Professional Internships During Studies

Professional internships are often the first real encounter many female and male students have with work in their industry. According to the provisions of the Act on Higher Education and Science (PSWiN), internships are not a mere „add-on” to studies, but one of the forms of classes in the program, with assigned learning outcomes and ECTS credits. Their goal is therefore not just completing a certain number of hours but acquiring and verifying specific competencies that cannot be fully realized solely through university classes.

Legal Basis and Study Profiles

Art. 67 of the PSWiN requires that the study program specify learning outcomes, the course of education, and the number of ECTS credits, including for internships. Universities detail this in syllabi and internship regulations, where three groups of outcomes are typically distinguished:

• skills typical for the given field (e.g., preparing administrative documents, operating specific IT systems, participating in the design process, basic diagnostic procedures);
• understanding the principles of operation of institutions or organizations (structure, document flow, basic procedures);
• social competencies, such as responsibility for assigned tasks, teamwork skills, communication with clients or other stakeholders, and adherence to professional ethics and internal regulations.

The importance of internships depends on the program’s profile. The Act on Higher Education and Science defines two main education profiles:

Academic profile: Focuses on deepening theoretical knowledge, preparing for scientific work and research activities.

Practical profile: Focuses on professional preparation, emphasizing skills over just theoretical knowledge, including mandatory professional internships.

In academic studies, more than half of ECTS credits are allocated to classes, deepening theoretical knowledge, and internships may, but do not have to, stem from the minimum profile requirements. In practical profile studies, over 50% of ECTS must relate to practical and workshop classes, and professional internships are mandatory with a specified minimum duration during studies.

Standardized programs form a separate category, including medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, midwifery, physiotherapy, emergency medical services, veterinary medicine, architecture, and teacher training studies. In their case, national education standards precisely define the minimum number of internship hours, types of facilities, and scope of tasks the student must complete. This limits university discretion but provides greater certainty that the internship will be recognized when applying for the right to practice the profession or professional licenses.

The key differences between profiles can be summarized in the following table:

Table 1: Comparison of Academic and Practical Study Profiles

Internship Organization

Three parties are involved in organizing internships:

University

Host entity

Student

The university designs internships as part of the study program: it determines their scope and place in the curriculum, adopts internship regulations, and prepares document templates (referral, agreement, logbook, credit form). A course internship coordinator is appointed, who approves proposed placements, answers student questions, and ultimately credits the internships based on submitted documentation.

On the other side is the institution hosting the students – an office, company, school, NGO, or other unit. It appoints an internship supervisor, introduces the intern to workplace rules, assigns tasks, and oversees their implementation. It is responsible for organizing safe conditions: occupational health and safety training, clear working hours, confidentiality, and data protection.

The third party is the students themselves. They select the internship placement (within university limits), familiarize themselves with the regulations and rules of the institution, and then perform assigned tasks. Their duties also include keeping an internship logbook, collecting supervisor signatures, and reporting issues to the university when the scope of tasks clearly deviates from the syllabus or internship conditions raise serious concerns.

How to Choose an Internship Placement?

Choosing an internship placement largely determines the experience a student gains from their studies. Sources of offers include university and career office internship databases, independent searches (CVs, emails, calls), private contacts (alumni, lecturers), and internship/traineeship portals. When selecting, pay attention to several elements:

• alignment of the institution’s activity profile with the study program and specialization;
• connection of planned tasks to the learning outcomes assigned to internships (it’s a good idea to bring the syllabus to the interview and discuss it with the potential supervisor);
• presence of an institutional internship supervisor who oversees work and signs documents;
• logistics: location, commute, working hours, compatibility with classes, possible remote or hybrid work.

Some universities also allow completing professional internships abroad, for example under the Erasmus+ program or other mobility schemes. Such trips are typically treated to achieve the learning outcomes planned for internships in the given program, while also allowing students to explore how the industry operates in another country, work in a different organizational environment, and develop language and intercultural competencies.

However, choosing an internship placement and practical classes has not only a substantive dimension, but also financial and organizational. In many cases, it involves regular commutes to an institution far from the university seat, often without organized transport or reimbursement of travel costs. Current regulations do not impose a general obligation on universities to finance student travel to internships and practical classes, which in practice means that these costs are largely borne by the students themselves. From the perspective of the constitutional principle of equal access to education, expressed in Art. 70 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, high and recurring travel costs to mandatory classes may limit the ability to fully participate in education for persons in difficult financial situations.

A well-chosen placement not only allows you to „complete” the required hours, but also tests yourself in a specific professional role, learn about organizational culture, and build your first contacts in the industry.

