Netherlands 2026: International Doctors Are Not the Future, They Are Already Here

For years, people talked about the shortage of healthcare staff as something that would arrive "around 2026". It has arrived. Waiting lists are long and teams are stretched. And at the same time, doctors and dentists with a diploma from outside the EEA live here, in Dutch cities, and are not yet working in their profession.

The question is no longer whether they belong in Dutch healthcare. It is how quickly and how well they can get there.

1. The last mile is language and local practice

Most of the international doctors I talk to have ten or fifteen years of practice behind them. They know how to treat patients. What stands between them and the clinic is the "last mile": medical Dutch, Dutch guidelines and the Dutch way of working with patients. Every month spent waiting without preparing is a month lost, for them and for the patients who need them.

2. Preparation can start long before the paperwork is done

Recognition takes time, and much of it is not in the candidate's hands. But the language and the exam content are. Someone who learns medical Dutch and prepares for the BI-toets while the procedure runs arrives at each next step ready, instead of starting from zero.

3. A clear route instead of a maze

What helps most is a route that is visible from start to finish: five stages, each with its own owner. Medical Dutch to B2+; diploma recognition by the CIBG and the CBGV; preparation for the BI-toets; registration in the BIG register; and the first job. When every step is named, BIG registration stops being an endurance test and becomes a series of milestones.

4. What we build

At MentoraMedic we build the two stages a candidate prepares for: medical Dutch in Mentora Taal and BI-toets preparation in BigMentor. The other stages we describe honestly, including who decides there. Employers and municipalities who support candidates can follow their progress, with the candidate's consent.

The future of Dutch healthcare lies in combining local experience with international expertise. Much of that expertise is already in the country. The work now is to make the road to the clinic shorter and clearer.

Yevhenii Butov