Motives for Choosing Medicine as a University Major: A Cross-Sectional Study

Authors

  • Fariba Asghari Medical Ethics and History of Medicine Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Abstract:

Background: Awareness of the motives of the students for choosing to study medicine demonstrates their understanding of the nature of this major and their expectations from their future profession. The evaluation of the volume of students who choose this major with wrong motives is necessary for educational planning of professional commitment. This study was conducted to evaluate the motives of choosing to study medicine in the first-year medical students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Methods:This descriptive analytical study was conducted on first-semester medical students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in the 2014-15 academic year who were selected through census sampling. The data collection tool was a self-administered questionnaire, which included questions on 17 different motives in a Likert scale in addition to demographic characteristics. Results: Of 131 distributed questionnaires, 124 (93%) were completed and returned. Eighty-six participants (65.61%) mentioned helping others as their main motive for choosing medicine followed by interest in the human body, interaction with people, professional prestige, and starting a good profession after graduation. On the other hand, unfamiliarity with other majors, competition with others, and teamwork were the least important motives. Conclusions: The students’ motives are mostly altruistic and in accordance with medical professionalism. These motives should be reinforced to enhance professional performance. Moreover, the faculty of medicine should recognize and offer counseling services to students with undesirable motives.

Upgrade to premium to download articles

Sign up to access the full text

Already have an account?login

similar resources

Assessment of Iran Medicine List for the Appropriateness of the Six Pharmacological Formulations for Children's Prescription: A Cross Sectional Study

Background: The administration of pediatric medicines in an accurate manner for successful therapy is imperative. This study aimed to investigate the Iran Medicine List for the appropriateness of the six pharmacological formulations for children populations to the success of accurate dose delivery. <span style="f...

full text

Cigarette Smoking, Illicit Medicine, Substance and Alcohol Abuseamong Pregnant Women: A Cross Sectional Study from Iran

Background The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of illicit medicine abuse among pregnant women who referred to the general teaching hospital in Tehran. MaterialsAndMethods A non-randomized sample of 2189 eligible pregnant women, which were at 2nd and 3rd trimester, were visited for 2nd prenatal care or subsequent consultation and being confident regarding the time of taking i...

full text

A CROSS-SECTIONAL CONTROLLED STUDY OF GONADAL FUNCTION AND PUBERTAL DEVELOPMENT IN THALASSEMIA MAJOR

Early and regular blood transfusion therapy in patients with homozygous beta-thalassemia decreases the complications of severe anemia and prolongs survival. In the long term, however, the beneficial effects of transfusions are limited by the organ damage resulting from iron overload. Endocrine complications in patients with thalassemia major in developing countries may be frequent due t o ...

full text

Choosing public health dentistry as a career: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to assess the attitude of dental students towards considering Public Health Dentistry as their future career. MATERIALS AND METHODS A questionnaire based, cross-sectional survey was conducted, which included dental students from different years of study. It consisted of 27 questions that were graded on five point Likert scale. RESULTS A total of 293 ...

full text

The cutoff of ferritin for evaluation of osteoporosis in patients with Thalassemia Major: A cross-sectional analytic study

Background: This study aimed to assess cutoff of ferritin for evaluation of osteoporosis in patients with Thalassemia Major (TM). Materials and Methods: This analytic cross-sectional study was conducted in17 Shahrivar children's hospital, Rasht, Iran, from November 2017 to November 2018. The inclusion criteria were indicated as the presence of  TM in patients aged 12-19 years old with records ...

full text

General Health Status Among Students of Islamic Azad University: A Cross-Sectional Study from Iran

Background & Aims of the Study: Health is one of the basic needs of human. There is a close relationship between physical and mental health. Human psyche is directly affected by his physical condition, and mutually his body and actions of human systems are influenced by psychological and mental space. Students because of their particular circumstances are vulnerable to mental health problems. T...

full text

My Resources

Save resource for easier access later

Save to my library Already added to my library

{@ msg_add @}


Journal title

volume 8  issue 1

pages  17- 21

publication date 2018-06-01

By following a journal you will be notified via email when a new issue of this journal is published.

Hosted on Doprax cloud platform doprax.com

copyright © 2015-2023