How much do doctors in Poland actually earn? We check what the latest report says

The subject of doctors’ salaries has aroused interest for years. There is a widespread perception that doctors are one of the higher-paying professional groups, and yet they still complain. So how is it really with this salary? According to the report of the Central Statistical Office on remuneration in October 2020, doctors are the fourth professional group in terms of the amount of full-time earnings.

1. The salaries of doctors in Poland vary greatly
2. The lowest salaries are in state health care units, much higher in private clinics
3. According to the data of the Central Statistical Office of Poland from 2020, the gross salary of a doctor ranges from PLN 4-200
4. You can find more similar stories on the TvoiLokony home page

How much do doctors in Poland earn?

The Central Statistical Office publishes the report on the average salary in Poland (including by occupation) every two years. The latest report presents the labor market from October 2020 and covers almost 8,2 million people. The research was carried out on workplaces where 10 or more people were employed.

The average monthly gross salary was PLN 5, while the median monthly salary was PLN 748,24 gross, which is almost PLN 4 thousand. PLN on hand in the case of an employment contract. In the opinion of the Central Statistical Office, the median wage reflects the affluence of individual professional groups slightly better than the average wage. The median is the amount below and above which half of the group earns.

According to the latest report by the Central Statistical Office of Poland (GUS), doctors belong to one of the best-earning professional groups – the average salary was PLN 10 gross (this gives the fourth place in the ranking of the highest earners in full-time jobs). In the case of dentists, the amount was halved.

Doctors’ salaries vary widely

Doctors’ earnings are very diversified. In state health care units they are often mediocre, but in private clinics they can amount to a fortune. As the results of the Sedlak & Sedlak company show, doctors who are in the process of specialization earn the worst – a trainee doctor in the first year of work can count on salary in the amount of PLN 3 gross. After working for a year, resident doctors may receive a little over 4. PLN gross.

The place where the esculap works is of great importance for the amount of remuneration. A different amount will be in large medical facilities (e.g. a clinic) and a different amount in a poviat hospital. According to Sedlak & Sedlak data, a general surgery specialist working in a facility employing 50-249 people will be able to earn the most – the average gross salary will be PLN 10.

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The fact that the doctor’s salary is ambiguous is also influenced by the conditions under which they were employed – we are talking about various contracts and in various forms. It is not possible to compare the salary of a doctor employed in a medical facility under an employment contract with a doctor working, for example, under a contract. In addition, it should be remembered that each institution has its own way of rewarding an employee, which affects the amount of remuneration.

The amount of salary depends on the prestige of the specialization

Specialist doctors can count on higher earnings. Everything here depends on two factors: the prestige of popularity and the prestige of the specialization (its difficulties).

A family doctor can count on the greatest salary – PLN 11.

1. pediatrician – PLN 10 700;
2. internal medicine doctor – PLN 7;
3. anaesthesiologist – PLN 6;
4. orthopedist – PLN 6;
5. gynecologist – PLN 5 500;
6. general surgeon – 6 zloty;
7. plastic surgeon PLN 5 500.

The amounts shown above are gross salaries, so ultimately doctors receive less.

What about salary allowances?

As experts point out, the basic salary of a doctor gives a false picture of the actual amount of remuneration of Polish doctors. It should be remembered that the final amount is influenced by factors such as: allowances and remuneration for on-call duty (the doctor may take up to 300 hours a month). Many doctors earn extra money by working in other facilities, as well as by taking up many jobs.

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Salaries increase, among others covid extras. As the NFZ Social Communication Office told Medonet, so far the National Health Fund has paid people working in the medical profession PLN 9 as part of the so-called covid additives,

Covid allowances paid to medics are 100%. remuneration (the maximum monthly amount of the allowance may not exceed PLN 15) – resulting from an employment contract or a civil law contract, due for each hour of work of a person who (criteria must be met jointly):

1. performs a medical profession;
2. participates in providing health services and has direct contact with patients with suspected and infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus;
3. works in departments where the medical facility provides beds for patients with suspected and confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (the so-called level II covid protection).

Increases only for full-time employees

From July this year, new rules will come into force, on which the remuneration of medical workers in healthcare entities will come into force. This is the result of the agreement of November 5, 2021 signed as part of the Tripartite Team for Healthcare. The total cost of the increases is almost PLN 6,5 billion. It introduces changes to the salary table, which is an appendix to the act on the method of determining the lowest remuneration of certain employees of healthcare entities.

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To date, however, no draft regulations have appeared, and there are no assumptions for an amendment to the act on minimum wages in health care. Employers and hospital directors only have an approximate outline of the amounts by which the salaries of medical staff will increase. The government did not provide for pay rises for employees providing services under civil law contracts. The increases will be granted only to those employees who are employed full-time.

Low salary forces you to work many jobs

The Polish Association of Physicians points out that the salary of a doctor employed under a full-time employment contract is modest, which forces them to make extra work – this intensifies the pathology in the form of doctors taking many jobs and additional working hours, and thus leads to them fatigue – they emphasize.

PIE and a completely different picture of doctors’ salaries

According to the analysts of the Polish Economic Institute, who prepared a report last year on the revenues of medical workers in 2019, doctors received an average of 25,3 thousand. PLN per month. The median gross monthly income of doctors amounted to PLN 16,7 thousand.

Experts prepared the report based on tax data from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance. All types of medics’ income were taken into account, incl. earnings from full-time work, but also from private activity. In addition, the report does not include working time. As emphasized by the authors of the study – the figures given refer to the year 2019, data from the pandemic year 2020 were not used, which – as indicated – may differ from the data that would be expected in a normal situation.

So how much does a doctor actually earn?

According to experts, to find out exactly how much doctors earn, you should know how many hours they work per month, how much they earn per hour and what other earnings are.

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