In Poland, the requirements for foreign medical personnel have been tightened, which means that hundreds of Ukrainian doctors may lose the right to work in Polish hospitals. The reason is the lack of confirmation of proficiency in Polish at the required level. This is reported by inPoland.
Dozens of doctors' licenses have already been revoked in Poland
The Supreme Medical Council of Poland has revoked the provisional licenses of 146 doctors from non-EU countries since May 1. Most of them are Ukrainian citizens.
The reason is that the medical professionals did not provide a certificate confirming knowledge of the Polish language at least at level B1.
The Chair of the Supreme Medical Council, Łukasz Jankowski, stated that a doctor who does not speak Polish may pose a threat to the health and lives of patients.
Hundreds of Ukrainian medical professionals are at risk
According to Jankowski, there are currently approximately 3000 Ukrainian doctors working in Poland. Of these, about 1000 have not yet submitted a language certificate.
The Supreme Medical Council emphasizes that provisional medical practice rights are not equivalent to a full license. Such doctors can only work in a specific medical institution and are not allowed to open private practices.
Currently, the issue already affects several hundred medical professionals who risk losing the ability to work in the Polish healthcare system.
Poland may temporarily extend rules for doctors
The Ministry of Health of Poland is considering the possibility of changing the rules and allowing doctors without confirmed language proficiency to work for another year.
However, Łukasz Jankowski sharply criticized this idea and stated that the Supreme Medical Council opposes such a decision.
After the outbreak of the full-scale war, Poland simplified procedures for Ukrainian medical professionals to quickly involve them in working in hospitals. However, these rules were intended to be temporary.
Now, for Ukrainian doctors to work fully in Poland, they will gradually have to go through diploma nostrification, internships, and take the medical exam LEK.
It should be noted that starting from July 1, 2026, Poland will raise the minimum salaries for medical sector workers. The recalculation is conducted annually taking into account the average salary in the economy, which in 2025 amounted to over 8.9 thousand zlotys.