By Dr. Bilal Akil, MD — Emergency Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University · founder of mccQbank
Short answer: A Canadian can study at a Polish medical school and still be eligible for the Medical Council of Canada (MCC) exams and the CaRMS match, but only if the school’s listing in the World Directory of Medical Schools (WDOMS) carries a Canada Sponsor Note, your graduation date falls inside the graduation years in its ECFMG note, and your degree title is in the Reference Guide for Medical Education Credentials (MCC, acceptable medical schools and medical degrees). When we checked on 4 November 2026, 24 of the 41 Polish listings had a Canada note, and 22 of those were currently operational. All 17 listings without one began teaching between 2019 and 2024.
Which Polish medical schools carry the Canada note?
We opened every Polish listing in the World Directory of Medical Schools on 4 November 2026. The table shows the 22 currently operational listings with a Canada Sponsor Note. None of these 22 notes was limited to a period of years. The ECFMG column matters because the MCC requires your graduation date to fall within the graduation years shown in that note, so a range that starts recently does not cover earlier graduates.
| School (World Directory listing) | City | Teaching began | ECFMG graduation years | English-taught track in the listing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jagiellonian University Medical College | Kraków | 1364 | 1953 – Current | 6-year and 4-year (check the 4-year track is still admitting) |
| Medical University of Warsaw Faculty of Medicine | Warsaw | 1809 | 1953 – Current | 6-year (4-year closed to admissions in 2018) |
| Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine I | Poznań | 1919 | 1953 – Current | None listed (Polish-language program only) |
| Medical University of Lublin | Lublin | 1944 | 1953 – Current | 6-year; a joint program with Gulf Medical University (English, partly in the UAE) and one with Wenzhou (language not stated, about half in China); 4-year closed (last intake 2021) |
| Medical University of Gdańsk Faculty of Medicine | Gdańsk | 1945 | 1953 – Current | 6-year |
| Wroclaw Medical University Faculty of Medicine | Wrocław | 1946 | 1953 – Current | 6-year |
| Medical University of Silesia in Katowice | Katowice | 1948 | 1953 – Current | English language program, 6 years |
| Pomorski Uniwersytet Medyczny w Szczecinie | Szczecin | 1948 | 1953 – Current | No separate track (language listed as Polish, English) |
| Medical University of Bialystok Faculty of Medicine | Białystok | 1950 | 1953 – Current | 6-year |
| Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry in Zabrze | Zabrze | 1975 | 1975 – Current | None listed (Polish-language program only) |
| Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University | Bydgoszcz | 1984 | 1984 – Current | 6-year |
| Poznan University of Medical Sciences Center for Medical Education in English | Poznań | 1993 | 1993 – Current | 6-year and 4-year |
| Medical University of Lodz Faculty of Medicine | Łódź | 2002 | 2002 – Current | 6-year (4-year closed to admissions in 2021) |
| University of Warmia and Mazury, Collegium Medicum | Olsztyn | 2008 | 2011 – Current | 6-year |
| Jan Kochanowski University Collegium Medicum | Kielce | 2015 | 2021 – Current | 6-year |
| University of Rzeszów Faculty of Medicine | Rzeszów | 2015 | 2021 – Current | Language not stated |
| University of Zielona Góra Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences | Zielona Góra | 2015 | 2021 – Current | Language not stated |
| Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Kraków University | Kraków | 2016 | 2018 – Current | 6-year |
| Uczelnia Łazarskiego Wydział Medyczny | Warsaw | 2017 | 2019 – Current | None listed (Polish-language program only) |
| Opole University Faculty of Medicine | Opole | 2017 | 2023 – Current | None listed (Polish-language program only) |
| Casimir Pulaski Radom University | Radom | 2017 | 2023 – Current | Language not stated |
| Akademia Śląska Wydział Nauk Medycznych | Katowice | 2018 | 2024 – Current | 6-year |
“None listed” and “language not stated” reflect only what the listing shows; check the school’s own site for English programs. Two more listings carry a Canada note but are not currently operational: Akademia Medyczna, Lodz (graduation years 1953–2002) and the Military Medical Academy in Łódź (1957–2002).
If you hold Polish citizenship, read the listing closely. The Medical University of Warsaw’s listing says “only non-citizens of Poland are eligible for the English language programs”, and the listing for the Poznań Center for Medical Education in English says “only non-citizens of Poland are accepted to this faculty”. Lublin’s joint programs are taught partly abroad: the Gulf Medical University track runs its first three years in the United Arab Emirates, and about half of the Wenzhou track takes place in China. The University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Medicine (teaching since 2023) is a different listing from the Medical University of Warsaw, and it has no Canada note.
