How to Work as a Doctor in Poland After Your MD There

To work as a doctor in Poland after an English-language MD, you need four things on top of your diploma: a pass in the national LEK exam, a completed postgraduate internship called the staż, a pass in the Medical Chamber's Polish language exam, and a legal right to stay. The diploma alone does not make you a doctor in Poland. This guide shows how each step works, what it costs and where Indian graduates usually get stuck.

Key Takeaways

• Your diploma is not a licence. To become a doctor in Poland you need the LEK exam, a recognised postgraduate internship and, for the Polish licence, proof of Polish at the level the Medical Chamber tests.
• LEK is 200 questions and you need 56 percent. It runs in February and September; you register in the SMK system by 30 November of the year before for February, and by 15 July for September. The English version costs 400 zł each time.
• There is a six month English internship. Since a 2024 change in the law, graduates of English programmes can complete a six month internship in English at their own university, paid for by the graduate, within two years of graduation.
• Polish is the gate for working as a doctor in Poland itself. The Supreme Medical Council's language exam has four parts, you need at least 55 percent in each, and it costs 500 zł.
• The permit side is friendlier than most countries. A graduate of full-time studies at a Polish university can get a one time, nine month residence permit to look for work, and does not need a work permit.
• India is a separate question. The NMC expects you to hold a licence in the country that awarded your degree, and a twelve month internship at the same institution, so plan both routes together.

The short version: the Polish system gives English programme graduates a faster internship than it used to, but it still wants Polish for anyone who stays to treat patients in Poland.

What does it actually take to work as a doctor in Poland?

A doctor in Poland is someone who holds the right to practise, the "prawo wykonywania zawodu lekarza" or PWZ, issued by a regional medical chamber. Your MD is the entry ticket to that process, not the end of it. Poznań University of Medical Sciences spells out the list of conditions on its internship page: a completed internship recognised by the Minister of Health, a pass in LEK, full legal capacity, a current certificate from an occupational medicine doctor, good ethical standing and adequate Polish.

Most of those are paperwork. Three of them take real time for a future doctor in Poland:

None of this depends on your nationality in the way people fear. An Indian passport does not shut the door. It just means the residence row matters to you and not to your Polish classmates.

What is the LEK exam and when can you sit it?

LEK, the Lekarski Egzamin Końcowy, is Poland's national final medical exam, and every doctor in Poland trained there has passed it. It is a single test of 200 multiple choice questions, each with five options and one correct answer, and you pass with at least 56 percent of the maximum score. The Medical Examinations Centre runs it, and an English version exists.

There are two sessions a year. The registration rule is fixed in law, so it does not move with the calendar:

• for an exam held between 1 and 28 February, you register by 30 November of the previous year;
• for an exam held between 1 and 30 September, you register by 15 July of the same year.

So if you are graduating in 2027 and want the February 2027 sitting, your deadline is 30 November 2026. CEM itself notes the dates can change under the law, so check its page before you rely on a date.

You register through the SMK system. The University of Łódź guide describes the order: create an SMK account, request the "student" role even after you graduate, wait for the university to confirm you, then apply for the exam. Final-year students can sit LEK once ten semesters are fully credited.

Money matters here, as it does for every junior doctor in Poland. The Polish language version is free the first time, and free again only if you failed or did not show up. The foreign language version is charged on every registration at 400 zł, per CEM's own fee note. Białystok's graduate guide adds that there is no cap on retakes, which is reassuring, but every English attempt costs again.

Which internship route fits a doctor in Poland who studied in English?

This is the part that changed. Until recently the only Polish route was the classic staż podyplomowy: about a year of paid hospital work in Polish, organised through the medical chamber. Łódź lists it at 13 months for doctors.

Then the 2024 amendment to the Act on the Professions of Physician and Dentist (Journal of Laws 2024, item 1287) created a shorter path for English programme graduates. In Poznań's words, it is a six month practical training in English, organised by the university that issued your diploma, and completed within two years of the graduation date on the diploma. It does not ask for Polish to start. Poznań runs it as a seven month programme, Łódź and Białystok as six months, and the graduate pays for it.

Here is how the options compare:

After the English internship, you send the documents to the Ministry of Health, which issues a decision that the internship is complete. Łódź and Poznań both say to do this within three months of finishing.

The catch for anyone who wants to stay a doctor in Poland: the shorter route gets you an EU-recognisable qualification after LEK, but it does not remove the language condition for practising in Poland. Poznań says so directly: to get the unlimited licence in Poland, doctors also have to pass the Polish language exam. So the English internship is ideal if you plan to move to another EU country, and it is a step, not a shortcut, if you want to stay.

How hard is the Polish language exam for doctors?

It is a medical exam in Polish, not a general language certificate, and it is the step that decides whether you can be a doctor in Poland. The Ministry of Health regulation that governs it says a foreign doctor must be able to use correct medical terminology, read professional literature and the rules of the profession, talk to patients and colleagues, take a history, and write records, prescriptions and referrals by hand, legibly.

The exam itself has four parts:

1. Part A, a dictation played from a recording.
2. Part B, a listening comprehension test.
3. Part C, an oral part where you read a text aloud and show you understood it.
4. Part D, a practical part where you take a simulated history and give advice on two medical problems.

You need at least 55 percent in each part. If you fail, you can sit again after at least six months, and the parts you already passed count. The fee is 500 zł. The Supreme Medical Council's exam page explains the order: pay first, then send the application, then wait for the Council to call you with a date.

