Motivation has been found to play a major role in determining student performance in the academic process. The aim of this study is to identify the intrinsic & extrinsic motivational factors among medical students in the University of Sharjah. A Cross Sectional Study was conducted among university students of medical colleges in the period between February 2011 and March 2011. A total of 452 students (337 females and 115 males) were selected using the Quota sampling method equally between each college. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of 13 demographic questions, an agreement scale of 32 questions about the motivational factors and an open ended question asking students about what the university can do to help motivate them were developed. The most common intrinsic factors chosen by students were grade expectation (94%), interest in material (92%) and leading an honorable life (88%). While on the other hand the most common extrinsic factors were upcoming exams (88%), family expectations (88%) and praise (82%). The most common factors were similar between all students regardless of their major, gender, or performance. However, differences were visible in other factors such as in high performing students; rewards scored a 71.4% while low performing students scored it at 50%. It also shows that females consider praise as an important factor (86%) on the contrary males gave it a 72%. While the most common intrinsic factors showed to be grades, interest in material and leading an honorable life, the most common extrinsic factors on the other hand were upcoming exams, family expectations and praise.