[Psychological Distress in Medical Students - a Comparison of the Universities of Munich and Witten/Herdecke]

Objectives: This study compares the distress levels of medical students in two different academic settings.

Methods: Data were collected from N= 76 medical students at the Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H) and N = 343 medical students at Ludwig Maximilians University Munich (LMU) with an online questionnaire battery of established questionnaire instruments for assessing distress as well as life and study satisfaction (SWE, ADS-K, PSQ, SF-12, STQL-S).

Results: Data analysis revealed significant differences between the students with regard to self efficacy expectation, depression, psychological distress, and satisfaction.

Conclusions: Because no differences in coping strategies were found between the two groups of students, with the exception of relaxation techniques, the impact of contextual and structural factors on medical students' well-being is discussed.