One of the most important indicators of university performance is students' academic achievement. Therefore, this study intended to determine the factors affecting the academic performance of medical students belonging to martyrs’ and veterans’ families at Arak University of Medical Sciences.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 medical students belonging to martyrs’ and veterans’ families, selected through census sampling, during the academic year 2018-2019. The data collection tool was a valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaire asking about the participants’ demographic information and the influencing factors on their academic performance. The data were analyzed and interpreted using AMOS and SPSS 22.

The mean age of the respondents was 19.02 years. They were mostly women (74%). There was no significant relationship between sex (P=0.58), local inhabitant (P=0.88), students’ occupation (P=0.079) and academic performance. However, there was a significant relationship between family’s economic status (P=0.018), parents’ educational level (P=0.023), knowledge of the field/ professional role (P=0.001), physical space/ environment (P=0.001) and students' academic performance.

Based on the results of the present study, considering the influencing factors of students' academic performance from their own viewpoint can promote their academic performance, increase academic achievement and prevent academic failure. Therefore, it is suggested that educational institutions have accurate and coherent planning to support the mentioned factors and eliminate their possible shortcomings.