en Educational Studies پژوهشي Original <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color:#339966;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="line-height:2;"><b><span lang="EN">Objective</span></b><span lang="EN">: </span>The present study aimed to analyze the perceptions and lived experiences of mentor teachers regarding the impact of internship programs on the professional development of student teachers and themselves.<br> <b>Methods</b>: The study employed a qualitative research approach using a phenomenological design. The participants consisted of 16 mentor teachers supervising internship programs at Farhangian University of Hormozgan during the first semester of the 2025&ndash;2026 academic year. They were selected through purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the research data. The data were analyzed using an interpretive analytical approach and thematic analysis.<br> <b>Results</b>: The findings derived from the analysis of the conducted interviews were presented under two overarching categories and nine overarching themes. The first category, advantages and strengths, included: (a) mentor teacher guidance, (b) student teacher guidance, (c) collaborative teaching and learning, and (d) constructive emotional interaction. The second category, challenges and weaknesses, included: (a) the theory&ndash;practice gap, (b) systemic gaps or infrastructural limitations, (c) deficiencies in the professional competence of mentor teachers, (d) the professional competence of student teachers, and (e) emotional resilience. In addition, 29 organizing themes were identified.<br> <b>Conclusions</b>: Finally, recommendations were proposed to improve and enhance the quality of the internship curriculum with the aim of promoting the professional development of student teachers and mentor teachers. Recommendations were also provided regarding the use of the findings to improve macro-level decision-making in the education system.</span></span></span></span></div> Internship curriculum, Mentor teacher, Farhangian University, Phenomenology, Professional development 0 0 http://ijer.hormozgan.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-628-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Omid Sohrabi sohrabieducation@gmail.com 10031947532846006252 10031947532846006252 Yes Department of Psychology and Counseling Education, Farhangian University, P.O. Box 889/14665, Tehran, Iran Mahmoud Sabahi-Zadeh Mahmoudsabahi@gmail.com 10031947532846006253 10031947532846006253 No Department of Educational sciences ,Farhangian University, P.O.Box14665-889, Tehran, Iran Mohammad Ahmad Gholami m_ahmadgholami@yahoo.com 10031947532846006254 10031947532846006254 No Department of Educational Sciences, Farhangian University, P.O. Box 14665-889, Tehran, Iran