Demand for this exam is rising fast. The Chamber reported 883 foreign doctors sitting it in 2022 and 1,911 in 2023. In the same statement it explained that doctors who received temporary rights to practise during the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, without any language test, must now show Polish at B1 or above to keep those rights. The direction is clear: more Polish checks, not fewer.

If you are still choosing a university, this is the honest point. Six years of hospital rotations in Poland are six years to learn Polish properly. Our guide to learning the local language during MBBS in Europe shows how students build it in alongside the course.

Can you stay in Poland legally while you do all this?

Yes. Staying legally is the least stressful part of becoming a doctor in Poland. The Office for Foreigners describes a temporary residence permit for graduates who want to look for a job. It is granted once, for nine months, to graduates of full-time studies at a Polish university, and you apply in person to the province governor directly after graduating, while you are still legally in Poland. You will need health insurance, an address in Poland and enough money for living costs and a return journey.

Better still, the same page says the work permit requirement is waived for graduates of full-time studies at a Polish university. You still need a valid residence title, but your employer does not need a separate work permit for you.

Nine months is tight if you plan LEK, the internship and the language exam back to back. Once you have a hospital contract, ask the voivode's office which work-based residence permit fits your case before the graduate permit runs out. If you want to compare that with the EU-wide option, our post on the EU Blue Card for doctors covers it.

How do you go from graduation to a first job, step by step?

The order matters, because some steps on the way to becoming a doctor in Poland have clocks running.

1. In your final year, create your SMK account and register for LEK once ten semesters are credited. For a February sitting the deadline is 30 November of the year before.
2. Before graduation, decide on the internship route. Poznań's application deadline for the 2026 English internship was 30 April 2026, so next year's will come early too.
3. Straight after graduation, apply for the nine month graduate residence permit at the voivode's office.
4. Within two years of graduating, complete the English internship, then send the documents to the Ministry of Health within three months for its decision.
5. When your Polish is ready, pay the 500 zł fee and apply to the Supreme Medical Council for the language exam.
6. Finally, apply to your regional medical chamber for the right to practise, with the LEK certificate, the Ministry decision, the language certificate and the health certificate.

If Poland is one stop and not the destination, look at the alternatives in our guides to getting a medical license in Europe and to working as a doctor in Ireland, where the language step disappears.

Does a Polish licence help you practise in India later?

It can matter more than students think, even if you never plan to stay a doctor in Poland for long. The NMC's Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations 2021 ask that an Indian graduate is registered with the body competent to license doctors in the country that awarded the degree, at par with that country's citizens. They also ask for an internship of at least twelve months in the same foreign institution, then a twelve month supervised internship in India and the national screening test.

That creates a real planning question. A six or seven month English internship is shorter than the twelve months the NMC text names. Before you pick a route, ask your university and the NMC in writing how your internship will be read. Our explainer on medical registration in India after MBBS in Europe walks through the Indian side, and what the FMGE is covers the test.

If you are still at the very start, with NEET ahead of you, check that your score clears the NEET qualifying marks first, because no foreign degree counts in India without it. And if you want the Indian path side by side, NEETsheet's guide on how to become a doctor in India after NEET and its overview of doctor salaries in India are useful comparisons.

Is Poland a good place to start your career?

For the right student, yes. English programme graduates now have a six month internship option, the permit rules after graduation are clear, and you can work without a separate work permit. Our partner universities in Poznań, Łódź and Białystok all publish their own graduate guides, which is a good sign of how normal this path has become.

What does not change is the language. Working as a doctor in Poland means talking to Polish patients, writing Polish notes and passing a Polish exam built to test exactly that. If you start learning in first year, it is very doable. If you leave it to the end, you will spend your nine months on grammar instead of on a job. Read our full guide to MBBS in Poland for Indian students and the Poland country page for the study side.

Where this leaves you

If you want to be a doctor in Poland for the long run, treat Polish as a subject from year one, register for LEK early and use the graduate permit to bridge the gap. If you want Poland as a launch pad for another EU country, the English internship and LEK are the fastest combination Poland has offered. And if India is the end goal, plan the NMC conditions alongside the Polish ones from the start.

At futureMBBS we help students choose a European university with the career after it already in view. Get free counselling if you want that mapped out before you apply.

Sources

• Medical Examinations Centre (CEM), LEK information, read 4 October 2026: registration deadlines of 15 July and 30 November, 200 questions with five options, 56 percent pass mark, 400 zł fee for each foreign language registration.
• Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Post-graduate Internship in English, read 4 October 2026: the 2024 amendment (Journal of Laws 2024, item 1287), six month English internship, two year limit, conditions for the right to practise, Polish language requirement.
• Medical University of Łódź, Post-graduate internship / LEK, read 4 October 2026: SMK registration steps, 13 month Polish internship, three month deadline for the Ministry application.
• Medical University of Białystok, LEK and staż information, read 4 October 2026: internship options, unlimited LEK retakes.
• Minister of Health regulation of 29 June 2009 on the Polish language exam for doctors (consolidated text Dz.U. 2021 item 2181, fee as amended 2024), published by the Supreme Medical Chamber, read 4 October 2026: scope of Polish required, four exam parts, 55 percent per part, six month retake gap, 500 zł fee.
• Supreme Medical Chamber (NIL), Polish language exams and statement on foreign doctors and Polish, read 4 October 2026: application procedure, 883 candidates in 2022 and 1,911 in 2023, B1 requirement for doctors with conditional rights.
• Office for Foreigners (UDSC), Permit for temporary residence: graduate, read 4 October 2026: nine month one time permit, application conditions, work permit waiver.
• National Medical Commission, Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations 2021, read 4 October 2026: regulation 4 on registration in the awarding country, twelve month internship in the same institution and supervised internship in India.