ABSTRACT
Medical doctors start their training after finishing secondary school. In the Netherlands, medical studies are organised according to the bachelor-master scheme. The training takes six years: a three-year bachelor programme with mostly theoretical studies, followed by a three-year master phase in the hospital. After six years of successful study the student is licensed as an MD, and takes the oath. However, independent work as a medical doctor is not yet possible, because the Dutch government has put in place a law that more or less obliges all doctors to do some sort of specialist training after graduation.
