Attitude of students towards their field of study and future career at the Urmia University of Medical Sciences in 2021

Background & Aims: Considering the importance of academic fields, especially healthcare fields, knowing students’ attitude towards their field of study and future careers is highly important. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to determine the attitude of Urmia University of Medical Sciences students towards their field of study and future career. Materials & Methods: In the present cross-sectional study, 200 students of Urmia University of Medical Sciences (Urmia, Iran) were participated by convenience sampling method. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire that included two parts. The first part entailed the demographic information and second part some questions to measure the attitude towards the field of study and future career. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 16 software. Results: The mean score of attitude of 80 students towards their field of study and future career was 52.01 ± 7.63, while that of 70 cases was 49.65 ± 10.47. The majority of the students had an average attitude towards their field of study (72.5%) and future career (54.0%). Students of some fields, such as medicine, pharmacy, nursing, operating room, and emergency medicine, had a more positive attitude towards their field of study and future career than other fields. Only 5.5% and 29.5% of students had a good/positive attitude towards their field of study and future career, respectively. Conclusion: The weak attitude of students of some fields, including public health, environmental health, radiology, anesthesia, and laboratory sciences, towards their field of study and future career shows the need for an appropriate planning to improve and strengthen educational programs and increase the career capacities of the mentioned fields.