Developing curriculum archetypes as a reflective tool for health professions educators: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Curriculum conceptualisations in health professions education (HPE) significantly influence teaching practices and learning outcomes, yet remain varied and often implicit among educators. This study aims to elucidate the diverse ways educators perceive and enact curriculum by developing an empirically grounded framework of curriculum archetypes. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 45 health professions educators across different disciplines and multiple institutions between January 2023 and December 2024. Interviews, lasting 45–75 min, explored participants’ views on curriculum conceptualisation, purpose, content, teaching practices, and institutional influences. Data were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using thematic analysis to inductively derive patterns in curricular orientations. These themes were synthesised into a typology of curriculum archetypes reflecting distinct orientations and pedagogical tendencies. RESULTS: The analysis identified five curriculum archetypes: (1) Focused Farah – Diligent Achiever, emphasising structured competency development; (2) Inquisitive Indra – Curious Wanderer, valuing inquiry and intellectual exploration; (3) Sociable Soo Mei – Social Connector, promoting co-creation and relational learning; (4) Rebellious Rizal – Resistant Rebel, challenging dominant norms to foster critical consciousness; and (5) Transformative Thivya – Identity Shaper, an archetype that frames curriculum as a deliberate journey of professional identity formation. These archetypes capture the complexity and diversity of curricular orientations in HPE and highlight tensions between standardisation and innovation. CONCLUSIONS: This study presents the Curriculum Archetypes as a reflective tool for health professions educators that may help make curriculum conceptualisations more explicit. Specifically, the Curriculum Archetypes provide a new interpretive framing of curriculum conceptualisations, one of which foregrounds professional identity formation. The study also proposes potential uses of the framework for educator self-reflection and curriculum review.