Introduction: Student withdrawal from specialized fields is a significant challenge facing medical schools in the country. This can cause serious individual and social problems. Therefore, identifying and explaining the effective reasons for withdrawal from the study field in medical residents is very important. Unfortunately, not many studies have been conducted on this topic. Therefore, this qualitative phenomenological study was conducted with the aim of understanding the reasons for withdrawal from the medical residency field among medical residents.
Methods: This qualitative study was conducted on the withdrawing medical residents at the Mashhad Medical Faculty (during the years 2015-2020). The purposive sampling was used. The data collection tool was a semi-structured interview. Ethical considerations were observed, and interviews were conducted. The collected data were analyzed based on the three-stage coding method (open, axial, and selective coding) with MAXQDA2020 software.
Results: Overall, 17 medical residents were interviewed. The participants were aged 28-40 years. During the study period, 111 individuals from 19 specialties withdrew. The highest number of withdrawals was related to the specialties of obstetrics and gynecology, emergency medicine, and pediatrics. The most important factors for dropping out of a study field are: 1- Individual-family reasons 2- Educational-structural reasons 3- Economic-social reasons 4- Occupational reasons
Conclusion: Considering the identification of the main dimensions and items of withdrawal from the specialty, the results of this study can provide the main areas for designing interventions or implementing possible reforms for residency education policymakers and especially officials of medical universities.