Michał Swolkień, MD

Training and career

I earned my medical degree at the Faculty of Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College. I completed my urology residency between 2010 and 2016 in the Department of Urology at Szpital Specjalistyczny im. L. Rydygiera, a specialist hospital in Kraków, where I stayed on as a senior staff physician after obtaining board certification.

In 2016 I passed the European Board of Urology examination and received the FEBU diploma (Fellow of the European Board of Urology); a year later I sat the examination of the Polish Society of Andrology and obtained the title of Clinical Andrologist. From 2018 to 2020 I worked in the Department of Urology at Szpital im. św. Łukasza, a hospital in Tarnów.

• 2008 Medical degree - Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków
• 2016 FEBU - Fellow of the European Board of Urology
• 2017 Clinical Andrologist certificate, Polish Society of Andrology

What I do day to day

I provide comprehensive diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract conditions in men and women, and the full scope of clinical andrology. Four areas take up most of my practice:

• Benign prostatic hyperplasia - from diagnostics and urodynamic testing to HoLEP laser enucleation of the prostate.
• Urinary stone disease - endoscopic RIRS, URSL and PCNL procedures with laser lithotripsy.
• Male infertility - diagnosis, medical treatment and mTESE biopsy as well as microsurgical varicocele repair.
• Sexual and hormonal health - erectile dysfunction, Peyronie's disease, testosterone deficiency and premature ejaculation.

I also perform outpatient procedures under local anaesthesia - vasectomy and treatment of phimosis and circumcision.

Hospital surgery

Since 2019 I have been operating at Szpital na Klinach, a hospital in Kraków. There I perform the full range of endoscopic procedures on the upper and lower urinary tract, including HoLEP laser enucleation of the prostate and endoscopic treatment of urinary stone disease (RIRS, URS).

At the same centre I carry out open urogenital surgery under general anaesthesia: orchiectomy, surgery for hydrocele and epididymal cysts, phimosis repair and circumcision. I also consult on more difficult urological cases with specialists from other fields working at the hospital.

I learned the HoLEP technique under Marek Zawadzki, MD, of Szpital św. Anny, a hospital in Piaseczno, who for almost three years ran full-day operating sessions with my team every month.

I have been performing HoLEP myself since 2020 - several hundred operations in total. I have been performing endoscopic procedures for urinary stone disease since my specialty training; more than 1,500 operations in total: RIRS, URS and combined procedures.

I introduced the RIRS technique to three successive centres where I worked: the Department of Urology at Szpital Specjalistyczny im. L. Rydygiera while still a resident, then Szpital im. św. Łukasza in Tarnów and Szpital na Klinach. I also perform RIRS with the FANS technique, using a suction sheath.

Andrological microsurgery

I perform every microsurgical procedure used in andrology: vasectomy reversal (vasovasostomy), microsurgical testicular biopsy (mTESE), epididymal sperm retrieval (MESA) and microsurgical varicocele repair - each of them myself, as the operating surgeon.

I have developed microsurgery from the outset together with Paweł Pilch, MD, and we still operate together regularly; the most complex cases we always do as a two-surgeon microsurgical team. I have been operating with this technique since 2021 and have several hundred such procedures behind me.

I perform microsurgical procedures in cooperation with two fertility centres in Kraków.

The cost of a procedure is set by the centre - you will find its price list on its own website.

How I work with patients

The first visit always includes full diagnostics: history, physical examination and ultrasound of the urogenital tract performed on site - no separate appointment, no extra fee. You leave with a diagnosis, or with a specific list of tests that will confirm it.

I explain what I see on the screen and why I suggest a given solution. For every treatment option I am upfront about alternatives, risks and what to expect afterwards. Men's health is still treated as an embarrassing subject - there is no room for that in my office.

I do not operate alone. At every centre where I work, I go into theatre with the same permanent team - the anaesthetic staff and the scrub nurses. That is the result of many years of working together: the team knows the procedures I perform and the way I work.

