For many decades, the Netherlands Society for Tropical Medicine and International Health (NVTG) has provided training in the Netherlands to doctors aspiring to work in low- and middle-income countries. Over the years, the training has professionalized, resulting in the formal recognition, in 2012, of the ‘doctor International Health and Tropical Medicine’ (doctor IHTM) as a medical specialization, by the Dutch Royal Medical Association (KNMG). In addition, the Commission for the Registration of Medical Specialists (RGS) recognized the Institute of International Health and Tropical Medicine (IGT), which oversees the implementation of the post-graduate specialization programme. This commission extended IGT’s accreditation up to 2021. However, the approval was not unconditional and stipulated modernization and an overhaul of the curriculum to better
align it with the training programme.