title: The students' intentions and satisfaction with the field of study and university.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The present study aimed to find an appropriate method to inform senior high school students to correctly select their academic field of study and their intentions.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a descriptive-analytic and cross-sectional study. A verified questionnaire was given to a total of 2600 students selected by stratified random sampling method (ten different colleges and entrance year from the 1(st) to 4(th) are considered as the strata). The position of the present field of study (major) among the list of the fields in the entrance exam was asked. The students' methods of familiarity with different fields of study in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS), the reasons for their selection, the students' motivation and insistence on studying in the same field and university were asked in the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using independent two samples t-test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Chi-Square test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The most significant references for university field selection were high school teachers, the students' parents and the adjacency of university to one's living place. Also, the results revealed the good reputation of SUMS in the first year and its downward trend during the following years. 59.4% of the 1(st) year students were satisfied with their field of study and SUMS. 31.8% were satisfied with the university but not with their fields of study. 6.4% were dissatisfied with the university but not with their fields of study. 2% of the students were dissatisfied with both their fields of study and university. Dissatisfaction with SUMS and field of study increased little by little so that the results obtained among the students who had entered the university earlier (in the 4(th) year of their study) showed nearly 16.3% dissatisfaction with both the university and the study fields.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The methods for introducing the university are recommended to be revised.
authors.affiliation: Histomorphometry and Stereology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Noorafshan
authors.affiliation: Colorectal Research Center and Biostatistics Department, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;
authors.forename: Saeedeh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pourahmad
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;
authors.forename: Mohammad Mahdi
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Sagheb
authors.affiliation: School of Dentistry, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dehghani Nazhvani
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dehshahri
authors.affiliation: School of Paramedical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;
authors.forename: Manijeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abdollahi
authors.affiliation: School of Nursery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;
authors.forename: Zeynab
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mohebbi
authors.affiliation: Lar Nursery School, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Keshtkaran
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;
authors.forename: Afsaneh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmadi
authors.affiliation: School of Rehabilitation, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;
authors.forename: Somayeh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kavousipour
authors.affiliation: School of Management, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;
authors.forename: Fariba
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Farahmand
authors.affiliation: Gerash Paramedical Sciences School, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;
authors.forename: Hamid Reza
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Khorrami
authors.affiliation: Gifted and Talented Students Office, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Robabeh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Soltani
authors.affiliation: Histomorphometry and Stereology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;
authors.forename: Saied
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karbalay Doust
keywords: Intention; Medical student; Satisfaction