looking ahead the healthcare authority nza expects shortages to develop as a result of demographic trends and an increasing share of parttime gps nza in this context the government rightly aims at expanding the capacity of medical schools and the number of hospital training positions as both are identified causes of supply restriction capaciteitsorgaan foreign doctors represent another potential source of doctors in this domain european candidates from the european economic area enjoy relatively easy access as their diplomas are recognised while noneuropean candidates are subject to a governmental standardised assessment of medical skills and a language test to facilitate entry for the latter group it could be considered to exempt holders of diplomas from top universities from the medicalskills components of the assessment however restricting the number of specialists is no longer a solution in a more marketoriented system as it would reinforce their bargaining position and hence their ability to influence prices upwards