Doctors from Syria, Egypt, Palestine, and Belarus are saving lives in Poland. "You don't have to love us, but we love you anyway."

While some politicians are frightening people with "foreigners" and racist slogans are appearing on the streets, foreign doctors are quietly and quietly carrying out their work—often saving lives where labor is scarce. Surgeons from Palestine, transplant surgeons from Syria, orthopedists from Belarus, and cardiologists from Egypt are filling gaps in the Polish healthcare system every day. They are often the only lifeline for patients, especially in smaller centers, reports Gazeta Wyborcza.

Dr. Ahmed Yousef Elsaftawy, head of the Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery in Trzebnica, is a Palestinian who came to Poland to study in the 1990s. He stayed, trained, and today he saves people's hands—literally. When 13-year-old Maciek had three fingers amputated by a machine, there was no hospital in Poland with a replantation service. It was a Saturday evening. Elsaftawy got in his car and drove to Katowice to reattach the boy's hand.

Today, he and his team are preparing to resume hand transplants in Trzebnica – the very place where the first such procedure in Poland was performed in 2006. For many children and adults, it's the only chance to regain mobility.

Over 400 Belarusian doctors work in Poland thanks to the Ackermann Care agency. They are the ones who most often staff hospital emergency departments and internal medicine wards—the very places where Polish doctors are reluctant to work due to excessive workload and low pay. "They are often married medical couples who migrate together," says Mikołaj Akerman, head of the agency. Some arrive, risking imprisonment for participating in anti-government protests.

Although racist incidents do occur, as Akerman emphasizes, most of the medical community understands that without foreign doctors the healthcare system would collapse.

Dr. Igor Gumennyi, a cardiac surgeon from Ukraine, made medical history in 2021 by performing the first lung transplant in his country. Today, he saves patients at the Silesian Center for Heart Diseases in Zabrze. He was one of the surgeons in a groundbreaking lung and liver transplant performed by two teams simultaneously—only the second such procedure in Poland.

Like Gumennyi, many Polish hospitals employ Ukrainian doctors and nurses. The Upper Silesian Medical Center in Katowice employs, among others, three doctors, a nurse, and seven orderlies with Ukrainian citizenship.

Dr. Samir Zeair, a Syrian, has lived in Poland for 35 years. He graduated from medical school in Lublin and currently heads the transplant department in Szczecin. He is known not only for his knowledge but also for his empathy and professionalism – he has nearly 100 reviews on the website znalekarz.pl, all rated five stars.

Zeair was one of the heroes of the independence centenary campaign in Szczecin. "I witnessed the transformation in Poland. From the communist era to a free and democratic Poland," he says. He adds: "Although I see waves of xenophobia, Poles are essentially a friendly nation. If it were otherwise, I would have left long ago."

Dr. Omar Alazazy, an Egyptian who completed medical school in Ukraine, is currently specializing in cardiology in Opole. Initially, he was afraid to come to Poland – he had heard stereotypes about racism. It quickly became clear that this wasn't true. Although it wasn't easy at first (he worked in a kebab shop to support himself), today he speaks fluent Polish and is a fully-fledged physician.

Dr. Mohammed Saleh, a dentist from Palestine who came to Poland in 1987, opened an aesthetic medicine clinic in Częstochowa. He sees waves of racist sentiment sweep through Poland every few years. "It's sad, but most people allow themselves to be manipulated. And yet, I love Poland," he says.

Thousands of foreign doctors and nurses work in Poland today. They save children, reattach hands, and transplant hearts and lungs. They are often the only hope for patients who would otherwise be denied care.

At a time when some politicians build their popularity on the fear of "outsiders", it is worth remembering one thing: without immigrant doctors, the Polish health service would simply not function.