Evaluating Environmental Health Students' Attitudes toward their Discipline and Future Career in Hamedan University of Medical Sciences in 2008

Introduction: The raise of medical sciences graduates is counted to be on of the problems in public, as concern about the discipline and future career is evidently seen in students. This study was performed with the aim of determining environmental health students' attitude toward their discipline and future career carried out in Hamedan University of Medical Sciences in 2008. Methods: All environmental health students of Hamedan University of Medical Sciences studying morning courses of first semester of academic year 2008-2009 in associate, BS, and MS degrees were entered into this descriptive cross sectional study through census (n=115). The data gathering tool was Minnesota University questionnaire including 20 questions based on Likert scale. Data was analyzed by SPSS software using statistical t-test. Results: Mean and standard deviation of students' attitude toward their future career attained to be 56.6 and 11.2 respectively out of 96 questionnaires. Regarding the score of 60 as the mean score of the test, the attained mean score is lower than expected. Conclusion: The mean score for attitude of population under investigation toward their future career was lower than acceptable level which demonstrates lack of desirable attitude toward future career among students. It is while they have an acceptable attitude toward their discipline. Adjusting the number of students accepted, proper distribution of human resources, informing students about university disciplines before they take the entrance examination, and supporting the students financially may prove helpful in improving their attitudes.