ByadminWhy does Poland lack surgeons, therapists, and emergency doctors?
Graduates of Polish medical universities are less likely to choose to specialize in general medicine, emergency medicine, and surgery. They prefer higher-paid specialties that do not require frequent shifts. That is why they compete for places in radiology or endocrinology. However, there are very few residential places for the specialties most popular among young Polish doctors.
“What is the use of the fact that the government annually increases the number of budget places in medical faculties, and 3-4 thousand doctors leave the walls of medical universities every year? After all, there are not enough places for specialization” – such complaints can often be heard from graduates of Polish medical universities.
But are these complaints justified? In the autumn of 2021, the Minister of Health approved 5.5 thousand residential places for doctors who want to get a narrow specialty. We are talking about training in a particular specialty, when a doctor works in a hospital and studies, receiving a decent salary.
As a reminder, currently, the minimum rate for a resident doctor is 1,200 euros on average. And from July this year, it will be raised to 1,500 euros. In addition, resident doctors can take duty in their department, in the covid department, where they receive a double salary, as well as in healthcare institutions that provide primary medical care at night, on weekends, and holidays, where they receive about 100 PLN per hour.
Meanwhile, about 2 thousand resident places out of 5.5 thousand remained free this autumn. There are a lot of vacancies in residencies in priority specialties, where there is a particularly acute shortage of doctors. These are internal medicine, family medicine, general surgery, pediatrics and emergency medicine. These specialists are literally in high demand in Poland.
For example, in the specialization “Therapy” from the autumn distribution, 200 places remained unoccupied, in emergency medicine – 340, in general surgery – 120, in infectious diseases – 112.
However, practitioners are not surprised by this situation. Here is what Tomasz Imiela, a general practitioner and vice president of the regional medical chamber in Warsaw, says: “I specialize in internal medicine. Working in the Department of Internal Medicine is the hardest part of my job in the hospital. In internal medicine departments, there are mainly severe elderly patients with chronic diseases. There are often deaths. This is a big psychological burden for a doctor, and not everyone can cope with it.”
As for general surgery, few people want it. But this is one of the main areas of practical medicine. Jerzy Friediger, a specialist in general surgery, member of the Presidium of the Supreme Medical Council and director of the Stefan Zeromski Specialized Hospital in Krakow says the following about this: “The work of a surgeon requires extensive knowledge in various fields of medicine. It is very responsible and associated with a high risk of failure in surgical intervention. It is much easier to be, for example, an endocrinologist than a surgeon.”
According to Jerzy Fridiger, such a shortage of certain specialists is caused by an erroneous approach to postgraduate education. “Today we have a two-tier modular system of specialization. The basic module can be completed in therapy in 3 years, and the specialized module in endocrinology. As a result, such a doctor knows more about hormones than internal medicine in general.”
Medical self-government has been calling for a change in the model of specialization for years. According to the activists of the Supreme Medical Chamber, there are too many specializations in Poland – more than 70. In other EU countries, great attention is paid to general education within the framework of specialization.
In return, young doctors say that perhaps therapy or emergency medicine would be chosen more often if these specialties were much more attractive from a financial point of view.
Experienced Polish doctors state the fact that the current young generation of doctors is different from the previous one. They strive for good working conditions, work-life balance is important to them, and they want to receive very decent remuneration for their work.
