Why is the rapid growth of medical schools in Poland threatening quality?

In the past twenty years Poland has tripled the number of universities offering medical degrees and quadrupled student admissions. The goal was clear: fill the shortage of doctors in a strained health system. Yet in 2024 six new universities saw their spots suspended because accreditation authorities doubted program quality.

The Ministry of Health and the Polish Accreditation Committee (PKA) tried to keep up with the expansion, but data reveal a gap: institutions rose from 11 to 39—a 254.6% increase—while compliance with quality standards stayed flat, especially in newer programs.

Experts suggest a course correction: shift from a formal‑requirements model to a competency‑based framework. In practice, this means assessing the final outcome—graduates' clinical competence—and publishing institutional performance results. This approach, aligned with European guidelines, would help ensure every new program trains doctors ready to work effectively across all regions.

In short, the challenge isn’t just boosting numbers, but guaranteeing that training maintains high standards, turning growth into a real solution for the healthcare workforce shortage.

The Polish Accreditation Committee (PKA) currently employs an evaluation model based on structural criteria (infrastructure, faculty, curriculum) and process criteria (teaching methods, student assessment). However, international literature indicates that these indicators do not fully capture graduates' clinical competence: 1. Outcome‑based assessment: measuring new doctors' performance in real settings (e.g., clinical rotations, high‑fidelity simulations) provides more reliable data on work readiness. 2. Post‑graduation monitoring program: tracking employment rates, specialization choices, and professional satisfaction at 1, 3, and 5 years. 3. Transparent reporting: publishing key indicators (state exam pass rates, employer feedback, practical exam results) on open platforms promotes institutional accountability. 4. Alignment with the European Framework for Medical Competencies (EU‑MCC): integrating the seven key competencies (knowledge, clinical skills, communication, collaboration, leadership, health and wellbeing, lifelong learning) into curricula and assessment. 5. Strengthening PKA capacity: investing in accredited trainer development, creating digital data‑collection tools, and establishing an advisory board with hospital representatives, student associations, and European bodies. Implementing these elements would shift the current reactive approach to a proactive continuous‑improvement system, ensuring that the expansion of medical schools does not compromise training quality.