gms | German Medical Science

4th Research in Medical Education (RIME) Symposium 2015

19.03-21.03.2015, München

Similarities and differences in mental health of students in medical degree programs at Erlangen

Meeting Abstract

4th Research in Medical Education (RIME) Symposium 2015. München, 19.-21.03.2015. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2015. DocP23

doi: 10.3205/15rime38, urn:nbn:de:0183-15rime382

Veröffentlicht: 12. März 2015

© 2015 Burger et al.
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Gliederung

Text

Introduction: With a significantly higher prevalence than the average population, medical students are at risk for burnout and to develop psychiatric disorders like depressions and anxiety disorders.

In Erlangen there are three medical degree programs with students of human medicine, dentistry and molecular medicine. We investigated those three groups comparatively with standardized psychological tests for burnout, depression and sense of coherence, assuming that these subgroups can be differentiated concerning the status of their mental health.

Material and methods: 758 students of human medicine, dentistry and molecular medicine were investigated in winter semester 2012/13 with standardized psychological questionnaires: BOSS-II (physical, mental and emotional burnout) and BDI-II (depression). All in all about 90% of the medical students´ population of the pre-clinical semesters (1-4) were investigated in that semester.

Results: All groups showed results of a higher mental stress the longer they had studied in their respective degree program. The students of dentistry and molecular medicine had massively higher values for depression and burnout compared with students of human medicine.

Discussion: With several subpopulations of medical students there might be different levels of stress for the students and/or at least different profiles of these medical students. In all the three subgroups we found higher values for depression and burnout correlated with a higher semester, thus indicating the necessity to counteract this potential development of mental stress and psychiatric disorders in each degree program. Due to the different populations and the higher mental stress measured in dentistry and molecular medicine, further investigations on the reasons for these differences must be conducted. Still, an adapted way of coping with this development for each degree program should be considered.