Polish medical education report shows significant disparities between established and newer universities in resources and quality.
Study Overview
The NIL report examined 19 universities divided into “old” universities (9 institutions) and “new” universities (10 institutions), which gained the right to train medical students after 2020.
A total of 31,866 students were enrolled in the surveyed universities, with only 14% (4,576 students) attending the newer institutions. The Medical University of Silesia had the highest number of students with 4,595.
Admission Requirements
The report showed significant differences in admission requirements. “Old” universities maintain rigorous standards, requiring extended high school exams in biology and chemistry, physics, or mathematics (with a typical conversion of 1% = 1 point). The Medical University of Gdańsk requires a minimum of 50% of points from recruitment.
“New” universities often apply more liberal conversion methods. The University of Rzeszów and Radom use multipliers (e.g., extended level x2), which artificially inflate ranking scores. Some new institutions (e.g., the Medical University of Elbląg) award additional points for language certificates or completion of other degree programs.
Faculty and Scientific Achievements
The most significant gap appears in faculty. “Old” universities employ a total of 7,238 scientific and academic staff, while “New” universities have 1,580. The Medical University of Warsaw employs the most staff with 1,215, compared to only 43 at the Jan Długosz University in Częstochowa.
In the 2023/24 academic year, “old” universities had 922 professors, 1,061 habilitated doctors, and 3,301 doctors teaching medical students. “New” universities had 136 professors, 170 habilitated doctors, and 449 doctors.
In the 2023/24 academic year, surveyed university staff published a total of 5,862 articles in domestic journals (5,433, or nearly 93%, from “old” universities) and 10,512 in foreign journals (1,592 from “new” universities). On average, one employee at “old” universities published 2.2 articles, compared to 1.27 at “new” universities.
Educational Facilities
The differences between universities are also noticeable when students enter exercise rooms. “Old” universities almost exclusively have their own departments of basic sciences and dissection rooms. They predominantly use natural specimens (preserved cadavers), which the medical community recognizes as the golden standard of education.
In contrast, new universities more often rely on virtual and synthetic aids. The report suggests these cannot fully replace work with human tissue.
A similar problem arises when training future doctors in hospitals. “Old” universities use their own clinical hospital base over which they have full control, allowing for strict alignment of treatment schedules with the study program. “New” universities enter agreements with provincial, city, and even county hospitals.
Summary and Conclusions
The report authors conclude that Polish medicine is in a phase of rapid quantitative expansion that does not always match quality. While old universities struggle with “overloaded” student cohorts, new universities are building their reputation from scratch, often facing infrastructure and staff shortages.