What is wrong with Poznan?

and this guy is going to be a Doctor? fcuk sake, its a scary world when one can effectively purchase a degree.

Terrifying, isn't it?

That's why they come though - 17k PLN a year buys you a medical degree.

almost no shops have tickets here (wroclaw). however, there are machines that operate in three or four languages and take cash or plastic.
to buy a ticket on a bus or tram one needs plastic.

there must be ticket machines in poznan, yes/no ?

Yes, but they're not everywhere (yet). They're at all the major interchanges, and in many other locations - but not universal.

Poznan also has mobile phone tickets - I don't buy normal tickets, I just put 100zl on an online account and use my phone to buy tickets. Job done, and it takes a couple of minutes to register and download the relevant application. Anyone who is actually intelligent can figure this out pretty quickly.


Really? I know one place where I always buy tickets from in Wroclaw, but it's a kiosk.


I despise the system here (I'm in Wroclaw) for that reason :/

funny- if I had to pick the most infuriating thing about Poland it wouldn't be the traffic lights. Maybe he should visit the post office- that would be my number one. I too am homesick.

Just checked the site and thats $17,000, they have it calculated at $36,220 a year all in. $217,000 for a six year course, who the hell is going to finance that?

it does seem to be tailor made for the North American market.

Even more frightening when a person who cannot even manage to buy a tram ticket is able to purchase a degree!

it is still cheaper than in North America. It is possible to get student loans to study abroad as long as you intend to return and work in your home country. (in Canada)

erm... euros perhaps

is this faculty such a scam that they only take money and do not actually train these guys and give degrees without proper exams?

USD :/

(thanks for pointing that out!)


It's pretty much the option of choice for "stupid North Americans who have parents able to buy them a medical degree", or who could get a student loan.

What gets me is their arrogance - the guy posting here is a great example, they often behave like Poznan owes them something.


They actually get good conditions (compared to the Polish students) - but effectively, as told to me by several lecturers there - a 5 for a NA student is equal to a 3 for a Polish student. The expectations are lower, and the conditions are better - because they pay a lot of money for it by Polish standards. The lecturers are also under heavy pressure to pass the students regardless (especially in oral exams) because - their money pays for a lot.

The place is a joke for non-Polish students. Polish students on the other place - the place is fine.

The right to buy a degree is considered in many countries as selbstverstandlich and substantial it is conisdered to be part of heritage rights and ingredient of economy growth.

aren't all degrees 'bought'? especially these days?
although of course one worries more about this being true of medical degrees than, say, English Literature...;)
To the OP....
is the water too wet, the pavement too hard?
ahhh u poor boy.

Del I can support you on all your rebuttals, but sorry pal this is a justified rant.

could you take away the north part of this. Every country has its tools who think they are entitled. It is the flock of sheep mentality. no thinking on ones own and entitled because of country of birth. it is a virus that spreads.

Thing is, I can understand someone new to the city ranting about this - but his rant is ridiculous because it's easy to organise a monthly pass - or to download the mobile ticket app. The fact that he can't (heck, the fact that he couldn't even find online guides to Poznan) says that he really isn't as intelligent as he likes to think he is.

I don't think the city owes me anything and I'm extremely grateful that I was able to come to Poland to pursue a medical education (not purchase one). I just think as compared to other Polish cities the pride I see in Poznan citizens is well undeserved. For a city with twice the average income of the rest of country it certainly doesn't show in the city infrastructure (the roads and sidewalks are crap as has been mentioned by some other posters). The issue with tram tickets definitely does apply to first time visitors to the city getting nailed with fines for not being able to buy a ticket - a very nice welcome.

From a tourist perspective there is no reason anybody should stop through Poznan for more than a couple hours tops. The people are definitely ruder - there is a subtle undercurrent of anger that seems to be simmering just below the surface everywhere you go and it takes the dumbest thing to set people off here and I have no idea where it comes from. If you look at it from a value perspective Poznan is well overpriced for what you get as compared to other cities in Poland.

