Background and Objectives : Undoubtedly , looking for a suitable job is one of the most important issues in everybody's life including students and a student's area of study has a great impact on this issue. The aim of this study was to assess motivations underlying the field of study choice in medical and dental students of Rafsanjan Medical University.

  Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study in 2010, questionnaires included demographic information and questions about the students' motives were given to the medical and dental students of the first and second years (146 students). The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and Chi-square test.

  Results: The response rate to the questionnaires was 89%. Sixty percent and 40% of the participants were medical and dental students respectively. The most important motivations among both students were "High professional status" and " Prestigious social standing". The motives of "Provides a secure career" (p= 0.04), "High income" (p= 0.01) and "Requires use of manual skills" (p= 0.001) were significantly more important for dental students. Medical students, in contrast to their dental counterparts, were significantly more likely motivated by factors relating to "Interacting with other people" (p= 0.02) and "Challenging career" (p= 0.01).

  Conclusion: Choosing field of study by medical and dental studying likely related to their high professional and prestigious social status. The difference between the motivations of choosing the area of study is possibly related to the different nature of these two academic disciplines .

  Key words: Students, Motivation, Study choice, Dentistry, Medicine

  Funding: This research was founded by Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences.

  Conflict of interest: None declared.

  Ethical approval: The Ethics Committee of Rafsanjan Medical University approved the study.

 How to cite this article : Kazemizadeh Z, Rezaeian M. Farnoodi M . Evaluation of Motivations For Choosing Field of Study Among Medical and Dental Students of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences. J Rafsanjan Univ Med Sci 2012 10(4): 279-88. [Farsi]