Objectives: This was the first study that explored factors associated with medical students’ quarter-life crisis, the anxiety young might experience at the end of their studies and in the beginning of their career.

Methods: 351 medical students (74.6% female, M: 23.79 years, SD: 1.53 years) filled the online questionnaire, that contained Quarter-life Crisis Questionnaire, International Personality Item Pool version of Big Five markers, and questions about different aspects of medical school. Independent t-test, Mann-Whitney U test and linear regression analysis was performed.

Results: Women reported higher quarter-life crisis. Pre-medical school experiences: Higher quarter-life crisis displayed among those students who did not apply to medical university right after high school. Attitudes on medical school: students who would have not applied to medical school again; would have not encouraged their children to apply to medical school; were uncertain to finish the university showed higher quarter life crisis. Factors of academic achievement: students who failed at least one term for academic reason; did not feel to get proper knowledge to accomplish a medical job; were not satisfied with their grades reported higher quarter life crisis. Future plans: Students who did not plan to work in a clinical field and patient care; wanted to work abroad in the future had higher quarter life crisis. Personality traits: Extraversion, conscientiousness were significant negative, neuroticism significant positive predictor of quarter life crisis.

Conclusion: The explored variables might be indicators of quarter-life crisis, and can be the basis of university counseling, when medical students’ quarter-life crisis and emerging adulthood is in focus.

Data collection took place during the fall of academic year 2019/20. The online questionnaire was made by Google Forms (Google LLC, Mountain View, CA, US.). The link of the questionnaire was shared in Hungarian medical students’ groups on different social media to gather a convenience sample.

Cases with missing values were discarded from the particular statistical analysis.