All the bashing of the medical students really shows how little people really think. Please consider the amount of money they pump in to the Poznan economy! I suspect the anger stems from jealousy at the amount of money the students are able to spend vs. the average citizen. And of course a lot of students are f-ing retarded, but if they want to practice in the US or Canada the tests they have to pass hold them to a MUCH higher standard than Poland - in fact light years beyond what is required to practice medicine here. Yes doctors here may complain that some students from abroad are idiots, but only those who are of European descent will actually be able to practice medicine back in their home countries without having learned a thing and that says something. Polish students learn to cheat their way through six years of medical education and that includes their final exam at the end of six years.

No, the tests here are comparable to the tests in the USA or Canada. Your problem is that you are judging the level of the tests given to Polish-speaking students on the basis of the level of the ones given to the students whose sole purpose is to finance the university, i.e. the vastly simplified tests given to the likes of you.

I could say the same for Warsaw- it is for the most part an ugly city and many that live here think they are above the rest of the country- but this happens everywhere.

People in Toronto think they are better than everywhere- the entire province of Quebec feels as though something is owed to them and they should be "distinct"...

France has its Paris and the UK has its London. This is nothing new.
I get your frustration. Living in Canada is pretty easy- try not to compare the two and you will fare a lot better. I have lived in Poland for 9 year and I get asked at least once a week why do you live in Poland instead of Canada and which do I think is better. Honestly both have their good and bad points- they are very different- but both countries are excellent places to live and raise a family.

You're buying one. The only reason you're here is because you weren't good enough to get into the Canadian programmes - and if the academic standards were the same for the English courses as the Polish courses - you wouldn't be good enough to get in here as well.


It certainly does show - or haven't you noticed the fact that in recent years, they've built the first stage of the RST, the second stage is under construction, the final phase of the PST, the massive water works along Jana Pawela II, the stadium, Nowe Zawady and many other big projects? In fact - it just shows that you probably don't actually travel within the city itself.


Utter bollocks.

You know why? Because visitors to the city will arrive at four main points - Dworzec Glowny, Dworzec PKS, Dworzec Gorczyn and Lawica Airport. All of those places have plenty of places to obtain tickets. The same system works in most European cities - again - you can't be particularly well travelled if you don't know how this system works.

And as I say - the same complaints are found all over the world. It's a feature of open access transport systems.


No reason? I can only assume that you've never actually bothered to find out what Poznan has to offer - just like most of the American medical students. I mean, why bother, when you can sit and ***** and complain constantly?


Again - "I pay, therefore I am".


Jealousy? What jealousy? Most of them are going to end up cleaning McDonalds when they return, because no employer in North America is going to touch someone with a mickey mouse degree from a third rate programme.

But again - you show the typical arrogance of them. "I have more money, therefore I am".


Again, "we are better than you stupid Poles".


Your arrogance is unbelievable.

Pip - this dude is from Toronto - is such arrogance normal of such people?

I can't help but wonder if the alleged rudeness of people in Poznan is entirely down to his own attitude - no doubt, like the rest of them, demanding that locals speak English and getting angry when they don't get it their own way. I saw one great situation where they were actually refused booze in the Piotr i Pawel next to the dorms - I've never seen such spoilt brats in my life.

What you don't say is that in case polish graduates from the same medical school took the same tests(USMLE etc) they would get higher grades than the american graduates from polish school despite the tests being in English language.This can be proved.

Anyway the whole question about degrees paid not paid and admissions,rights etc is a political one and is usually determined by the balance of power between local and foreign elites.

For example if many doctors have children who happen to be not academically bright they will force medical schools(if not local the foreign ones) to lower the standards and accept their offsprings ease the exams and give them a degree.It is matter of power(political power and money).It happens all over Europe and is a reason of the crisis in the extent it takes off limits.

Why is it that NONE of my Polish friends here in Saudi Arabia, after being here for years, don't speak ANY Arabic? Why?!? Because they are morons? No, because they don't need to.

