| Summary: | Introduction Dental schools teach and assess professionalism, yet there is little research to inform curriculum concerning what students perceive to be powerful influences on their developing understanding and enactment of professionalism. Aim To identify experiences which dental students found influential in developing their understanding and enactment of professionalism. Methods Focus groups with students in each year of a five-year undergraduate dental curriculum in a UK dental school. Inductive thematic analysis, creating a descriptive account, then theoretically informed analysis, using the lens of situated learning in communities of practice, producing an explanatory account. Results Students identified three clusters of influential learning experiences: planned teaching of facets of professionalism; experiencing powerful emotions triggered by clinical work; and role modelling in clinical environments. Better understanding of professionalism arose from positive and negative experiences: students developed the ability to reframe negative experiences into positive learning and commitment. Conclusions In this study, experiences within clinical environments strongly influenced students' developing understanding of professionalism, underpinned by formal university teaching and personal reflection. The greatest influences included role modelling and experiences that generated strong emotions. Other studies have highlighted role modelling. Further study of the role of emotion in the process of developing professionalism may be warranted. © 2018, Nature Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
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