You are not left on your own after a procedure. Szpital na Klinach runs a 24-hour emergency line - the doctor on duty answers it and contacts me where necessary, also outside my working hours. At KrakOvi and ARTVIMED you can call during the centre's opening hours, and at Andromeda Centrum Medyczne a consultant urologist sees patients on working days. Where a case calls for continuing contact, I arrange for the patient to reach me directly.

Follow-up intervals depend on the procedure. After HoLEP we see each other at 4 weeks, then at 3, 6 and 12 months, and once a year after that. Some procedures need no follow-up at all - I do not schedule one then, but if you would like to be seen, we will find a time. If you live far away and prefer to stay under the care of your own doctor, we end the follow-up earlier: you receive written recommendations and I contact the doctor taking over. Scheduled follow-up visits are paid; I agree their timing and the terms of payment individually before the procedure.

Andromeda Centrum Medyczne and URO-Centrum

I am a co-founder of URO-Centrum, whose first premises were at ul. Krowoderska 17 in Kraków. Together with Paweł Pilch, MD, we built a team focused on bringing to urology in Kraków methods of diagnosis and treatment that had not been available here before - from andrological microsurgery to laser enucleation of the prostate. Piotr Skrudlik, MD, later joined us and, after setting up the Urocentrum company, we opened Andromeda Centrum Medyczne, a medical centre at ul. Mogilska 69A in November 2025.

We offer the full range of urological and andrological diagnostics and procedures under local anaesthesia, including flexible cystoscopy, phimosis repair, circumcision, frenuloplasty and vasectomy - which, as a microsurgeon, I perform with minimally invasive techniques, so that the procedure remains technically reversible. We carry out diagnostic tests for cancers of the urogenital tract on site, including flexible cystoscopy and fusion prostate biopsy.

We also treat erectile dysfunction (ESWT shockwave therapy on site, platelet-rich plasma injections) and use a CO₂ laser to remove warts, scars and skin lesions of the intimate area in men. I pay particular attention to the diagnosis and treatment of hormonal disorders in men: for years I have provided testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) as well as hormonal diagnosis and treatment of fertility disorders.

Courses, development and publications

I have developed my surgical skills on European School of Urology courses and on dedicated courses: endoscopic stone treatment in Amsterdam (2014), urological laparoscopy in Olsztyn (2011) and advanced laparoscopic techniques in Szczecin (2019); I have also completed courses in abdominal, urinary tract and scrotal ultrasound at Roztoczańska Szkoła Ultrasonografii, an ultrasound training school.

I am currently in training with the European Academy of Andrology (EAA) - in Florence and Rome, under European experts, I am refining the use of ultrasound in andrology. The European EAA andrology examination is scheduled for 2027. I follow new technology in medicine closely, in particular the applications of artificial intelligence.

I am a co-author of ten scientific papers, including congress abstracts of the European Association of Urology; four of them have been awarded. For the monthly Przegląd Urologiczny I prepared review summaries of the international literature.

Patient education

I publish short videos on infertility, erectile dysfunction, kidney stones and urological prevention - in plain language, without beating around the bush. Thanks to them many patients come in earlier, and in urology timing matters enormously.

• Instagram↗(opens in a new tab)
• TikTok↗(opens in a new tab)
• Facebook↗(opens in a new tab)
• YouTube - patient Q&A sessions↗(opens in a new tab)

Credentials and memberships

• Polish Urological Association (PTU)
• European Association of Urology (EAU)
• American Urological Association (AUA)
• Société Internationale d’Urologie (SIU)
• Polish Society of Andrology (PTA)
• American Society of Andrology (ASA)

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Medical licence (PWZ) no. 2404369 · Chamber of Physicians reg. 57-11-2404369

Away from the clinic

I am the father of two children. I train for triathlon and ride a mountain bike. I am fascinated by electronics and IT infrastructure - at home I run my own homelab with a compute cluster for experimenting with artificial intelligence.