Poland’s Medical School Boom Can’t Fill Residency Slots — Here’s Why

From Huge University Growth to Empty Residency Posts

The road to becoming a doctor in Poland has grown markedly wider at the undergraduate level, but the pipeline to specialist practice is leaking. According to Ministry of Health data, only 16 universities offered medical degrees in 2020. By the 2026/2027 academic year, that number will reach 40 — a 150% increase — with Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań the latest entrant. Annual admissions have climbed from 5,283 in 2021 to 6,913 in 2025, more than 5,500 of whom study on state-funded, free programmes.

The state’s sticker price for a six-year medical degree averages 55,000 PLN per year, totalling roughly 330,000 PLN per graduate. Yet that is lower than many private alternatives: fees at private Polish institutions range from 50,000 PLN to 76,000 PLN annually, and are still a fraction of U.S. costs, which can hit $60,000 per year at private schools. After graduation, however, the spending does not stop. Newly minted doctors must complete a one-year state-paid internship, pass the Lekarski Egzamin Państwowy (LEP), and then enter a residency lasting four to eight years, depending on the speciality.

Resident salaries are tied to the statutory minimum wage in healthcare. In the first two years of a residency, base pay is 11,654.76 PLN gross per month, rising to 12,714.29 PLN after two years. For priority specialisations — including anaesthesiology, internal medicine, geriatrics, psychiatry, and oncology — the rates are slightly lower at 10,595.24 PLN initially, increasing after two years. Over a four-year residency, total basic pay for a priority track comes to about 516,200 PLN. Despite this investment, a growing number of residency positions are going unfilled.

In autumn 2025, the ministry offered 6,653 residency posts and 7,945 non-residency training places. Fewer than 8,000 applications were received, and after two selection rounds only about 5,500 doctors confirmed a place — just under 4,100 of them in residencies. That left more than 2,000 state-funded residency slots vacant. The figures raise an urgent question: if the country is producing more medical graduates than ever, why are training hospitals unable to attract them?

Why Thousands of Residency Slots Go Unfilled Despite Record Graduates

The SOR Escape Route

One immediate answer is economic. Many graduates choose to work in hospital emergency departments (SOR) before or instead of starting a residency. SOR posts pay significantly more and offer flexible, short-term contracts. For a generation of doctors who have already spent at least seven years in education and face a fiercely difficult final specialisation exam, a pause to earn and save is financially rational. The ministry acknowledges that applicants often defer residency to accumulate money, a pattern that drains the pipeline at its most critical point.

Double Duty and Working Conditions

Money is not the only deterrent. Reports from inside the system highlight a practice where young doctors are forced to simultaneously cover their assigned wards and the emergency department — effectively doing two demanding jobs at once. The source article describes this as management “throwing extra shifts onto the young.” When working conditions are perceived as exploitative, even the most dedicated graduates look for alternatives, whether at home in temporary posts or abroad, where pay and conditions can be more attractive.

The Costly Investment-Reality Gap

Every unfilled residency represents a sunk cost for the state and a structural risk for the healthcare system. The Ministry of Health has not simply increased student places; it has increased them dramatically while failing to ensure that the training pathway beyond graduation is appealing enough to retain talent. The 2025 vacancy rate of over 30% in residencies suggests that merely adding more seats at universities — and more residency spots — is not enough if the underlying incentives and workplace culture are not reformed. The mismatch is particularly acute in priority fields such as internal medicine, paediatrics, and psychiatry, where the very bonuses designed to attract candidates are being eroded by the unattractive day-to-day reality.

What a Sustainable Medical Pipeline Would Require

• For the Ministry of Health: Target the 2,000+ empty residency slots of 2025 by adding genuine workplace improvements — such as strict limits on cross-ward assignments and guaranteed study leave for the specialisation exam — not just financial supplements. The data show that higher pay for priority tracks alone was insufficient.
• For hospital directors and regional authorities: Audit how SOR coverage is allocated. The current practice of forcing residents to double up undermines the very workforce the system is paying to train. Clearer job descriptions and enforceable duty-hour policies would make residencies competitive with temporary agency work.
• For medical graduates weighing a pause: Factor in that the specialisation exam and subsequent consultant role bring a steep lifetime earnings curve. The 516,000 PLN earned over a four-year residency is the floor, not the ceiling. However, the calculation only makes sense if the residency route is survivable — candidates should assess hospitals’ reputations on working conditions as seriously as they do pay scales.