-Educational promotion in the Netherlands-

Dutch medical students graduate from medical school with the title 'doctorandus', the Latin term implying that he or she is now qualified to pursue further studies that will eventually lead to a doctorate. The Dutch system of an academic career leading to a PhD-type doctorate is explained and compared with the German system, leading to a 'Habilitation'. The author recounts how a long research fellowship at Erasmus University Rotterdam eventually resulted in the successful defence of his thesis 'The early human fetal ductus arteriosus' and the award of a doctorate from that institution.