Medical Travels of Polish Female Migrants in Europe
Medical Travels of Polish Female Migrants in Europe

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the medical travel (medical tourism) of Polish women migrants based on a study conducted between 2008 and 2011 on Polish women who migrated to London, Barcelona, and Berlin. The author argues that the principal reasons for medical travel to Poland are the lower costs of private treatment, the relatively easy access to specialised health care, and personal comfort derived from linguistic and cultural competency. The women in the study who travelled to Poland for medical treatment combined the economic resources acquired while living abroad with their knowledge of the cultural and medical system in Poland to choose the best options for them. The treatments they sought included gynaecological, dental, and other specialised treatments, for which they turned to the private health sector in Poland. Some of the women also sought treatment in other countries. The women in the study highlighted the advantages of medical travel and mobility while also reflected on the dilemmas they faced in choosing the best care. The author argues that medical travel poses a challenge to the national borders of health-care systems and the national availability of medical procedures, and found that while such mobility generates inequalities it also leads to greater agency and creativeness on the part of patients when they challenge the given regulations, authority, and expert knowledge in one country.

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