LEK (Lekarski Egzamin Końcowy, Poland's final medical examination)

The LEK is a written test of 200 multiple-choice questions, each with five options and one correct answer. It lasts 4 hours, and you pass with at least 56% of the maximum score (112 if all 200 questions are valid). CEM holds it in February and September; the next sitting is on 20 February 2027. The rules are in articles 14a to 14f of the Act on the professions of physician and dentist and a Ministry of Health regulation of August 2025.

Article 7 of the Act lists the LEK among the conditions for a full right to practise (PWZ) for doctors who are not EU citizens, together with a recognised diploma or a passed LEW, Polish language knowledge and a completed postgraduate internship.

Doctors with a non-EU diploma usually start with the LEW (Lekarski Egzamin Weryfikacyjny), the verification exam that replaces nostrification for many. CEM says the LEW is taken only in Polish, needs at least 60%, costs 700 zł and has application deadlines of 28 February (spring) and 31 July (autumn). The next LEW is on 4 November 2026.

There is also an alternative to the internship itself: under the Act, the Minister of Health can treat 2 years of work on the simplified route in a publicly funded provider, within the previous 4 years, as equivalent to the postgraduate internship.

1. Create an account in the SMK system (smk.ezdrowie.gov.pl) and confirm your identity at your regional medical chamber or at NIL.
2. File the application in SMK by 30 November of the previous year for the February exam, or by 15 July for September. Late applications are not possible.
3. Pay any fee within 5 days after the deadline to the individual account number SMK generates. If you do not pay, or pay too little, you cannot sit the exam.
4. Check SMK for your exam venue, date and code number, which CEM sends there.
5. Bring a valid identity document, a 2B or 3B pencil and a pen. You do not need your diploma on the day.

• In Polish: the first application is free. A second or later application costs 250 zł, except that a second free attempt is allowed if you failed or did not sit the first.
• In a foreign language: 400 zł for each application.
• Results appear in SMK and on the CEM site. Since 1 September 2025 CEM issues an electronic certificate you download from SMK instead of a paper one.

• No appeal. The result is not an administrative decision, so it cannot be appealed. Objections to questions can only be raised during or straight after the exam.
• Preparation. CEM publishes a list of textbooks proposed by the national consultants, but the regulation sets the actual scope, so study from its subject structure.
• Disqualification. Using a phone gets you disqualified and barred from the next sitting.
• Language. Passing the LEK does not prove Polish: the separate Polish exam run by the Supreme Medical Council is still needed for a full PWZ. See Poland.