title: ‎ Factors Affecting the Choice of Psychiatry as a Specialty in ‎Psychiatry Residents in Iran.
abstract: Objective:The aim of this study was to investigate the current factors affecting the choice of ‎psychiatry as a specialty and to detect the main factors in their choice.‎Method:This descriptive study included 75 first year psychiatry residents in the academic year of ‎‎2014/2015. A Likert-type anonymous questionnaire consisting of academic and ‎demographic data with 43 questions, which evaluated the reason for choosing ‎psychiatry as a specialty, was given to the residents.‎Results:The participants had a positive opinion about 28 items of the questionnaire, meaning that ‎these items had a positive effect in choosing psychiatry as a specialty (questions with P ‎value less than 0.05 and a positive mean). More than 80% of the residents had a positive ‎opinion about six items of the questionnaire (amount of intellectual challenge, variety of ‎knowledge fields relevant to psychiatry, emphasis on the patient as a whole person, the ‎importance of treating mental illnesses in the future, work pressure and stress of the ‎field during residency and coordinating with the person's life style). The participants ‎had a negative opinion about two items of the questionnaire (questions with a P value ‎less than 0.05 and a negative mean). They included experiencing mental illness ‎personally through relatives or close friends as well as the income in psychiatry. ‎Moreover, 36% of the residents with a more definite opinion mentioned that they chose ‎psychiatry as a specialty because of the limitations in residency exam.‎Conclusion:Assistants had a positive opinion about most of the questions and this positive attitude ‎seemed to be an important factor in their specialty choice. However, attending to the ‎preventing factors may increase the selection of psychiatry as a specialty.‎.
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.; Department of Psychiatry, Imam Hossein Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of ‎Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Saeed
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Sadr
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Razieh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nayerifard
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.; Department of Psychiatry, Imam Hossein Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of ‎Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Mehdi
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Samimi Ardestani
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Massood
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Namjoo
keywords: Choice; Psychiatry; Resident; Specialty