Tehran University of Medical Sciences Acta Medica Iranica 0044-6025 52 12 2014 12 15 922 926 EN Shervin Farahmand Department of Emergency Medicine, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Seyed Mojtaba Aghili Department of Emergency Medicine, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Saharnaz Nedjat Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. AND Department of Epidemiology, Knowledge Utilization Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Maryam Kia Department of Internal Medicine, Dr. Ziaeian Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Rokhsareh Aghili Endocrine Research Center, Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Behzad Elahi Toronto Western Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. 2015 10 11 Emergency medicine is a relatively new specialty in Iran. Therefore, the general public and the medical community do not have enough information on its duties, capabilities, its nature, and its work schedule or its degree of occupational difficulty compared to other specialties. Hence, an insight from the early group of residents who selected this specialty can help identify the strengths and weaknesses of this field in order to promote the scientific quality of this field, and attract medical students. It can also help to alleviate deficiencies and strengthen positive aspects of emergency medicine. The aim of this study was to identify the reasons behind choosing emergency medicine as a specialty. A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews. Maximum variation opportunistic sampling was done, and face-to-face interviews were held with 23 emergency medicine residents and fellows (4 faculty members and 19 residents). Data were analyzed through thematic analysis, and categories and themes were extracted. The main levels extracted were: 1) Individual priorities, 2) the nature of work and the field of study, and 3) professional future. The themes of each main level were extracted and encoded. This study showed that the majority of residents choose emergency medicine specialty to achieve a better social and professional status in one of the most challenging fields of medicine. https://acta.tums.ac.ir/index.php/acta/article/view/4505 https://acta.tums.ac.ir/index.php/acta/article/download/4505/4675