An investigation on the level of awareness, attitude, and interest among medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy students toward their majors on entering university: The case of Islamic Azad University, Tehran medical sciences branch

Introduction Having awareness, interest, and positive attitude toward one's fields of study leads to the development of a compatibility between demands and expectations on the one hand and future career on the other hand. This study was carried out to determine the level of awareness, attitude, and interest of medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy students of Islamic Azad University, Tehran Medical Sciences Branch toward their own field of study on entering university. Materials and Methods This research is a basic descriptive study conducted on 273 students who had just entered university. This study was performed using census. Data collection instrument was a four-part questionnaire which included demographic information, and questions measuring students' awareness, attitude, and interest. Results With regard to their field of study, there was no statistically significant difference in the average of students' awareness (P = 0.731). The attitude of medicine students was significantly more positive than pharmacy and dentistry students (P < 0.001), and the attitude of dentistry students was significantly more positive than that of pharmacy students (P = 0.460). Medical students' interest level was significantly higher than that of pharmacy and dentistry students (P < 0.05), and the interest level of dentistry students was significantly greater than the interest level of pharmacy students (P = 024/0). There was a statistically significant positive relationship between awareness and attitude and between awareness and interest in all of the study subjects (P < 0.001). Conclusion The study results indicated that having a high level of awareness toward one's major led students studying in medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy to experience a more positive attitude and a higher level of interest. Thus, before entering the university, academic counseling will be beneficial for acquiring a better understanding of most majors, a goal which could be provided through school, social media, and family.