, which has distinct structural and cultural characteristics. This study aimed to investigate the role of clinical experiences in the professional identity formation of medical students within the context of medical education in Iran.<br> <b>Materials & Methods:</b> This qualitative study involved 17 medical students (7 females and 10 males). Participants were selected via purposive sampling and included 12 interns and 5 students in the physiopathology stage. Data were collected through 17 individual semi-structured interviews conducted from August 2024 to October 2024, each lasting 45 to 75 minutes. Sampling continued until data saturation was reached. Data analysis was performed manually using conventional content analysis based on the Lundman and Graneheim approach. To ensure the trustworthiness of the findings, Guba and Lincoln&#39;s criteria of credibility, including prolonged engagement with data, member checking, and peer debriefing, were applied.<br> <b>Results:</b> Data analysis revealed three main themes: the experienced curriculum, the perceived clinical learning environment, and student characteristics. The experienced curriculum encompassed the hidden curriculum, the influence of role models and peers, and the formal curriculum structure. The perceived clinical learning environment highlighted inadequate conditions for curriculum implementation and the observation of professional anomalies. Student characteristics included active participation in clinical education activities, student search behavior, and personal development. The findings indicated that challenges in the clinical environment, such as workload and observation of unprofessional behaviors, alongside personal and financial challenges, were significant barriers.<br> <b>Conclusion:</b> Clinical experiences, behavioral patterns, and the hidden curriculum play a crucial role in the professional identity formation of medical students. Improving the quality of role modeling, managing unprofessional messages, and providing supportive learning environments can help align clinical experiences with the goals of the formal curriculum.</span></span></span><br> &nbsp; professional identity, education, medical, hidden curriculum, clinical clerkship, curriculum 28 40 http://edujournal.zums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-12-1747-4&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Seyed Kamran Soltani Arabshahi soltarab34@gmail.com 5300319475328460037155 5300319475328460037155 No Center for Educational Research in Medical Sciences (CERMS), Department of Medical Education, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Marzieh Nojomi mnojomi@iums.ac.ir 5300319475328460037156 5300319475328460037156 No Preventive Medicine and Public Health Research Center, Psycho-social Health Research Institute, Department of Community and Family Medicine, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Seyedeh Zahra Nahardani nahardani.z@iums.ac.ir 5300319475328460037157 5300319475328460037157 Yes Center for Educational Research in Medical Sciences (CERMS), Department of Medical Education, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Mehdi Ghassai Chorsi mehdi.gassabichorsi@gmail.com 5300319475328460037158 5300319475328460037158 No Center for Educational Research in Medical Sciences (CERMS), Department of Medical Education, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Maryam Beheshtifar sampad1385@yahoo.com 5300319475328460037159 5300319475328460037159 No Center for Educational Research in Medical Sciences (CERMS), Department of Medical Education, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Sodabeh Momeni momeni.soodabeh@gmail.com 5300319475328460037160 0009-0007-8678-692X No Preventive Medicine and Public Health Research Center, Psycho-social Health Research Institute, Department of Community and Family Medicine, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran