ByadminPoland will not simplify the procedure for obtaining the right to medical practice for doctors from outside the EU
The General Medical Chamber informs that the Seimas of the Republic of Poland has supported some amendments by the Senate to the law on the profession of doctor and dentist. The report of the Parliamentary Committee on Healthcare on amendments by the Senate to the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Professions of Doctors and Dentists and some other acts was considered at the plenary session of the Seimas on July 16, 2020.
Among the amendments of the Senate adopted by the Seimas, the most important are those concerning the exclusion of the following provisions:
- regarding the special procedure for granting a limited license to medical practitioners from outside the EU;
- granting additional points for the letter of intent in the qualification procedure for the specialization.
What exactly did the legislator exclude from the bill?
Recall that at the stage of preparing the bill, the Ministry of Health came up with an initiative to simplify the obtaining of the right to medical activity for doctors from outside the EU. It was proposed for them to introduce verification instead of the nostrification procedure and passing the language exam. However, after verification, these doctors would only be able to work in the specific hospital that invited them to work.
The Polish medical community has repeatedly opposed this provision, not so much because of the verification procedure, but because of the possible exemption of foreign doctors from the language exam. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine a doctor working in Poland without knowing Polish. The Seimas listened to the opinion of the Polish medical self-government and excluded this provision from the bill.
The procedure for obtaining the right to practice medicine in Poland remains unchanged and includes:
- language exam at the Main Medical Chamber;
- nostrification exam at one of the medical universities;
- postgraduate internship – 13 months.
- the LEK examination for obtaining the right to practice medicine.
The second important point concerns the right to specialization. The ministry offered to add points to those applicants who received a letter of intent from the clinic’s management on providing them a place for residency. Polish residents actively discussed this amendment, and many expressed their protest, believing that it creates a field for corruption and conditions for the emergence of “family professions”.
In fact, this amendment looks questionable from the point of view of equality in obtaining the specialization. Indeed, the better a doctor takes LEK, the wider is choice of specializations, which is fair. The Seima chose the best solution: the amendment of the provision of the additional points for the letter of intent was excluded from the bill.
It should be noted that the medical self-government fought for the elimination of the above provisions from the draft law of the profession of doctor and dentist at all stages of the legislative process. We will continue to follow up the progress of the bill and inform our readers.
