[The gobstopper of the medical job market: education of physicians and specialists from a historical perspective].

Unemployment among young physicians has been a difficult problem for years. In this contribution, we are looking at the difficult medical job market from a historical perspective. The article shows that education of medical doctors and medical specialists has been politicised for a very long time, that ever-changing parties and interests are playing a role and that both the nature and objective of the issue - admission policy, whether to educate more or fewer physicians - have been shifting over time. We argue that there are no clear solutions available but that we, while learning from the past, must continually look for solutions that fit the current situation.