Student Rights During Internships

A student on internship retains all rights arising from general regulations and university internal rules. Internships are not a „lawless zone” where everything depends on the host institution’s goodwill. The student participates in a real work environment but performs tasks as part of the education process under the supervision of those responsible for their training, not on their own professional responsibility.

In practice, these can be organized into several basic entitlements:

The student has the right to safe and hygienic internship conditions, including occupational health and safety training and information on workplace hazards. The host entity cannot assign obviously dangerous tasks or those requiring qualifications the student lacks, and responsibility for supervising permissible activities lies with the designated internship supervisor.

The right to safe conditions also includes providing necessary personal protective equipment if it’s standard in the workplace. The obligation to provide it rests with the host entity, on the same terms as for employees exposed to the same hazards, as per general employer duties under the Labor Code.

The student has the right to a clear program and substantive supervision: designation of an internship supervisor, definition of task scope, and linkage to learning outcomes. If most time is spent on tasks unrelated to the field of study, the student can refer to the syllabus, internship regulations, and the agreement between the university and institution.

The student has the right to clear financial matters and working time rules. Even if the internship under a university agreement is unpaid and the student receives no remuneration, it doesn’t mean the organizational burden of internships can be arbitrarily shifted to them. Agreements and arrangements regulating internships provide for the possibility of paying a benefit to the intern, but do not form the basis for charging fees from the student for admission to the internship, signing the logbook, or issuing a certificate. A host institution demanding such fees violates the basic premises of collaboration with the university as a partner in the education process.

The student has the right to respect for dignity and equal treatment. Discrimination, bullying, or harassment are prohibited; humiliating comments, nagging, or isolation are not „tough life lessons” but violations of student rights. In such cases, the student can turn to the internship coordinator, student government, university student ombudsman, and the Student Rights Ombudsperson at the Parliament of Students of the Republic of Poland.

The student has the right to reliable documentation and crediting. This means the ability to keep an internship logbook per university template, obtain ongoing supervisor signatures, and receive a certificate or credit form reflecting actual tasks performed. Refusal to sign must be substantively justified, not result from personal conflict; in case of issues, the student can demand university intervention or application of an alternative procedure to verify learning outcomes.

When Can Work Replace Internships?

Art. 67(7) PSWiN allows universities to credit employment, traineeships, or volunteering toward internships if they enabled achieving the assigned learning outcomes. Universities focus primarily on three conditions: connection of duties to the study field, ability to link tasks to syllabus learning outcomes, and adequate workload – usually no less than the program-specified internship duration.

The procedure typically looks similar: the student applies with employment certificate (position, period, hours), task description, supervisor opinion, and a short report showing how the work translated to learning outcomes. Based on this, the university decides on full or partial recognition, or refusal; the most common reasons for refusal include work clearly unrelated to the field, too short employment period, or lack of documents allowing assessment of outcomes.

What to Do in Case of Problems?

If the course of the internship clearly deviates from what the program provides – tasks are unrelated to the field of study, conditions raise concerns, or student rights are violated – the student is not left entirely to their own devices. Before deciding to resign from the internship or escalate a conflict, it’s worth using the tools provided in the higher education system:

First, it’s reasonable to make a calm attempt to clarify the situation at the host institution level: talking with the internship supervisor, referring to the established program, syllabus, and agreement concluded between the university and the entity.

If such actions produce only superficial or short-term effects, the next step should be informing the university – internship coordinator, course supervisor, or internship office – with as precise a description of the problem as possible and previous resolution attempts.

When the problem is more serious (e.g., dignity violations, bullying, persistent ignoring of university guidelines) or concerns a larger group of students, representative bodies join the available tools: student government and the university student ombudsman, who – depending on the situation – can support in talks with authorities, drafting letters, and preparing documentation.

In matters of broader scope where internships reveal a systemic problem, contact with the Student Rights Ombudsperson at the Parliament of Students of the Republic of Poland is also possible.

Ultimately, the university has the ability to take further-reaching actions: enabling completion of the internship elsewhere, terminating cooperation with the given institution, or submitting a request to the relevant minister to take supervisory action. However, the condition for effectiveness is that the signal about the problem appears sufficiently early – the sooner the student reports a difficult situation, the greater the chance of finding a solution that secures both their safety and continuity of studies.

Summary

Professional internships are a place where three domains intersect: PSWiN regulations and education standards, university internal rules, and the practices of institutions that host students. For students, this means they don’t have to rely solely on the „custom” of a given unit or supervisor goodwill – they can refer to specific documents: study program, internship syllabus, university regulations, and if needed, support from student government and the Student Rights Ombudsperson. Conscious use of these tools doesn’t replace engagement in internships but allows ensuring that the effort put into gaining experience is genuinely protected and translates to both crediting and preparation for work in the chosen profession.