The University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn failed this test. The medical entrance exam was organized so that anyone can pass it. The whole situation came to light after a journalistic provocation by a Swedish doctor. But Poland – after the revolution introduced by PiS – has a quite real problem with educating doctors.
– Swedish students who study medicine in Poland told us that it is very easy to get into these studies – says Gustaf Tronarp, a journalist of the Swedish newspaper “Aftonbladet”. And since it was supposed to be so easy, Swedish journalists decided to try it and took the entrance exam conducted remotely during a video call. – My friend hid in the room and googled the answers. The questions were worded in a tricky way. They weren’t easy. It wouldn’t have been possible without cheating, says Gustaf Tronarp. However, he managed to cheat and the Swedish journalist passed the medical examination in Olsztyn.
The University of Warmia and Mazury educates 110 foreigners every year. They pay PLN 49,000 for one year of medical studies. – This is a standard test conducted at many universities in the country and throughout Europe. No student will not even finish the first semester without knowledge, notes Łukasz Staniszewski from the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. And what is the situation in the rest of the country? – We do not deserve the reputation that the Ministry of Education has given us due to the devastation of education. Opinion in the West – says Łukasz Jankowski, president of the Supreme Medical Council.
Doctors are alarming that the ministries of health and education allowed the opening of fourteen new medical fields in 2023 at universities that are – to put it mildly – unprepared. – Online classes are conducted here. There is no dissecting room here, no laboratory here, no desks in the classrooms, no teaching staff here. There is a problem everywhere, rarely just one – says Sebastian Goncerz, chairman of the Residents’ Agreement, Polish Trade Union of Doctors.
Family doctors with greater qualifications. Changes also in night and holiday health careKatarzyna Gozdawa-Litwińska/Fakty po Południu TVN24
Shortages, chaos, makeshift
Out of fourteen new medical fields, nine received a negative opinion from the Accreditation Committee. What emerges from the opinions is chaos and makeshift solutions. There is a lack of equipment, rooms and lecturers. The lecturers will be those who have no knowledge of medicine, and the students will be those who have passed the primary school leaving examination. – We will demand that the new government immediately close the fields of study that try to provide education despite the negative opinion of the Accreditation Committee – announces Łukasz Jankowski.
Doctors warn that students will receive poor education and patients will receive poor doctors. – Swedish doctors complain that the skills of some of them educated abroad are weak and questionable – adds Gustaf Tronarp.
Polish doctors are worried that although the problem affects some, the reputation of all of them will suffer. – The European Association of Medical Specialists will meet next week on this matter. There will also be questions about whether Polish doctors should continue to be recognized in the European Union, says Łukasz Jankowski.
Main photo source: Fakty TVN