The problem of entry to the medical course in Belgium

Belgium already has a very high ratio of doctors to population. The output of new graduates is higher than can be justified by employment prospects. Applicants to university must be admitted if they have passed the school 'maturity examination'. The standard of this is set by the individual school, and the pass rate is unrelated to university requirements. Consequently the rate of entry to medical studies is very high and there is a very high failure rate (nearly half). The climate of opinion is against radical reform of this system. The author believes that under present circumstances a strongly selective examination at the end of the first university year is the least unsatisfactory solution.