Paramedic salary in Poland

Re. working as a paramedic, he'd need very good Polish language skills and would earn more money flipping burgers at McDonalds. Hence it being worth exploring all other options including being Poland-based but travelling back for short contracts. He'd also do well to retain his Irish pension rights.


The need (and market) isn't in PL alone, Maf. Many successful materials writers are however based in PL, and most of the best selling textbooks are trialled there, usually with Council involvement. I'll let you know when my next tome is on sale - it's about 30% ready at the moment and going slowly.


Agreed. Best avoid them where possible and only used them if you have gaps in your timetable and need the cash.

I gave him the best suggestion he is going to hear: Get his act together back home in Ireland and forget about Poland, because it just ain't going to happen. Ever. Ain't no way he's going to find any job in Poland at wages that can support him and his kid with his present experience and qualifications.

That's not going to happen, is it, Dommy... He's been thinking (and talking) about this for years.


Very cynical, and remember that not everyone's experience in Poland is as bad as yours.

He does however have a professional skill that means he can earn elsewhere and spend some time in Poland if he wishes to make it his home. As I do.

so quick to write others off. what a miserable lot some of you are. if the guy wants to make it he will. i know people who have been here for over a decade and are still banging on in language schools, others came sniffed around for a few months and opened their own schools. whether he goes this route or any other it will depend on him to make it work but saying he'll never make it.... just....

I had a great time in Wrocław, and even miss it still. But then, I was qualified out the gazoot and didn't have to worry about saving money. Or even earning money. And I was willing to invest countless hours for years on end to learn the language. I heartily recommend it to anyone in that position. It's a great place for semi-retirement. It's a horrible place if you have to earn and save, or don't speak the language, and have no intention to learn Except for a very few highly qualified, highly experienced individuals. Which the OP is not by a long shot.

I have no patience for bullshitters who paint a rosy picture of opportunities for working in Poland, though.

Moving from Ireland to Poland would require such a massive reduction in his earnings and savings, and quality of life, that it would be nigh suicidal.

not at all, but people considering a 'career' in TEFL need to be forewarned, and those who are posting here with realistic advice have bitter experience..:)

not everyone is poor and bitter in poland some of us language teachers have come and done ok. making a fortune? no. but ok. saying someone cant make it is just being overly dark about the whole thing. of course this fellow needs to think about what hes doing, but i suppose any move abroad requires that.

Except for the ones with positive experience.


As a paramedic, he has a qualification and skill which he can always return to and use in an English-speaking country.


I suspect that the quality of life in PL is one of the things that attracts him. The way forward for him could be short contracts in UK/RoI that will allow him to spend time in PL.

mate, I am not even in Poland, no need to be nasty.
TEFL in Europe is basically dead, (outside of pre-sessional courses for English speaking universities. Which is nice work if you can get it)

Would he really earn enough on short term contracts as a paramedic in the UK/RoI to support living in the UK and supporting a family in PL too?

This is something that only he can know - presumably he knows the contract possibilities and pay levels. If it's a non-starter he needs to look at other ways forward.


And certain specialisms that aren't accessible to the majority or even usually advertised.

@delphiandomine

Probably not. But working full-time in Ireland, he should earn enough to take extended vacations/leaves in Poland.

exactly

I wonder what the possibilities are of a Paramedic doing short contracts and/or locum work in UK/RoI.


We should make a thread about this. It would need to be in off-topic since Admin apparently doesn't like the idea, according to another mod.

He might actually be better investigating if he can somehow transfer his skills to a job in the Middle East - I've got a friend who works out there as a mental health nurse dealing with severe cases, and he works 6 months out there at a time, then 6 months in the Czech Republic. Seems to work for him.

This.

I thought of that, too. But he's only a paramedic, and that's not the type of medical professional that is in demand there. Indians, Pakistanis and Filipinos get hired for that level of work.

However, there is the possibility of finding work as a paramedic on an oil platform or remote drilling site in Scotland or elsewhere. He can earn quite a bit if he is willing to work over the winter.

Only?


And as Doctors, Nurses etc.


I'm sure he's aware of the possibilities for Paramedics.

