Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, Founding Rector of Üsküdar Üniversitesi, attended the 1st Cerrahpaşa Career Summit organized by the Career Planning Club of Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine. Meeting with medical students, Tarhan gave a talk titled “The Path to Leadership in Academia and Psychiatry.” Stating that medicine has a two-sided ethical value, he emphasized that ethics, intention, sincerity, and accountability are the most important elements in both medical practice and leadership. Tarhan also stated that love and emotions should be managed in a balanced way, and that the most beautiful medicine is emotion management.
Medical students showed great interest in the program held at the Ekrem Kadri Unat Amphitheater of the Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine Lecture Hall Building.
“Medicine is a profession with two-sided ethical value”
Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, touching upon the concepts of medical ethics and professional ethics; “Professional ethics was defined for the first time in human history in the medical profession. Professional ethics and medical ethics are separate concepts. Medical ethics manifests itself in relationships with patients, while professional ethics manifests itself in relationships with colleagues and co-workers. In other words, medicine is a profession with two-sided ethical value. For this reason, it is difficult for someone who loses their ethical values to work healthily in the healthcare field. In fact, this applies to all professions. When we look at studies on leadership today, we see that ethical values are the most sought-on characteristic. Intention is very important. There is a concept called the neuroscience of intention. If a person has intention and sincerity, the other party senses it. This is also the foundation of communication and Islamic psychology. If you want to persuade the other party, you must first review your own intention and purpose. One must first confront oneself and purify oneself. Those who can confront and purify themselves will possess ethical values.” he began his words.
“The most beautiful medicine is emotion management”
Tarhan, underlining that love investment should be made in a balanced way; “Do not make your narcissistic investment, that is, your love investment, in just one thing. For example, love is the investment of narcissistic energy into one thing. That’s why love is like electricity; it shocks, but the bill comes later. We should not direct our love investment to a single place. A person directs their love to their mother, father, friends, society, homeland, humanity, and creator. In other words, love investment needs to be distributed in a balanced way. A person who distributes love investment in a balanced way can continue their life with others even if they lose one. Therefore, managing love and emotions is the most important thing we need to manage in our lives. If you load your emotions onto a single person and your expectations from that person are not realistic, this can psychologically challenge you. The most beautiful medicine is emotion management. Emotion regulation is very important in this regard. You should definitely read the book titled 'Descartes’ Error'.” he stated.
“The thing that makes people make the most mistakes is thinking fast”
Tarhan, emphasizing the importance of the principle of accountability; “The thing that makes people make the most mistakes is thinking fast. Some people do the first thing that comes to their mind, and believe the last thing they hear. You can play with such people just like a cat plays with a mouse. However, we try to teach children who are more thoughtful and liberal, the paradigm of 'Stop, think, do'. But some people do first and then think. This characteristic is also seen in those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In fact, this is one's own personality test. The control mechanism can also be explained with the traffic light metaphor. Red stop, yellow wait, green go. This principle should also be applied when making decisions. For example, the magical concept behind the success of Suleiman the Magnificent was the principle of not making decisions when angry. He would make decisions not when he was angry, but after his emotions had calmed down. Accountability is a very important quality in leadership. What protects a person is not their good intentions, diligence, or charisma. What protects a person is accountability.” he said.
“There must be a flow state”
Tarhan, drawing attention to the flow state; “If a person gets engrossed in a task and doesn't notice the time passing, there is psychological resilience. In such situations, the person succeeds. If they say, ‘Oh, let time pass, what will happen?’, success will not come. So, there must be a flow state. If someone can get engrossed in their work, it means they love that work. For example, a mother doesn't notice time passing when caring for her child, or a person doesn't notice time passing when doing a job they love. Career choice should be like this too. One needs to be able to say, ‘This job makes me feel better, it makes me happy. It enables me to do my job in the best way and it nourishes me.’ This topic is also touched upon in the book Kahneman mentioned. The capitalist system defines humans as homo economicus, an economic being. However, humans are actually homo psychologicus. People make their big decisions not just based on profit and loss calculations, but in areas where they feel safe and loved. People take more risks in areas they love and feel safe in, and they don't want to take risks in areas they don't love and don't trust.” he said.
“If you lose emotional leadership to the patient, the therapy process gets out of your control”
Tarhan, stating that empathetic communication should be preferred over sympathetic communication; “There is categorical thinking and strategic thinking. A person who thinks categorically perceives a problem as if they are listening to a boring story when they encounter it. They listen to the life of a difficult person, but they are not actually present in that moment. Empathetic listening is very important in psychiatric practice. In non-empathetic listening, the person appears to be listening, but their mind is elsewhere. The other party immediately notices this. If your mind is elsewhere, listening is not empathetic, and in this case, the patient will not come to you again. Empathetic listening involves an effort to understand the other party. You take notes, nod your head, repeat the last words. Such listening is not about forming an emotional bond with the patient but about maintaining emotional leadership. If the patient is crying, it is not crying with them but offering them a tissue. If you lose emotional leadership to the patient, the therapy process gets out of your control. For this reason, in sessions, I used to note down a critical sentence or word after each event. This allowed me to recall that case and establish a connection in the next meeting. Thus, the patient did not have to tell the same story again. The relationship established in this process is empathetic communication, not sympathetic communication. Because sympathy is getting completely carried away by emotions. If you do this, you cannot maintain your own balance. After the patient leaves the session, when a new patient arrives, you need to set aside the emotion of the previous case. This is categorical thinking. If you move on to the second case without categorizing the first case in your mind and putting it on the shelf, you cannot accurately evaluate the second patient, nor can you protect your own psychological health.” he explained.
“You must leave all your prejudices outside when entering the patient's domain”
Tarhan, stating that there should be a horizontal relationship between the patient and the physician; “If a person cannot manage their own narcissism, they cannot be themselves. This is called professional thinking disorder. There is knowledge, but people experiencing this disorder impose their professional ideologies, truths, or cultural values on the patient. However, just as you take off your own clothes and put on a white coat when entering a laboratory, you must leave all your prejudices outside when entering the patient's domain. You will hang your cultural prejudices and personal thoughts on a shelf. Because at that moment, you are in a professional role, an expert role. You are not in a motherly role or an emotional role. In professional thinking disorder, the person sees themselves as superior to the patient. However, the patient-physician relationship is a horizontal relationship, not a vertical one. If you approach by seeing yourself as superior, the person immediately senses this and creates distance. In such a situation, a therapeutic relationship, that is, a therapeutic alliance and a sense of trust, will not form. The situation is the same in family relationships. If there is humility in husband-wife, friend, or close relationships, this is a horizontal relationship, but if you say, ‘I am superior, let them conform to me,’ then there is a vertical relationship. People who establish vertical relationships become lonely over time.” he concluded his words.
