No more limits to university medical & veterinary education: Polish universities make a record number of offers to Irish applicants
Thousands of students aspiring to become doctors and vets are looking further afield for their education, as local institutions keep offering many places to overseas students. Poland’s 650-year experience in higher education and competitive living costs make it an increasingly attractive education destination for many.
Medical Poland Admissions Office, representing Polish medical and veterinary universities and international students studying at those institutions has seen a 21% year-on-year increase in the number of applications. “A few days before the Leaving Certificate results are supposed to come out, I spoke to a student who is expecting H1s in all sciences and they are not expecting to be offered a place at any medical school in Ireland. They are applying to study medicine in Poland.” says Artur Banaszkiewicz, Head Student Counselor at Medical Poland. They don’t want to bet on the “postmarking intervention” Minister for Education Norma Foley promised.
“Education systems should not be punishing students for being processed in 2022 instead of 2021 or 2020” says Banaszkiewicz. He sees a significant need to educate more medical staff and to make it easier to get into medical schools, as the world is facing the largest shortage of medics to date.
“A lot of disappointment and anxiety was saved for me, since I had known I had the option in Poland when I saw my Leaving Cert results. I landed in Poland a few weeks later and graduated to come back and practice at home” admits Andrea who graduated from Poland a few months ago.
Students who are predicted Leaving Certificate H1s and H2s are generally regarded as strong university candidates. In the UK Russell Group institutions gave out fewer offers or raised their entry requirements in popular subjects such as medicine and psychology, so these grades are not good enough to get an offer this year. The 2022 cohort is simply ‘unlucky’.
Adam Krawczyk, the Head of Admissions Office in Medical Poland, says: “Irish students need not wait another year. We are helping Irish students study at the best of European universities, and by that I mean Polish universities. Let them join a few hundreds of their Irish peers who already study in Poland or visited the country a few weeks ago to take part in MiniMed Programme preparing them for the medical studies. In addition, the fees for the universities are very attractive, and quite affordable for students & their parents. The cost of living in Poland is typically no more than 30-40% that of the spiraling cost-of-living in Ireland''.
As it is still not too late to apply for October 2022, Medical Poland Admissions Office is running online information sessions “Open Days” on 3rd September. One can register here. Applications finish on 11th September.
—----31.08.2022-----ENDS-----------------------------
Medical Poland Admissions Office online Open Days - registration is open
