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

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.
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.
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.
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.