factors affecting the choice of psychiatry as a specialty in ‎psychiatry residents in iran

objective: the aim of this study was to investigate the current factors affecting the choice of ‎psychiatry as a specialty and to detect the main factors in their choice.‎ method: this descriptive study included 75 first year psychiatry residents in the academic year of ‎‎2014/2015. a likert-type anonymous questionnaire consisting of academic and ‎demographic data with 43 questions, which evaluated the reason for choosing ‎psychiatry as a specialty, was given to the residents.‎ results: the participants had a positive opinion about 28 items of the questionnaire, meaning that ‎these items had a positive effect in choosing psychiatry as a specialty (questions with p ‎value less than 0.05 and a positive mean). more than 80% of the residents had a positive ‎opinion about six items of the questionnaire (amount of intellectual challenge, variety of ‎knowledge fields relevant to psychiatry, emphasis on the patient as a whole person, the ‎importance of treating mental illnesses in the future, work pressure and stress of the ‎field during residency and coordinating with the person's life style). the participants ‎had a negative opinion about two items of the questionnaire (questions with a p value ‎less than 0.05 and a negative mean). they included experiencing mental illness ‎personally through relatives or close friends as well as the income in psychiatry. ‎moreover, 36% of the residents with a more definite opinion mentioned that they chose ‎psychiatry as a specialty because of the limitations in residency exam.‎ conclusion: assistants had a positive opinion about most of the questions and this positive attitude ‎seemed to be an important factor in their specialty choice. however, attending to the ‎preventing factors may increase the selection of psychiatry as a specialty.‎