Celebration speech marking the 150th anniversary of the Vereniging Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde (Association Dutch Journal of Medicine)

Dutch Journal of celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. J.van der Meer and S.van 't Hofare the editors of a jubilee book issued to mark the occasion. Two earlier books, issued for the 50th and 100th anniversary of the journal, focused primarily on the history of the association of editors which publishes the NTUG. Unlike these books, a large portion of the current jubilee book is devoted to the history of medicine in the Netherlands in the last 50 years. Of greater importance is that the authors reflect on the relationship between the NTUG, the medical profession and society at large. This relationship has intensified since the 1960's. The NTUG has accomplished its goal of being a general medical journal, but lacks 'the voice of the patient' and editorial comments on current social issues. With respect to the physician-patient relationship, the Netherlands has succeeded more than other countries in diminishing the gap between these two partners. The way the Dutch have dealt with the issue of euthanasia is a clear example. But as to the role of the physician in society, the loss of position and authority, increasing professionalism and specialisation and reluctance to engage in social and ethical debate for fear of losing impartiality have caused the medical profession to assume a marginal position in society, even with respect to its own needs as a group of professionals. At present, there is a clear need for physician citizenship that engages in a broad spectrum of social responsibilities in a professional context.