Yes. Only. The same for nurses. Those who are only nurses are from the countries I listed. Higher level nurse specialists are from Western countries.

No. Not 'only'. It is a highly skilled job.


Some are from the UK and Ireland, including all nurses at certain large employers.

You forget that some of us have actually lived and worked in these countries you post about yet have never visited, and some of us have even been involved in Nurse training.

Ummm... I used to teach at a nursing school myself. And I've worked with lots of people who did stints in the Middle East (my current closest co-worker did). I was considering doing a stint in Saudi Arabia myself at one time, so I've done my research.

Remember that some of us have real, direct experience of these places - and there are good opportunities out there.

Okay. I read and reread all of your replies/thoughts on my original post.
Yes I've been posting questions on this forum for the past 7 years and in that time I've imagined pay scales, terms and conditions etc have changed, hopefully for the better.

I don't look at Poland through tourist tinted glasses, I've been to quite a few different places there and all the time I'm trying to find out if this is a place I'd consider moving too with my family (wife and 9 month old baby girl) I'm well aware that many families struggle to maintain a basic standard of life there, many living with 2 or 3 generations in a small confined apartment. But from what I've seen first hand of this existence is a genuine family bond that used to exist in Ireland but because of the former Celtic tiger material and monetary values came to the fore leaving the true meaning of the family unit or community in its wake.

Both my wife and I work full time in Ireland, my wife is a Pharmacy technician and I'm a front line Paramedic. Our lives revolve around work, working to make ends meet, working to pay bills etc, like the hundreds of thousands of other families in both Ireland and Poland. I for one am growing weary of it. I still want to work but not in this environment here now.

I've posted questions here in the past and the answers were food for thought. I'm not interested in making millions but instead just enough for a comfortable life with my family. I'll, as I've done previously, take all replies on board and discuss with my family what to do. The reason I pose questions on this forum is to get the experience and reality from those who have already made the move.

Indeed there are. Didn't dispute that. It's not for everyone, though.

I'm not convinced that there are many opportunities for Western paramedics, though, aside from drilling operations.

You should reflect carefully, look at all the opportunities that your and your wife's current qualifications and experience can bring, and above all, talk to any and all Polish colleagues you may have. Also, do a bit of lateral thinking - there could be a perfect solution that wouldn't obviously occur to you.


Remember these are big things, and the IOCs don't due to local registration requirements (and NOCs don't only, due to quality issues) employ locals. I know of people who work in the Gulf in Nursing/Paramedical jobs and live in Spain and elsewhere in Europe..

Not much has changed in medicine in that time, actually. Salaries remained pretty static, because the NFZ budget hasn't increased very much.


Trust me when I tell you that there is no such thing as genuine family values in Poland. There are *many* people like you who thought the same, only to discover that they were quickly drawn into family feuds, gossiping and a lot of ridiculous behaviour from the in-laws. For instance, what will you do if your mother-in-law takes your child to the doctor for medical treatment without your knowledge or consent? Or what will you do if your child spends hours in the company of your father-in-law, who is smoking like a chimney with his mates and your child comes home smelling like a chimney?

It will be only worse if you have to work abroad, because they will impose their values on the child and ignore yours.


That's pretty much exactly like Poland. Polish families have among the lowest level of personal savings in Europe.


What would be a comfortable life for you?

what makes you think moving to a different country will help you and your family values? just curious? if you want to work less and spend more time with family, you would probably have better luck doing that in ireland. moving probably wont help in those departments. you create your family not society(mostly)

Actually, it might. Exposure to the harsh realities of everyday life in Poland will help him appreciate how good he had it back in Ireland. He certainly be disabused of a lot of silly romantic ideas.

It might be the shock therapy he needs to get him out of his slump.

I'm wondering the same. What might seem nice on holiday will be a totally different story once you have to deal with drunken cousins and interfering grandparents.

Patalogia I think in one word. But thats easy, stay away from hick towns and small minded people family or not. Start as you mean to go on, its your law or the door. To be fair, I always give people an opportunity to disappoint me and often they do, but I wouldn't say its particular much worse in Poland than elsewhere. Very often these types would sell their grandmothers for ten zloty, but you know this from the outset, so if you understand this and alter your approach its not a problem.