This was a rant of mine while living in Europe; the insinuation that not learning a language is a sign of laziness.

Either that or a basic lack of respect. Arabic isn't the easiest language in the world, but ANYONE can manage to learn a few phrases so they can buy a coffee, get something from a Saudi shop where the assistants are Egyptian (and due to Saudiization there are now sometimes Saudis working on supermarket checkouts) etc, make simple conversation with Saudis, etc. Polish is even easier. And medical students can hardly claim they aren't any good at learning things...


It is rather. That and the aforementioned lack of respect for the people whose country one is in and for their culture.

WOW - You have NO idea what you are talking about. You are obviously not a medical student because your comment is hilarious to me. I am not talking about the tests that are given to me by the university. I am talking about the tests that are administered by the National Board of Medical Examiners in the US. The tests given in Poland written by the Polish faculty are meaningless, and that includes those given to English speaking students and Polish students alike. The SINGLE final exam given to Polish medical students at the end of their six years is a complete joke as compared to the multiple multi-hour/multi-day tests that Canada and the US administer to medical students in order to allow them to graduate.

And let me clarify because you clearly don't have a clue - I am talking about the comprehensive examinations that any medical student (US trained or foreign trained) must pass if they want to practice medicine in the US. The actual subject exams that are given in Poland are not even close to comparable to those given in the US and Canada as they largely focus on meaningless details that will never help the student be a better doctor.

The Polish doctors we have met here that have actually written the USMLE Step exams know first hand how bad the testing system is in Poland, how much Polish students cheat without consequence and how much knowledge is lacking when they graduate. If a foreign student cheats his way through his education in Poland he/she will never pass the qualifying exams to get back to the US or Canada, but that same reasoning doesn't hold true for Polish students. So again, unless you've actually gone through the medical school system here don't open your mouth because you have no idea what you are talking about and it makes you look stupid.

Let me repeat, what I am talking about are the medical licensing exams administered by the actual countries (ie. US and Canada), not the university. By far the vast majority of Polish medical graduates would not stand a chance at passing the USMLE based on the knowledge they receive in their Polish medical education alone.

Because we learn from doctors who teach in highly competitive hospitals here in Poznan they were thankfully part of the minority of Polish medical students who actually learned the material well in order to secure spots in the top hospitals. They do not hold back with their criticisms of their own countries failings when it comes to medical education and this is information I have received first hand vs. you talking out your ass.

Americans are driven by eonomy.If learning a difficult foreign language is antieconomic for them they will not even attempt it since they can turn their activities to other goals with better results.

On the other hand if you get involved with Polki you start learning this language not a bad concept really and it has value beyond certain imagined limitations.

yes. Torontonians are the worst.

So please prove it.


This is true

Side note - please don't get me wrong, Poland has some of the best and brightest young people of any country, but the schooling system here turns them in to a bunch of cheats which is really unfortunate. There are no consequences for this and as such it becomes rampant. If they actually managed to crack down on this and hold students accountable to the same standards as elsewhere the quality of the medical graduates (and graduates in other fields respectively) would increase dramatically.

I need time for this and it is beyond the scope of this thread.However as a notice the foreigners who take the USMLE tests having graduated from foregn universities get higher grades than the American citizens who take the same tests having graduated from foreign medical schools and there are charts for that.This happens due to a magnitude of reasons the main being the superior academic intellectual ability of the foreign students who decide to take these tests.This superiority comes in the vast proportion of cases to the very strict admission protocolls that local medical schools impose for the native applicants.It is a well known fact known to both sides(Americans and foreigners who compete in these tests) and it has caused turmoils.

I understand now what you are saying and do believe you are correct as the standards for admitting foreign students in to Polish medical schools seems to be little to none. As many reading this will take the opportunity to flame me I want to point out that there are a minority of foreign students who actually do come here to study their butts off and become competent doctors.

Bull!!! Our Polish friends here are wonderful people, but they don't learn Arabic because there is NO need.