the number of oncologists has also been increased in france and korea in norway due to the growing demand for cancer care the number of radiotherapists has been increasing in the past five years and the number of training positions at hospitals has been also boosted for oncologists and pathologists similarly to cope with an expected shortage in singapore more radiologists have been trained in recent years and the numbers of other medical specialists including medical surgical oncologists have also increased since the early s for example canada developed a certification programme in oncology for registered nurses and the netherlands also utilises nurse practitioners in oncology hungary is trying to use its professionals more efficiently and primary care personnel ie nurses and midwives are now doing smeartaking which was traditionally done by gynaecologists this is undertaken not only to tackle the shortage of doctors in cancer care but also to reduce costs related to cancer care delivery