Doctor jobs in Poland

Updated on 14 August 2026. The professions of lekarz and lekarz dentysta are regulated professions in Poland. A foreign medical diploma, professional experience, lawful residence, permission to work or a job offer from a healthcare provider is not sufficient on its own to practise independently as a doctor. The key professional authorisation is Prawo Wykonywania Zawodu (PWZ), granted by the competent medical self-government body on the applicable legal basis.

For medical or dental qualifications obtained outside the EU, there is no correct universal formula of “nostrification → internship → exam → employment”. The route depends on the qualification, professional history, specialist training, previous internship or practice, examination results and the specific legal basis for PWZ. Before submitting documents, applicants should check the current version of the Act on the Professions of Doctor and Dentist in ELI, the Ministerstwo Zdrowia guidance for doctors and dentists and the requirements of the competent Okręgowa Izba Lekarska.

1. What is required to work legally as a doctor in Poland

At least three legally distinct issues must be considered separately: lawful residence in Poland, access to the Polish labour market, and the professional right to practise medicine. A residence document or legal basis for employment is not PWZ. Likewise, PWZ does not itself legalise a person’s stay if a separate immigration basis is required.

Before a doctor is allowed to treat patients, both the employer and the doctor should verify: lawful residence; the right to work or an applicable exemption from a separate work permit requirement; the exact type and validity of PWZ; any territorial, time, scope-of-practice or other restrictions attached to it; and whether the position is compatible with the doctor’s recognised qualifications and, where relevant, specialist status.

A doctor should not perform a procedure merely because an employer is willing to assign it. Clinical duties must remain within the law, the scope of the doctor’s PWZ, the doctor’s actual competence, the rules of the healthcare provider and the requirements of patient safety.

2. Who decides PWZ matters: Ministerstwo Zdrowia, OIL and NIL

Ministerstwo Zdrowia is involved in procedures that legislation places within the Minister’s competence, including certain pathways for doctors with qualifications obtained outside the EU and the recognition of foreign specialist qualifications. A ministerial decision or consent, where required, must not be confused with the actual granting and registration of professional rights within the medical self-government system.

The Okręgowa Rada Lekarska of the relevant Okręgowa Izba Lekarska (OIL) considers applications for PWZ within its statutory powers and records the relevant information in the professional register. Naczelna Izba Lekarska (NIL) is the central institution of the medical self-government. Before employment, a doctor’s status should be checked through the Centralny Rejestr Lekarzy NIL rather than relying only on a scan or copy supplied by a candidate or intermediary.

A common mistake is to assume that “a Ministerstwo Zdrowia decision = full PWZ”. In every case, the ministerial decision, the resolution of the Okręgowa Rada Lekarska and the current register entry should be reviewed to determine what type of right has actually been granted, for how long and subject to which restrictions.

3. Non-EU qualifications: nostrification or LEW/LDEW are not one universal route

For a person holding a medical or dental degree obtained outside the EU, Polish law provides different ways of confirming educational qualifications depending on the lawful route being used. In the standard route, this may involve nostrification of the diploma by an authorised Polish university or a passing result in the Lekarski Egzamin Weryfikacyjny (LEW) or Lekarsko-Dentystyczny Egzamin Weryfikacyjny (LDEW), where the statutory conditions for that route are met.

LEW/LDEW must not be confused with LEK/LDEK. LEW and LDEW are verification examinations intended for categories of holders of non-EU medical and dental qualifications defined by law. Official rules, examination dates and registration procedures are published by the Centrum Egzaminów Medycznych (CEM); separate official information is available for LEW and LDEW.

Applicants should not pay an intermediary for “mandatory nostrification” before their actual legal route has been identified. Passing LEW or LDEW also does not automatically result in unrestricted PWZ: all other conditions applicable to the relevant pathway must still be satisfied.

4. Staż podyplomowy, LEK/LDEK and Polish-language requirements

Staż podyplomowy, full or partial recognition of previous postgraduate training, and the Lekarski Egzamin Końcowy (LEK) or Lekarsko-Dentystyczny Egzamin Końcowy (LDEK) are relevant only in pathways where the law requires them. It is incorrect to state that every doctor trained outside Poland must automatically repeat the same postgraduate internship.

