It is no short journey from Poland's Baltic coast to Co Donegal, but Iwona Zaleska calls her move the "perfect decision".

She is one of dozens of doctors who have traded the long hours and low wages of the EU's new eastern fringe for a job in its northwest corner, where Ireland's understaffed healthcare system is rewarding them well for their skill.

When eight states from the old communist bloc joined the EU last May, their medical professionals - who were miserably familiar with 80-hour working weeks and €300-a-month salaries - suddenly found themselves in unprecedented demand. Much of that demand comes from Ireland and Britain, as a cursory flick through any central European medical magazine will tell you. It was one such journal that set Dr Zaleska on the long road to Falcarragh.

After completing her medical training last year, the 32-year-old responded to an advert for Medical Manpower Solutions (MMS), one of dozens of agencies that beckon GPs, dentists and pharmacists to careers in the West. From her home in the historic port city of Gdansk, Dr Zaleska travelled south to Warsaw last May to meet Martin Brennan, director of Letterkenny-based MMS.

"He checked all my qualifications and language ability," she says in impeccable English. "After a few weeks I was told about an opportunity in Falcarragh. I had never been to Ireland but, by September, I was here, learning about the local computer system, hospitals and so on. I started work in the practice two weeks later."

Dr Brennan and his business partner, Brendan Woods, help their clients organise accommodation, open bank accounts and arrange car loans. Most positions are in rural practices, and involve making the kind of out-of-hours house calls that many Irish GPs will no longer perform, making a car essential for their work.

"It's a huge responsibility bringing a GP to Ireland," says Dr Brennan, on one of his regular visits to Warsaw to meet candidates. "It's not just about qualifications but whether the individual will fit in. We have brought more than 20 doctors over so far, and they are all doing well.

"Most applicants are in their 30s, having studied for more than a decade and then gone out and got some experience. We are dealing with very bright people who know what they want, have choices and are willing to shop around."

Dr Brennan warns that increased competition for Poland's family medicine graduates may soon leave Ireland struggling even more to fill the gaping holes in its surgeries.

"Ireland's manpower crisis was first felt three or four years ago on the periphery, in places like Donegal, and now it is really acute," he says. "The general practice students in Poland are like gold dust, and many are drawn to England. London and the strength of sterling are big attractions, and it is not cheap to live in Ireland."

At Warsaw's prestigious Academy of Medicine, there seems to be no shortage of future clients for Dr Brennan and his colleagues. Magda Mazur, a 20-year-old medical student, is already looking west.

"People here are always talking about going to Ireland, England, Sweden and Germany," she says between lectures at the academy. "Money is the main problem, the fact that Polish doctors do so much work for such a small salary. Doctors abroad have better working conditions and get more respect than they do here, as well. They have more time for their family, and to relax."

Marcin Servach, a 20-year-old paramedic student, adds: "In my field, you would be lucky to make 1,000 zlotys (250) a month here [ in Warsaw]. You can get four times that in the UK and Ireland. If I go abroad, I will probably go to stay there."

Fears of a quickening "brain drain" have already prompted action from the Polish government.

"It is good doctors with good English that are leaving," says Pawel Trzcinski of Poland's health ministry, who reveals that more than 4,000 of his country's doctors have applied for registration with west European health services since May 1st 2004.

"The actual number who have gone is hard to say, but it's not common that doctors speak good enough English to go. So perhaps the numbers are not huge but the ones that leave are highly skilled, highly talented and dynamic - they are the 'cream'."

With more than 150,000 doctors nationwide, Poland's hospitals are not facing an imminent staff shortage, but the warning signs are already there, and growing stronger.

"Although it's not a crisis for the time being, some hospitals are struggling to find doctors and nurses and we are monitoring the situation," Dr Trzcinski says. "In the future there could be a shortage, so we have already increased the number of students at our medical academies, and the number of residence places for young doctors. We know that if our best people do well abroad, they are unlikely to return."

Moves to limit the working week to 48 hours across the EU will only increase demand for medical staff across the bloc, and exacerbate the current shortage of doctors in Ireland who are willing to make out-of-hours calls and perform night duty.

"Britain's NHS is very hungry for people and there is already competition for the best," says Dr Brennan, who plays down the threat of long-term damage to healthcare in countries such as Poland or Hungary, where his MMS agency also recruits doctors.

"It's a level playing field in Ireland - a Pole or Hungarian makes what an Irish doctor makes - but most of them have not left home for good," he insists.

"They are a real breath of fresh air, very professional and bring so much to Ireland. But most will look to return home after a few years and start their own practices. They will take the money and expertise gained abroad back to their home countries."

Dr Zaleska is less optimistic about Poland's prospects of regaining its young doctors, however, and predicts their continued influx to Ireland, where the predominantly Catholic society feels reassuringly familiar.

"I feel I can breathe here and relax a bit, in a way that was impossible in Poland," she says. "You can't make good money or open a good practice there.

"I hope to be here for a few years," she adds. "It was the perfect decision to come to Ireland."