Introduction: Emergency medicine is a relatively new founded medical specialty, since its establishment in Iran 15 years ago, factors behind an interest to enroll in this medical specialty have not been evaluated.
Methods and materials: In this cross-sectional study, information was gathered in the format of a questionnaire gathering the residents’ demographic information and the factors behind choosing emergency medicine as a specialty. A census was performed and many tests were used for data analysis.
Results: Four hundred emergency medicine residents participated in this study, 51.2% were men and 48.8% were women. The average age of male residents was 43.97±5.17 while the average age of female residents was 38.6±5.89. The most significant factor behind tendency toward this field in all participating residents was clinical interest. There was a meaningful correlation between enrolling in this field due to the free time between shifts and lack of any other options and the residents’ gender. Also there was a noticeable correlation between factors behind opting for this field such as good income and the possibility of being hired in the capital of a province and the age of residents.
Conclusion: This survey of motivational factors behind enrolling in emergency medicine can provide useful information for the betterment of this medical specialty.
