Changes in attitude of Talented Medical Students towards Academic and Social life During the First Year after Entering the University: A Qualitative Study

Introduction. What is the conception of talented students about university and academic and social life? Does this conception change before and after entering the university? How these changes occur and in which direction? Are these changes important? Do the talented students have any solution for academic life problems? Method. In a qualitative study 20 medical talented students were selected. They participated in a face to face and open end interview and described their ideas about academic and social life, before and after entering the university. After finishing each single interview, the verbal words were converted to written words and were shown to the interviewee, then she/he selected some parts of ideas he agreed with. Results. In more aspects of the mentioned topic, students described university lower than their expectation, except for the information technology system. Conclusion. It seems that the students' view towards university and academic life which is lower than their expectation could disappoint these talented students gradually and leads to their immigration to other countries. Therefore, considering the factors which cause this low view is one of the priorities of medical education directors and university managers.