[Medical training did not give survival advantage; life expectancy of Dutch medical professionals born between 1550 and 1909].

Objective: To examine if, over a period of centuries, the Dutch medical establishment enjoyed a survival advantage over a population group with a comparable social background and level of education.

Design: Retrospective database research.

Method: We used documents which provided data on the births and deaths of 15,649 male and 659 female medical professionals and of 15,304 male clergy.