[Cross-sectional study of satisfaction with studies and lifestyle among medical students in Austria, Germany and Switzerland].

Background: The aim was to examine potential differences in various aspects of life as well as study satisfaction amongst medical students of three German speaking countries.

Method: Data was collected between February and June 2010 using an online survey with the open source survey tool Limesurvey (Version 1.85 RC3).

Results: 1179 medical students in year 4-6 completed the online questionnaire (798 in Germany (Ger), 265 in Austria (A) and 116 in Switzerland (CH)). Mean age was similar (25.0-25.3) for the countries (p = 0.14). Respondents from Austria were significantly more often (17.4 %) smoking than Swiss (12.1 %) or German (10 %) medical students (p = 0.002). The average number of hours spent studying per week and desired weekly work hours varied significantly between countries. The average desired working week post-graduation was 42 hours. The perceived ability to work as junior doctor post-graduation was below 5 on a visual analogue scale of 1-10.

Conclusion: Results of consumption, work life balance and activity were similar to statistics of the population of each country. With regard to the desired work time after graduation this is in clear contrast to the reality as a doctor. Improvement of medical courses can be achieved with better preparation for the internship.