Doctors: Outrageous and shameful. Ministry wants to impose limits on unaccredited courses.

• The OZZL Residents' Agreement opposes the granting of admission limits to medical programs negatively assessed by the Polish Accreditation Committee
• The Ministry of Science explains its decision by "investments made by universities and financial outlays incurred"
• It is proposed to include a total of five universities, including two with a negative assessment by the Polish Accreditation Committee, in the draft regulation on the limit of admissions to medical and medical-dental studies.

The OZZL Residents' Agreement has published a statement opposing the imposition of medical admissions limits on two universities that have been negatively assessed by the Polish Accreditation Committee (PKA). These universities are the Academy of Applied Sciences in Nowy Sącz and the Academy of Applied Sciences in Nowy Targ. The Ministry of Science and Higher Education recommends that they be granted medical admissions in this year's recruitment.

He explains his decision by citing "universities' investments and financial outlays" and proposes including them in an annex to the proposed regulation on admission limits for medical and dental studies. Initially, he recommends allocating 30 places to each university for full-time master's degree programs taught in Polish.

In response to the published comments of the Ministry on the draft regulation, Porozumienie activists remind that universities negatively assessed by PKA do not meet the conditions for achieving learning outcomes.

- To put it bluntly, students of these fields will not be able to learn the skills necessary to work as a doctor - they point out in an official letter.

They also emphasize that these universities have already been negatively assessed twice, which is why they consider the recommendations of Deputy Minister of Science Maria Mrówczyńska to be "outrageous" and "disgraceful."

- This is a conscious condemnation of patients to contact with doctors who do not have the appropriate education and is justified only by the costs incurred by the university - believe the residents.

Residents protest: the ministry has sided with mediocrity. The Ministry of Health still needs to agree.

Doctors remind that in numerous meetings and conversations, representatives of the ministry have repeatedly assured that no university with a negative assessment will educate students.

"There were even promises to close programs that received two negative evaluations. Despite these empty words, the ministry clearly sided with mediocrity, legitimizing it with the ministerial seal," they emphasize in a letter signed by the chairman and vice-chairman of the OZZL Residents' Agreement.

Finally, they point out that the decision of the Ministry of Science must still be approved by the Ministry of Health.

- We hope that he will stand up for the quality of care and patient safety by opposing these recommendations - they add.

The University of Siedlce will also resume admissions. It received a positive evaluation.

Both the ANS in Nowy Targ and Nowy Sącz are already educating students in the medical field. Former Minister of Science Przemysław Czarnek issued permits to open medical programs, despite a negative opinion from the Polish Accreditation Committee (PKA). Initial announcements by his successor, also former minister Dariusz Wieczorek, suggested they would be subject to ministerial scrutiny. Ultimately, however, they were merely subject to a second review by the PKA.

Four of the nine programs passed the review, and five, due to the Commission's negative assessment, the Ministry of Health last year refused to grant admission limits for the 2024-2025 academic year. This group included the ANS in Nowy Targ and the ANS in Nowy Sącz, as well as the University of Siedlce, the Poznań Medical University, and the University of Social Sciences in Łódź.

The Ministry of Science and Higher Education has also recommended granting admission limits to the latter three universities this year. In the case of Siedlce, the initial limit will be half of the university's proposed limit, meaning 30 places for uniform master's degree programs. The ministry proposes to allocate 30 places to the Poznań Medical University, and the Medical Academy in Łódź – up to 50. According to the ministry, these universities received positive evaluations of their medical programs during this year's review, with the application period shortened to two years.

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