Polish doctors' international stock continues to rise

A shortage of medical personnel in Western Europe is pushing more health organizations to lure Polish doctors abroad. Aspera Mind Source A/S, which recently ran an ad in Poland's Gazeta Lekarska, a medical newspaper, is looking for doctors specializing in neurology, orthopedics, geriatrics and rheumatology to work in its 45-bed hospital in Denmark. "In Denmark we have a shortage of doctors, which means that in some areas, hospitals have vacancies and no applications from Denmark and Scandinavia," said Kirsten Frost, a representative of Aspera Mind Source A/S. "There are several reasons to look for doctors in Poland. According to our information, there are comparatively many physicians in Poland who have a fine reputation for their professional skills; so yes, they are respected." Doctors from Central and Eastern Europe who are offered jobs in Denmark, Sweden, Germany or Great Britain have to apply for permission from domestic labor offices to work abroad. Doctors said that compared to a few years ago, gaining a permit to practice medicine internationally is no longer a problem. "In Germany a work permit is not a problem if you prove that an unemployed German doctor doesn't want a particular job," said Dorota Radziszewska, the chairwoman of the foreign cooperation committee at the Wrocław-based local doctors chamber. In addition, the status of Polish medical diplomas has climbed in recent years. "Some hospitals simply recognize Polish medical diplomas because they need personnel," said Piotr Olszowski, the manager at Staff Poland, a human resources company that recently started recruiting doctors to work in British hospitals. The majority of Polish doctors who work abroad are lured by financial benefits. "In Poland many doctors work more than 12 hours a day to earn decent money, but they're overworked and don't have time for their families," said Katarzyna Raczyńska, the chief executive officer of Medena Rek Polska, a subsidiary of Sweden-based Kalmena Rek, the Swedish medical recruiter. "In Sweden they have both good wages and time to themselves. For the first six months they usually make zł. 11,000 (per month), later they get from zł. 13,200 to zł. 17,600 (per month) - several times more than doctors employed in public medical institutions in Poland (receive)."

Medical chops not enough Medena Rek Polska has been teaching Swedish to Polish doctors for the past two years since they are required to pass an exam in the language before being posted abroad. Because of Sweden's negative birth rate, Raczyńska said that the country's need for qualified specialists is so great that recruitment could continue for another 10 years. "Since 2000, we've trained 100 doctors; another 50 will be going to Sweden soon, while the new recruitment wave has just started," she said. "The only limit that I can see is a number of (Swedish) teachers." Closer to home, the Wrocław-based doctors chamber said that its peer organizations in the former East Germany also keep sending job offers. "German doctors from the (western part of the country) don't want to work in the former East Germany where conditions are worse," Radziszewska said. "But for Polish doctors, especially from our region, the labor market is difficult even to look for a job abroad. In particular, recently graduated young doctors are interested in working abroad." More than 2,000 doctors graduate every year in Poland, according to the Health Ministry. Many of them cannot find jobs. Some don't even bother using local recruitment services, preferring to take the job search process into their own hands. "Young doctors don't wait for job offers; they send offers themselves to specific hospitals in Germany," said Mateusz Tylko, the managing director of Wrocław-based Medrec, a medical personnel service. "It's simply a new generation: dynamic and self-sufficient. Most of them haven't even started their first degree of specialization, but Germans prefer young candidates because they can train them according to their rules."

Arabic not required Western Europe is not the only destination for Polish doctors. According to another ad in Gazeta Lekarska, a 650-bed hospital in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is looking for Polish doctors with specialist degrees for $3,000-$4,500 per month. "Polish medical diplomas are recognized in Arab countries, and in the 1980s many Polish physicians worked in Libya," said Medrec's Tylko. His company focuses on recruiting Polish doctors for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. "We started recruiting in August, but we've got quite a few offers," he said. "Eighty percent of medical personnel in Arab countries are foreign and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, many Western doctors didn't extend their contracts. It became a chance for Polish doctors." The Lublin-based BDP Consultor, a recruitment company that also targets Arab countries, is currently trying to export Polish nurses. "We should be able to finalize a contract with an army hospital in Saudi Arabia for 500 nurses," said Anna Ziemniewska, the consultant at BDP Consultor. "The only problem is fluency in English. It' not a barrier in the case of doctors, who are often fluent in English, but for nurses, we'll probably have to organize language courses."