Counseling and Guidance Needs of Students in Rehabilitation School of Semnan University of Medical Sciences

Background & Objective: Identification of the counseling needs of students contributes to the improvement of guidance and counseling process in universities, thereby laying a proper foundation for the academic achievement of these individuals. This study aimed to determine the counseling needs of students in the rehabilitation school of Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran in 2017. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-cross sectional research was performed on 193 students. Data were collected using a 34-item questionnaire scored based on a four-point scale to determine the counseling needs of students in different areas. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were confirmed by content validity and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Results: In this research, the mean priority of counseling needs of students in order of importance was 2.59±0.80, 2.55±0.73, 2.54±0.75, 2.47±0.76, and 2.42±0.82 in the fields of occupational, individual growth and development, educational, psychological and emotional, and family and marriage needs, respectively. According to the results, female students had a higher need for counseling (P=0.018). On the other hand, no significant difference was observed between students studying in different fields and with different GPAs in terms of mean counseling needs. Conclusion: According to the results of the study, the highest counseling priority was related to occupational and individual growth and development needs. Therefore, it is recommended that universities and higher education centers pay attention to the provision of an opportunity for growth and academic achievement of students and to the prevention of their academic failure in the design of student counseling programs.