In this cross-sectional study, we examined whether the personality traits and specialty preferences of Turkish medical students (N = 269; 166 women), aged 18 to 25 (M = 20.69, SD = 1.72), changed as they progressed through their education. We found that (a) students who were further along in their education had less empathic perspective-taking and enjoyed competition less; (b) while the enjoyment of competition decreased it did so more strongly in women than in men; (c) women who were further (compared to less further along) along in their education were more narcissistic, especially when individual differences in the enjoyment of competition were accounted for; (d) students’ preferences for surgical and psychiatric specialties decreased as they progressed through their education, an effect mediated by individual differences in perspective-taking; and (e) the decline in the preference for surgery was stronger in women than in men, an effect that became stronger when individual differences in narcissism were removed. These findings suggest that medical school education may influence both personality traits and specialty preferences, with potential differential effects in men and women. As students progress, shifts in empathy and competitiveness could play a role in shaping their career interests, particularly in relation to surgery and psychiatry. However, as this is a crosssectional study, longitudinal research is needed to better understand the direction and stability of these changes over time.