[Foreign doctors in the Netherlands: increasingly better qualified for clinical practice]

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Healthcare Workforce Integration
• International Medical Graduates

Context:

• Doctors from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) face a mandatory Professional Assessment (BI) to practice in the Netherlands.
• Historically, many International Medical Graduates (IMGs) encountered difficulties in passing the BI.
• Specialized support organizations emerged in 2020 to assist IMGs with BI preparation.

Purpose:

• To evaluate the impact of new support organizations on IMG performance in the BI.
• To compare BI outcomes and recommendations for IMGs before and after the introduction of enhanced support.

Summary:

• Analysis of BI results and advice for IMGs from 2018-2021 (pre-support) and 2022-2024 (post-support).
• Significant improvement observed in BI success rates for IMGs in the 2022-2024 period compared to 2018-2021.
• The proportion of IMGs receiving 'submitted registration' advice rose from 47.5% to 76.9%.

Impact:

• The introduction of targeted support has demonstrably enhanced the preparedness of IMGs for medical practice in the Netherlands.
• Improved BI outcomes suggest a more efficient integration of foreign-trained doctors into the Dutch healthcare system.
• This initiative positively impacts the Dutch medical workforce by facilitating the successful onboarding of qualified IMGs.