Share of foreign-trained doctors, 2021: 3.6%
Medical graduates per 100,000 population, 2021: 15.5
Practicing nurses per 1,000 population, 2021: 11.4
Share of foreign-trained nurses, 2021: 1.5%
Nursing graduates per 100,000 population, 2021: 62.8
Source: OECD (2023), Health at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/7a7afb35-en.
Annual Average (Or Most Common) Tuition Fees Charged By Tertiary Public Educational Institutions to National Students, By Level of Education, 2017/2018 (USD Converted Using PPPs):
Bachelor’s: $2,576.80
Master’s: $2,576.80
Source: OECD (2020), Education at a Glance 2020: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/69096873-en.
Share of tertiary national students receiving public financial support (2007/08 and 2017/18): NA
Source: OECD (2020), Education at a Glance 2020: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/69096873-en.
“The establishment of the Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG) in 1849 was the starting point for the reorganization of medical education. The Medical Practice Act (Wet op de Uitoefening van de Geneeskunst, WUG) of 1865 provided uniform university education and improved legal protection for the profession and title. The Dutch medical educational system is depicted in Fig. 4.9.
“Undergraduate medical education is structured into two phases (see Fig. 4.9). The first phase provides education for a Master’s degree and includes two stages. The first year constitutes the first stage, the senior years (second to fourth year) the second stage. Both stages conclude with exams. The second phase of the study takes two years (the fifth and sixth) and concludes with the Doctor of Medicine examination. During the second phase students are introduced to a clinical setting.”
Source: Kroneman M, Boerma W, van den Berg M, Groenewegen P, de Jong J, van Ginneken E (2016). The Netherlands: health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2016; 18(2):1–239.
“In the Netherlands medical education is provided at eight universities. Those who pass their Doctor of Medicine examination are legally qualified to prescribe medicines and provide medical certificates but they are not allowed to work as a GP or in any other medical specialty. Over 60% of graduates in medicine enrol in a specialized postgraduate training programme. As training positions for most specialties are scarce, graduates often need to fill in time before they can start. Most graduates spend this interim period working as a “doctor without a specialization” (ANIOs).
“Preferences for specialization differ between medical specialties and according to the gender of medical students. As Fig. 4.10 shows, most medical student would like to become a paediatrician, followed by a GP. These two choices are particularly popular among female students. Internal medicine and surgery are also frequently preferred, but more by male than female students. Obstetrics and gynaecology is a typical choice of female students (Vergouw, Heiligers & Batenburg, 2014).”
Source: Kroneman M, Boerma W, van den Berg M, Groenewegen P, de Jong J, van Ginneken E (2016). The Netherlands: health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2016; 18(2):1–239.
“Nursing staff in the Netherlands include Registered Nurses (RNs) and Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs). Dutch RNs comprise nursing staff of two educational levels: (1) educated to associate degree level (3 – 3.5 years of basic nursing education in a regional educational centre) and (2) educated to bachelor’s degree (4 years of basic nursing education at a university of applied sciences). RNs are trained for a broad set of nursing tasks and after graduation they can work in various care settings. RNs with a bachelor degree in nursing have the option to continue their education and become a nurse specialist by following a Master programme in Advanced Nursing Practice (NP) (www.nursing.nl/; Francke et al., 2015).
“CNAs have completed practice-oriented nursing education in a regional education centre, taking three years. Compared to other countries, the Dutch CNA education is rather lengthy, and after graduation they often work in home care or nursing homes.
“Currently, there is a trend in the Netherlands to increase the number of RNs at bachelor level at the expense of the RNs educated at associate degree level. In the mental healthcare sector this change has specifically been fed by the general de-institutionalization of mental care services, which requires more independently working nurses. In home care this change is related to the fact that RNs have additional tasks, for example regarding needs assessment, disease prevention and self-management support.
“In line with these developments, the nursing curriculum for bachelor educated RNs was redeveloped in 2015. From September 2016 the new curriculum is expected to be effective in most universities for applied sciences (www.nursing.nl/).”
Source: Kroneman M, Boerma W, van den Berg M, Groenewegen P, de Jong J, van Ginneken E (2016). The Netherlands: health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2016; 18(2):1–239.
Netherlands Health System Overview
Health System Rankings
Outcomes
Coverage and Access
Costs for Consumers
Healthcare Expenditures
Health System Financing
Preventive Healthcare
World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems and policies in the US and sixteen other nations.
Page last updated August 8, 2025 by Doug McVay, Editor.