In cases provided for by law, the Minister Zdrowia may recognise all or part of a postgraduate internship or corresponding professional experience completed outside the EU. The official procedure is described in the Ministerstwo Zdrowia guidance on recognition of postgraduate medical or dental training completed outside the EU. In the standard route to PWZ without additional restrictions, a passing LEK or LDEK result may also be required; current examination rules and sessions should be checked with CEM.

Knowledge of Polish is not a formality. In the standard route, the method of proving language competence is determined by legislation and professional rules. Under the current procedure in Article 7(2a) — PWZ limited to a defined scope of professional activities, period and place of employment — the application to Ministerstwo Zdrowia includes the required declaration concerning Polish-language competence, while the Okręgowa Rada Lekarska requires appropriate evidence of Polish at least at B1 level for the granting of PWZ. Current requirements should be verified against the official Ministerstwo Zdrowia notices for doctors and dentists and with the competent OIL.

5. Diploma, PWZ and specialist recognition are three different legal issues

A properly recognised or otherwise legally accepted medical diploma concerns basic medical education. PWZ concerns the right to practise medicine in Poland. Recognition of a foreign specialist title is a separate procedure. Professional experience as a cardiologist, anaesthesiologist, surgeon or another specialist outside Poland therefore does not automatically make the foreign specialist qualification equivalent to a Polish tytuł specjalisty merely because PWZ has been obtained.

In the cases provided by law, Minister Zdrowia may recognise a specialist qualification obtained outside the EU as equivalent to the corresponding Polish specialist title. The procedure may involve an assessment of the programme and duration of specialist training, the way competence was verified and, depending on the case, additional training. The official requirements are available in the Ministerstwo Zdrowia guidance on recognition of specialist qualifications obtained outside the EU.

Until the relevant procedure has been completed, a doctor should not present their professional status to patients or employers as though a foreign specialist qualification had already been recognised as a Polish specialist title unless this follows from the applicable law.

6. Limited and time-restricted PWZ under Article 7(2a)

In addition to the standard pathway to PWZ without special restrictions, Polish law provides specific procedures for doctors with non-EU qualifications under which Minister Zdrowia may consent to professional practice within a defined scope of professional activities, for a specified period and at a specified place of employment. This is not the equivalent of unrestricted PWZ.

The current route under Article 7(2a) applies to doctors or dentists who obtained specialist qualifications outside the EU and meet all statutory conditions. These include at least three years of professional experience as a specialist during the previous five years immediately preceding the issue of the relevant certificate by a Polish healthcare provider, together with documentation from that provider confirming the planned employment.

The provider’s document must identify the doctor who will act as supervisor for a one-year supervision period, including the supervisor’s name, PWZ number and second-degree specialist qualification or specialist title. At the Ministerstwo Zdrowia stage, the required declaration on Polish-language competence must be submitted, and for PWZ through the OIL, evidence of Polish at least at B1 level is required. Full conditions and the current document list are set out on the official Ministerstwo Zdrowia page on PWZ for a defined scope of activities, time and place of employment.

This type of PWZ should not be advertised as a “full Polish medical licence”. Before changing employer, workplace, position, scope of procedures or contractual model, the doctor should verify whether the specific Ministerstwo Zdrowia decision and the specific PWZ permit that change.

7. Conditional PWZ: duration, cumulative five-year cap and prohibition on individual practice

Warunkowe PWZ, or conditional PWZ, is a restricted professional right rather than an unrestricted licence. When assessing an existing conditional PWZ, the legal basis, date of issue, remaining validity, applicable supervision requirements, permitted place of work and authorised scope of professional activities should all be checked.

A conditional PWZ remains valid for a maximum of five years from the date of issue. Polish law also imposes a cumulative limit: the combined duration of the relevant restricted PWZ and conditional PWZ arrangements cannot exceed five years, calculated from the first relevant PWZ document. A subsequent document should therefore not automatically be treated as starting a new independent five-year period. The current statutory basis should be checked in the official ELI version of the Act on the Professions of Doctor and Dentist.

Naczelna Rada Lekarska has also stated that conditional PWZ does not authorise practice in the form of an individual medical practice, including an individual practice carried out exclusively within a healthcare provider under contract. Before choosing a contractual structure, the doctor must therefore verify not only tax and insurance consequences but, first and foremost, whether the relevant form of professional activity is permitted by the specific PWZ. Professional self-government positions are published by Naczelna Izba Lekarska.

