This study investigates the joint impact of personality characteristics and self-efficacy on the perceived academic achievement of medical students on top of their prior high school performance. The sample consisted of medical students in their pre-clinical years. The students' grade point average scores at high school were included as control variable in our explanatory models. Based on previous findings in the literature, we selected self-discipline, social activity and emotional stability from the Five Factor Model of Personality as predictor variables. Furthermore, following the social cognitive theory of Bandura, we added self-efficacy (students' belief in their academic skills) as an additional predictor. The logistic regression analyses confirmed the importance of self-discipline (positively related) and social activity (negatively related) for these students' perceived academic achievement. Additionally, we found a positive contribution of self-efficacy. The results of this study (as discussed in the final sections) have implications for support programmes in the practical field.

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The current study examines the relative impact of vocational interests and prestige on medical students’ aspired work environments. The following areas were included: family doctor, specialist in a private practice, specialist in a hospital, scientific researcher, and dentist. We also added the category “undecided students.” The sample consisted of 788 medical students in their preclinical years. Multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that the impact of vocational interests and prestige varied as a function of the medical students’ aspired work environments. Students with investigative interests particularly aspired to become scientific researchers (compared to the reference category of family doctor), whereas students interested in prestigious careers aspired to become specialists in a private practice (but not specialists in a hospital). Students with realistic interests particularly aspired to become dentists or specialists in a hospital. This article is concluded by a discussion of the impact of the person–environment fit on students’ career decisions.