occupational status of shaheed beheshti university of

background and purpose: job satisfaction of the physicians and factors influencing it, are the issues receiving special attention by the health systems of every country. the present study aimed at revealing the current status of the employment and academic achievements of our physician and their attitude toward their job, in order to provide required information for the relevant authorities. methods: in this descriptive cross-sectional study, an 8-item questionnaire was developed including 7 closed as well as 1 open question. the list of the physicians who were graduated from the medical school of shaheed beheshti university of medical sciences and health services (sbmu) from 1993 to 1997, was obtained from the education deputy of the university and islamic republic of iran medical council. the questionnaires were then posted to the target group of physicians. the returned questionnaires were controlled and the related data was entered into the spss software. results: of all respondents, 356(67.3%) were male and others were female; 363(68.4%) were married; 260 (50.8%) had completed the military service, and others were exempted. one hundred ninety (55.1%) of the men and 103 (62%) of the women had entered the university using open quota. ninety four (61%) of the single participants were dissatisfied with their jobs. this was 174 (49.2%) in the married group. the most dissatisfied (162, 57.4%) were among open quota group. more than half of the men and half of the women were dissatisfied with their jobs conclusion: physician’s workforce are among the most expensive human resources. a general dissatisfaction which has been shown in this study should be viewed as warning for policymakers and authorities to take measures to safeguard this expensive human capitals. key word: j ob satisfaction , p hysician occupation journal of medical education summer 2006; 9(2); 85-92