Development of teaching and tuition in the specialty of neurology in the Netherlands

After a short survey of the early history of neurology and psychiatry in the Netherlands, the development of the specialty of neurology is discussed. During the 20th century the training of neurologists and the certification of specialists evolved from an informal master-fellow organization towards a strongly reglemented and legally based procedure. A nationwide Specialist Registration Commission supervises the quality of the training of specialists. Registered neurologists in the Netherlands are subject to a re-certification programme that controls the requirements to be fulfilled by the specialists such as their active involvement in patient care (for at least 16 h a week), attendance of the annual postgraduate courses in neurology (5-year cycle) and regular participation in international congresses of neurology. The undergraduate training in neurology, the neurology clerkship and the postgraduate training in neurosciences are described. Measures taken in order to maintain the balance between the supply of and the demand for neurological care in the near future are reported.