8. Documents to prepare before starting the procedure

The exact document list depends on the route, so there is no universal “PWZ package”. Depending on the procedure, applicants may need: a passport or other identity document; diploma and supplement or transcript; documents confirming the duration and curriculum of studies; internship documents; evidence of professional experience; specialist qualification documents; proof of the right to practise in a previous jurisdiction; health and professional standing documents where required; proof of Polish-language competence; a nostrification decision or examination result; and, for employer-linked procedures, documentation issued by the relevant healthcare provider.

Foreign documents may require translation by a sworn translator and, in some cases, appropriate authentication depending on the document and applicable rules. Applicants should avoid purchasing an expensive package of translations solely on the basis of a private intermediary’s checklist before verifying the official requirements for the chosen route.

A sensible starting point is the Ministerstwo Zdrowia section on recognition of qualifications, the current Act on the Professions of Doctor and Dentist and the requirements of the competent Okręgowa Izba Lekarska.

9. Supervision, professional responsibility and patient safety

If a particular PWZ requires nadzór, or professional supervision, it must not be treated as a formality. Before work begins, the healthcare provider should clearly establish who supervises the doctor, when that person is available, how difficult clinical decisions and emergencies are escalated, which procedures may be performed independently and which require participation by or consultation with an appropriately qualified specialist.

Regardless of where qualifications were obtained, a doctor must act in accordance with current medical knowledge, professional ethics, patient rights and the limits of their own competence. Particular attention should be paid to correct patient identification, informed consent, medical confidentiality, safe prescribing, handover of clinical information within the care team and timely referral when a case exceeds the doctor’s competence.

Medical records must be maintained in accordance with Polish legal requirements and the standards of the relevant healthcare provider. Insufficient command of Polish does not remove responsibility for misunderstanding a medical history, documenting information incorrectly, failing to obtain valid informed consent or communicating unsafely with the clinical team.

Depending on the contractual model and professional activity, requirements concerning professional civil liability insurance OC may apply. Before signing a contract, the doctor should establish what insurance is provided by the healthcare entity, what cover must be maintained personally, the applicable liability limits and exclusions, and the procedure for reporting an adverse medical event. Professional disciplinary liability, civil liability, employment liability and criminal liability are separate legal regimes; a contract with a healthcare provider does not remove the doctor’s personal professional duties.

10. Doctor salaries in Poland from 1 July 2026

When discussing medical pay, it is essential to distinguish between the statutory minimum basic salary — wynagrodzenie zasadnicze — for relevant employees of covered healthcare entities and a doctor’s actual total monthly income. The legal basis is the Act on determining the minimum basic salary of certain employees of healthcare entities.

For calculations effective from 1 July 2026, the relevant average monthly gross salary in the national economy for 2025 is PLN 8,903.56, together with the statutory coefficient. For a doctor or dentist with a specialist qualification, the coefficient is 1.45, corresponding to a minimum basic salary of PLN 12,910.16 gross. For a doctor or dentist without a specialist qualification, the coefficient is 1.19, corresponding to PLN 10,595.24 gross.

For a medical or dental intern, Minister Zdrowia set the official monthly basic salary from 1 July 2026 at PLN 8,458.38 gross, based on a coefficient of 0.95. Current remuneration notices are published in the official Ministerstwo Zdrowia section.

These figures are gross basic salaries, not guaranteed take-home pay and not estimates of total earnings. Net pay depends on taxation, social contributions, the contractual model and the individual situation. Total remuneration may include on-call duties, night work, allowances, overtime and other components. Contract rates, private practice and civil-law arrangements should not be mechanically equated with the statutory minimum basic salary for employees. Generic claims that “doctors in Poland earn X–Y PLN per month” are therefore unreliable unless the professional status, contract type, gross/net basis and components of remuneration are clearly stated.

11. Legal employment of a foreign doctor and the written contract

Professional authorisation and legal employment must be checked separately. A foreign worker must have a lawful basis for residence and the relevant right to work, or an applicable statutory exemption from a separate work authorisation requirement. The exact procedure depends on the person’s legal status and the circumstances of employment. Official information should be checked through praca.gov.pl and the Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy information service on the legal employment of foreign workers.

The employment contract or other required employment agreement must be concluded in writing before the foreign worker starts work. Before signature, the employer must provide the worker with the content of the agreement in a language version the worker can understand, where required by law. After execution, the worker must receive their own copy. Oral assurances, messages from an intermediary or a photograph of an unsigned draft do not replace properly executed employment documents.

