Polina Polonska, Doctor of medicine

My story

“For me, recognition means having the chance to practise my profession with full responsibility and doing so with passion.”

Polina Polonska from Dnipro in Ukraine has a very long and arduous journey behind her. With extensive training and five years of professional experience as a doctor of medicine, the 33-year-old met the key requirements for making a fresh start in her profession. In Ukraine, the doctor of medicine specialized in general medicine and primarily issued prescriptions. In Germany she wanted to train to become an anaesthetist. And there was one other thing she was expecting from Germany: safety.

Polina Polonska fled Ukraine with her five-year-old daughter right after the war started. In April 2022 she finally arrived in Cottbus. She recalls: “I didn’t have a plan and I couldn’t speak German. And I thought recognition would be really difficult for me. But it is all doable!”

Immediately after arriving she began pursuing her professional goals. First of all, Polina Polonska had to learn German. Without no prior knowledge of the language, she started on an integration course in April 2022. She worked her way up to level B2, which she successfully completed in April 2023. In the same month Polina Polonska applied for recognition to the State Office for Occupational Safety, Consumer Protection and Health in (LAVG) Potsdam. Through a study programme for refugees, she was put in contact with the Carl-Thiem Hospital in Cottbus. Here she was able to begin a traineeship period.

In November 2023, Polina Polonska successfully passed the specialist language examination in medicine at level C1 with the Medical Council. Shortly after this, she received unlimited authorisation to practise a profession. This enabled her to work under supervision from January 2024 at the Carl-Thiem Hospital in Cottbus. At this point she still needed approbation to be able to work as a fully-fledged doctor of medicine.

The competent authority told her about the options available to her: she could either wait for the equivalence assessment to be completed or register immediately for the knowledge test. Polina Polonska opted to take the knowledge test immediately. As a result, she was able to shorten the whole process. This is because, for the equivalence assessment, the competent authority might initially have had to request an assessment from the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB).

In order to prepare for the knowledge test, Polina Polonska worked part time and attended “Mentoring for doctors of medicine in recognition”. The mentoring was organised by the “IQ Servicestelle – begleitet. qualifiziert. anerkannt.” [IQ Service Centre – supported. qualified. recognised.] in the “Kontakt Eberswalde e.V.” association. Here she found clearly structured information about what was important for the approbation. The learning times fitted in well with day-to-day work. Participants met online in the evening after work and at weekends.

Polina Polonska received valuable support from the job centre throughout the entire recognition procedure. The job centre granted her financial support of almost €1000 by covering various costs en route to gaining authorisation to practise a profession. The job centre also supported her so she could attend a federal state medical council information event about the knowledge test. 

Polina Polonska worked hard for six months to prepare for the knowledge test. Her colleagues at the hospital gave her lots of support with this. In mid-July 2024, she successfully passed the knowledge test. And then the time had finally arrived: Polina Polonska held the approbation certificate in her hands. This meant she met all the requirements to be able to work without limitations as a doctor of medicine.

Two years and 4 months after fleeing Ukraine, Polina Polonska can now begin her continuing vocational education and training to become a medical specialist. This is another step forward in her fresh start to professional life in Germany. Polina Polonska is currently permanently employed at the hospital in Cottbus. She is also continuing with her specialist medical training to become an anaesthetist.

This article was written in September 2024. She was advised and supported in the recognition procedure by the “IQ Servicestelle – begleitet. qualifiziert. anerkannt.”, a subproject in the IQ Network Brandenburg. The service centre provides support, at no cost, with the recognition of foreign professional qualifications and offers skilled workers from abroad comprehensive support on an individual basis in the federal state of Brandenburg.

My procedure in brief