The post with an excerpt from an interview with a Belarusian who relocated to Poland was published by “ZhS Premium” on July 29, 2024. Here is what the video caption states:
“The maximum position a Belarusian doctor can hope for in this country is a job as an orderly. And that's regardless of their skills and work experience.
They are humiliated, treated like cattle, and placed in the lowest positions, but they are ready to endure any abuse from the masters.”
Then the Belarusian who moved to Poland says in the video:
"They don't have a catastrophic shortage of doctors, including anesthesiologists. And when we came to work there without a PWZ [from Polish — the license number assigned to a practicing physician], we were offered, so as not to scare anyone, to work as an orderly. And this continued for quite a long time. How long did we work?..
Looking at the work of the anesthesiologists in this clinic, one can't say that they are doing something extraordinary, that is, the same thing that we do, the same equipment.”
The WTF team found the origin source of the video, published on July 26, 2024. It is an interview with Sergey Khilmanovich, an anesthesiologist from Belarus. In Grodno, he was the head of the intensive care unit at a hospital. In the interview, he says that after moving, while preparing to take the professional exam and obtain a medical license, he did indeed work in the post-operative ward. However, he could have looked for a better job at another hospital but decided not to.
The doctor added the situation changed after he’d received his license. This fact was not mentioned by the authors of “ZhS Premium”.
“There are so many job offers now, most of the work is… in Bydgoszcz, there are also offers,” the doctor notes.
“There are jobs nearby,” the host clarifies.
“And around. And there are a lot of our colleagues… And someone has already become the head of a department and also invites you to work. Because there is a shortage of anesthesiologists — somewhere further away, somewhere closer. Well, within a radius of 60–70 km, you can find a job for yourself. <...> That is, a Belarusian doctor in Poland isn't limited to an orderly role,” the doctor Khilmanovich says.
Another point the doctor made that “ZhS Premium” omitted was his earnings.
“With the intern hours, it comes to around 6,400 zlotys, which is about $1,600—and that's without any extra shifts. That's the salary of an intern, and you're entitled to it after obtaining your license. But it also includes recognition of your work experience in Belarus."
“Including the internship hours, this amounts to about 6,400 zlotys, about 1,600 dollars,” the doctor says about his earnings.
“Well, not so terrible,” the host reacts.
“Not so, considering that we are working together, then... This is an intern salary — after receiving the license, a year of internship is required — and without extra shifts. But taking into account the work experience in Belarus.”
In May 2024, the Belarusians’ average salary reached 2,200 rubles, which at the May exchange rate was almost $700. However, according to Belstat, less than a third of Belarusians have such or higher incomes.
