Working in Poland as a Paramedic / Nurse

Hi there,

I also posted in (imperfect) Polish, but didn't receive any replies so I thought I'd try po Angielsku.

I'm a nurse (pielegniarzem) and paramedic (ratownik medyczne) student. I'll qualify as a paramedic next year. I've been working as a nurse for 9 years. My partner is Polish and we wish to move to Poland circa 2025. In the meantime I've been learning Polish and believe I can achieve at least B1/2 by the time we move. I also believe I'll have an Irish passport by then. I've spoken to a paramedic from Poland who moved here who said it will be very difficult (firstly due to the language, but also the different skills paramedics use in Poland), but I'm undeterred. I'd consider working as a nurse initially before moving back into paramedicine if it were necessary.

I'd be keen to hear from any nurses or paramedics about what the job entails, how I can prepare for this and what else I should think about. I'm especially keen to hear from non-poles about their experience of transitioning into Polish hospitals/ambulance.

Bardzo dziękuję!

I have seen an Ethopian nurse in Piasczeno hospital and a Nigerian Phamacist in Apteka on widok street.Guess they speak Polish well.

Nursing is probably the better option to begin with, navigating a foreign language and culture on top of dealing with people in crisis situations... too steep a learning curve I think....

for nursing you'll need to contact the 'izba pielęgniarek i położnych' for the województwo you want to be moving to, nb getting responses in English won't be quick

There are definitely non-Poles in the medical field here. Many were educated in Poland and stayed or moved back from their own countries. I've seen a couple of non-Polish doctors over the years (one from Syria one maybe Ethiopia but I didn't want to ask and seem nosy).

The big hurdle is the language, not just understanding patients and colleagues normal speech but also medical Polish.

The good news is that medical Polish is much closer to normal language than Medical English is to normal English. Most terms are built out of Polish roots (some greco-latin borrowings too but mostly Polish roots).

Lot of Iranian and Iraqi doctors also.My Urologist is from Iraq in Warsaw and years back I met a dermatologist from Iran.

I think Syrian is the most common.

I went to a Syrian doctor in PL for travel shots. He didn't speak Polish so his receptionist helped translate with patients.

Absolutely fine, however this was of course a private doctor not health service.

That's weird.... must be new because most Syrians I'd heard of went to med school here...


The OP might find it easier to get a first job as a nurse with a service that has a lot of foreign patients.... (depends of course where they're going to not sure if there would be much of that in Wałbrzych or Ostołęka.. but one of the top six cities, yeah that's a thing now.

I got that impression. It was a shopfront clinic for travel shots.

Libya used to send med students here back in the 80s as part of their studies. A lot of doctors there have fond memories of Warsaw.

Mediciver have some doctors who don't speak Polish and I presume might be open to nurses or support staff for regular work like blood tests and vaccines

they hate Europeans yet they settle in a Christian European country and you libtard idiotys go to them for your medical care

Medicover is linked with Damian and it is more convenient for me.I buy the Medicover insurance which also pays for Damian and all the tests etc doctors/specialist appointments are so easy.test results are in 5/6 hrs.They have lots of English speaking doctors and walking distance from me.In case of hospitalization they use Medicover and say in case of emergency I can use any body and they refund the money.It is strange that my US insurance wants more premium for overseas coverage,but Medicover covers me for overseas also.Freaking 5200or so PLN a year for Medicover compared to Blue Cross that sucks out almost 21k USD a year and no overeas coverage.


My life is way important than anyone,I would go to any good doctor who I think can help me even if it was Mr b ladens doctor lolol.

Thanks for the replies. It's helpful to know that others from different countries have achieved it. I will be able to speak Polish to some degree by the time I arrive, but certainly not fluent.

Too bad your name isn't Osiris Rex buddy.