What happens without a Canada note
The 17 listings without a note include the University of Warsaw Faculty of Medicine, Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego (2019) and Akademia Medyczna im. Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie (2020) in Warsaw, plus newer faculties in cities such as Płock, Elbląg, Nowy Sącz, Tarnów, Częstochowa and Siedlce.
To apply for the MCCQE (formerly MCCQE Part I), a school outside Canada must be “listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools and identified by a Canada Sponsor Note” (MCC, MCCQE eligibility). The NAC Examination uses the same test (MCC, NAC eligibility). CaRMS’s table for international medical graduates in the 2027 cycle marks both exams as requirements in every province, with a few listed alternatives (for example, USMLE steps in place of the MCCQE in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI and Saskatchewan); in Quebec the NAC is required by the medical schools rather than the Collège des médecins (CaRMS, R-1 summary of MCC examination requirements). So check the listing before you enrol, and again before you apply. If your school has no note, contact the MCC at service@mcc.ca before you pay for anything.
The route home, by stage
This timeline uses the MCC’s own student rules with an example expected graduation date of June 2028. Swap in your own date.
| Stage | What the rule says | Example: graduating June 2028 |
|---|---|---|
| Before you enrol | Canada note on the listing; graduation year inside the ECFMG range; degree title in the Reference Guide for Medical Education Credentials | Check all three, and record the date you checked |
| NAC Examination | Students may apply if they expect to complete all degree requirements within 15 months of the exam date | The 1 May 2027 session is about 13 months before graduation; applications run 18 November to 9 December 2026 (11:59 p.m. ET) |
| MCCQE application | Students may apply up to 15 months before their expected graduation date, with a Student attestation form completed by their school | Apply from March 2027 |
| MCCQE sitting | The eligibility window begins 12 months before the expected graduation date | Book within June 2027 to June 2028; the 2027 sessions after June run 10 August to 7 September and 5 to 26 October (2028 dates not yet posted) |
| CaRMS | MCC results are accepted only as transfers from physiciansapply.ca | Transfer your results before your match’s deadlines |
Plan the travel. The MCC holds the NAC Examination twice a year at a limited number of exam centres. For the May 2027 session they are in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan, plus Dublin, Ireland, which is far closer to Poland; the MCC says the Dublin centre has significantly fewer seats than the others, and an additional fee of $1,500 applies there (MCC, NAC scheduling). Results come about 8 weeks after the exam, and you cannot take the NAC in consecutive sessions. The MCCQE is taken in person at Prometric test centres, up to 4 times in total.
Our guide to writing the MCCQE before you graduate walks through the student application in detail. For the match dates themselves, see the CaRMS 2027 timeline for IMGs.
Electives and the match
If you want Canadian clinical experience before you apply, our guide to Canadian electives from a Polish school covers which faculties take Polish-school students, their language rules and the paperwork. For how IMGs from different regions fared in the 2026 match, see returning to Canada after medical school abroad.
Frequently asked questions
Is a Polish medical degree recognized in Canada?
It depends on the school, not the country. On 4 November 2026, 24 of the 41 Polish listings in the World Directory carried a Canada Sponsor Note. Your graduation year must also fall within the listing’s ECFMG graduation years.
Can Canadians studying in Poland apply to CaRMS?
Yes, if they meet the requirements. The MCC says international medical graduates (IMGs) who want to apply to the CaRMS R-1 match “will need to provide results” for both the MCCQE and the NAC Examination, and a student at a Polish school can apply for those exams only if the school’s listing has a Canada Sponsor Note.
Are 4-year MD programs in Poland recognized in Canada?
The Canada note sits on the school’s listing, not on a single track. Jagiellonian and the Poznań Center for Medical Education in English list 4-year English tracks; Warsaw, Łódź and Lublin list theirs as closed to admissions (Warsaw in 2018 and Łódź in 2021; Lublin’s last intake was 2021). Check that your degree title appears in the Reference Guide for Medical Education Credentials.
Can I write the NAC Examination in Poland?
No. The MCC holds it twice a year at a limited number of centres. For May 2027 they are in four provinces and in Dublin, Ireland, which has fewer seats and an additional $1,500 fee.
Which Polish medical schools are not recognized in Canada?
On 4 November 2026, 17 Polish listings had no Canada note. All of them began teaching between 2019 and 2024. Listings change, so check your own school’s Sponsor Notes tab.
When your school checks out, start on the MCCQE early. You can try 30 free questions in the mccQbank question bank.
