The daily development of the healthcare system and health technologies, combined with society's need for health, has brought about the rise of specific professional fields. This has increased interest in the departments of Vocational Schools of Health Services, which train equipped healthcare personnel in the field of public health. Prof. Dr. Mesut Karahan stated that qualified health technicians graduating from associate degree programs act as a locomotive within healthcare institutions, and their employment rates are high compared to many other sectors.
In our country, it is inevitably important for healthcare professionals in technician status to be qualified. Vocational Schools of Health Services, offering high-level practical opportunities for training qualified graduates, have begun to come to the forefront. Prof. Dr. Mesut Karahan, Director of Üsküdar Üniversitesi Vocational School of Health Services, provided information about the departments and programs in the field and employment opportunities.
Home healthcare service is a rising trend of recent times
Karahan, drawing attention to a study conducted by the popular employment platform LinkedIn in the first 3 months of 2023 (between January 1 and March 31, 2023), stated: “It is quite striking that ‘Patient Services Representative’ ranks first among LinkedIn’s paid job postings. Licensed Practical Nurses for Home Health are also listed in 4th place. Nursing has been in high demand worldwide for some time and shows no signs of slowing down. These figures relate to the global scale, not just Turkey. Our students, upon completing a department like ‘Home Care Services,’ will have the opportunity to work in a highly demanded occupation anywhere in the world, especially if they also possess foreign language proficiency.”
The transformation of education in healthcare services into application and practice is very important
Prof. Dr. Mesut Karahan, stating the critical importance of turning lessons into application and practice, said, “It is very important to transform theoretical lessons into practical application. At Üsküdar Üniversitesi, we attach great importance to this education model. During the term, we provide opportunities for vocational training in enterprises and summer internships in institutions with proven experience in their fields. Thanks to these practices, we have qualified and skilled graduates. The annual number of graduates is in the tens of thousands, and there is no problem with their employment. Considering both public and private healthcare institutions in our country, there is a significant number, and additionally, there are serious advancements in health tourism. Each of these institutions offers employment opportunities.”
Love and perseverance for the profession bring success in healthcare services
Karahan, stating that the employment rate is also linked to one’s love for their profession, said, “Desire, interest, and perseverance immediately yield results in healthcare professions. Therefore, choosing the right profession and the right program is crucial. Üsküdar Üniversitesi Vocational School of Health Services has 36 programs. Our students should first consider their desired job descriptions. Do they want a job description that involves direct contact with patients, or one focusing on device technician work, or a laboratory working with patient samples, or a role in the management, documentation, etc., processes of a healthcare institution? After making the right decision that also suits the candidate's characteristics, the process will be much more efficient, the success rate will increase, and the job search will be easier.”
They gain the opportunity to establish their own laboratories…
Karahan, underlining that some programs might be more fortunate, said, “For example, ‘First and Emergency Aid’ graduates, i.e., paramedics, can work in many healthcare institutions, ambulances, 112 units, and hospital emergency departments. ‘Anesthesia’ graduates can be employed in almost every institution where operations are performed. ‘Medical Imaging Technicians’ graduates are also heavily employed in a similar manner. In Turkey, the devices used in this program operate on a 24/7 basis in many institutions. For this reason, the need for qualified graduates always continues. Additionally, our ‘Dental Prosthetics Technician’ program, where manual dexterity is paramount, even provides the opportunity to establish one’s own laboratories. Besides this, it is a program with high employment opportunities as they work with dentists in dental treatments. We have many different programs with similar opportunities that we can list. Therefore, all candidates can visit the Üsküdar Üniversitesi SHMYO website to access comprehensive information about our programs.”
16 thousand employments in public hospitals…
Prof. Dr. Mesut Karahan, emphasizing the high patient and thus bed capacities of city hospitals, said, “City hospitals provide healthcare services to our citizens with a very high-quality approach. It is obvious that serious healthcare professionals are needed to fully deliver this service. For this reason, it offers significant employment opportunities for our technicians graduating from SHMYO. To give an example, ‘Medical Documentation and Secretarial’ graduates were employed in a significant number of 16 thousand in public hospitals during the last KPSS recruitments. We know that recruitments are also made in different numbers with associate degree KPSS scores in our other programs.”
Karahan: “We are among the universities with the most advanced laboratory facilities thanks to our technological capabilities”
Prof. Dr. Mesut Karahan, Director of Üsküdar Üniversitesi Vocational School of Health Services, concluded his words by stating that working in the healthcare field is a serious responsibility:
“The responsibility in the healthcare field is naturally higher than in other professions. I recommend that candidates and professionals work day and night to be the best at what they do and participate fully in every process that will develop them. As Üsküdar Üniversitesi, we are a university whose main theme is ‘Health’ and who possesses serious experience in this field. Particularly, our qualified health technicians graduating from associate degree programs act as a locomotive within healthcare institutions, and their employment rates are quite high compared to many other sectors. Our university is among Turkey’s most comprehensive Vocational Schools of Health Services, with advanced laboratory facilities equipped with current technology. We aim to contribute to our country’s health goals with our students who graduate from our programs with universal standards.”