A doctor should review not only the gross remuneration but also the job title, place of work, working time, on-call duties, payment for nights and additional hours, leave, termination rules, liability, OC insurance, scope of professional duties and consistency of those duties with the doctor’s PWZ. An umowa o pracę, a civil-law contract and an individual medical practice have different legal, insurance and tax consequences; moreover, a restricted PWZ may not permit the chosen form of professional activity.

12. Where to find vacancies and how to verify an employer or recruitment agency

Doctors may look for vacancies directly with public and private hospitals, clinics, outpatient facilities, primary care providers and other healthcare entities. Before applying, it is useful to ask which exact type of PWZ the employer accepts, whether the provider is prepared to issue documents needed for the relevant procedure, who will provide any required supervision and whether the proposed position requires formal recognition of the doctor’s specialist qualification.

If employment is arranged through an agency, the agency should be checked in the official Krajowy Rejestr Agencji Zatrudnienia (KRAZ): official KRAZ register. Registration in KRAZ does not mean that an agency can “issue PWZ” or guarantee a favourable decision from Ministerstwo Zdrowia or an Okręgowa Rada Lekarska.

Red flags: promises of “100% guaranteed PWZ without exams or document verification”; pressure to start treating patients before the necessary PWZ has been granted; claims that a residence or work document replaces professional authorisation; requests to sign a blank or incomprehensible agreement; refusal to provide the worker with their own copy; quoting pay only as a net figure without explaining the contractual model; requiring procedures outside the doctor’s PWZ or actual competence; supposed “supervision” where no supervisor is genuinely available; or requests for payment to an intermediary in exchange for a guaranteed decision by a public authority.

13. Step-by-step checklist before taking up medical work in Poland

1. Identify the starting status of your qualifications: where the medical or dental degree was obtained, whether postgraduate training was completed, whether specialist training has been completed and whether professional experience can be documented.
2. Identify the correct legal route: do not begin nostrification automatically; determine whether nostrification, LEW/LDEW or another statutory pathway applies to your case.
3. Check Polish-language requirements: establish which document or examination is accepted for your PWZ route; for Article 7(2a), verify the B1 requirement specifically.
4. Check postgraduate training requirements: determine whether a Polish staż podyplomowy is required or whether previous internship or professional experience may be recognised in full or in part.
5. Check LEK/LDEK: take the relevant examination where required by your route; do not confuse LEK/LDEK with LEW/LDEW.
6. For Article 7(2a), verify the specific conditions: the required specialist qualification, at least three years of specialist practice within the previous five years, healthcare-provider documentation, one-year supervision by an eligible supervisor and Polish at no lower than B1 level.
7. Obtain the necessary Ministerstwo Zdrowia decision where the chosen legal route falls within the Minister’s competence.
8. Apply to the competent Okręgowa Rada Lekarska and obtain the appropriate type of PWZ before carrying out professional medical activities, unless the law provides a different sequence for the specific route.
9. Check the entry in Centralny Rejestr Lekarzy NIL, the validity period and every restriction attached to the PWZ.
10. Deal with specialist recognition separately: if the position requires formal recognition of a foreign specialist title, complete the relevant procedure; PWZ does not automatically recognise specialist status.
11. Check lawful residence and work status: an immigration or employment document does not replace PWZ.
12. Verify the employer or agency: check intermediaries through KRAZ and verify foreign-worker employment procedures through official government sources.
13. Before the first shift, obtain a written agreement: review an understandable language version, keep your own copy and check gross pay, working hours, on-call duties, responsibilities, OC insurance, supervision and liability.
14. Stay within professional limits: if the PWZ is restricted by place, time, scope of activity or supervision requirements, those restrictions must be complied with in actual clinical practice.

For professional authorisation in healthcare, the final legal basis should come from current Polish legislation and decisions of competent public or professional bodies, not from a vacancy advertisement, blog post or intermediary’s promise. Before applying, check current legislation in ELI or ISAP, procedures published by Ministerstwo Zdrowia, professional registration through NIL and the competent OIL, medical examinations through CEM, and legal employment rules through PIP and praca.gov.pl. If a doctor’s legal status, type of PWZ or professional limits are unclear, they should be clarified before any contact with patients, not after work has already begun.