Of course it's now much more common for doctors to be women and nurses to be men, so a competition being run by Care Talents, an employment agency for the nursing profession based in Jette and Kortrijk, turns out to be perfectly emancipated. Until 2 May, nurses can nominate a doctor of their choice and have a chance at winning €2,500.

As Flanders Today went to press, the field was led by Dr Jef Germonprez, an anaesthetist at the Sint-Augustinus Hospital in Veurne, with 410 votes. In second place is Dr Patricia Laporte, another anaesthetist at the Sint-Andries hospital in Tielt, at 404. She's described by her proponents as "a dream doctor", which, given her speciality, seems appropriate.

Dr Ann Vandenbroucke, a specialist in geriatric medicine at the Damiaan Hospital in Ostend, is in third place with 390 votes. She is apparently "always in a good mood" and "as crazy as a back door", a Flemish expression which really needs no translation.

Interestingly, women account for four of the top 10 places but only 14 of the top 50. Of the men, there's a fair helping of the distinguished and eminent, such as Dr Norbert Verleyen, a urologist at Jan Yperman Hospital in Ypres, or Professor Jan Poelaert of the UZ Brussel hospital in Jette.

There's also, may we be permitted to say on the basis of the website's photos, a decent representation of the dishy doctor sort; undoubtedly their credentials and talents are beyond reproach, but whose heart wouldn't suffer momentary arrhythmia at the appearance on rounds of the likes of Dr Pieter Goeminne, a respiratory specialist at the UZ Leuven, or Dr Dries Van Doninck, yet another anaesthetist, of the University of Antwerp Hospital in Edegem? Some things never change.

www.mijndroomdokter.be