They Wore Their White Coats on March 14th Medical Day…

Students of Üsküdar University Faculty of Medicine experienced the joy of wearing white coats. Academicians, students, and parents, including Üsküdar University Rector Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör, Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Hikmet Koçak, and Faculty of Medicine Dean Prof. Dr. Haydar Sur, attended the white coat ceremony. As part of the ceremony, a panel titled “From Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Şahane to 'Istanbul Faculty of Medicine', the First Modern Faculty of Medicine” was held, with Orthopedics and Traumatology Specialist Prof. Dr. Mehmet Demirhan participating as a speaker.

A ceremony was held for students of the Faculty of Medicine Turkish and English Departments in two separate sessions at the NP Health Campus Ibn-i Sina Auditorium.

Students experienced great enthusiasm and excitement at the ceremony. Parents, who saw their children in white coats at the gathering which also drew significant interest from academicians and families, experienced emotional moments. 

The opening speeches of the white coat ceremony, held as part of March 14th Medical Day, were delivered by Faculty of Medicine student Edanur Turan, Faculty of Medicine 2nd-year student representative Yunus Emre Çelik, Faculty of Medicine 1st-year student Mehmet Efe Tekiz, Faculty of Medicine student Fatima Hafızoğlu, Üsküdar University Faculty of Medicine Dean Prof. Dr. Haydar Sur, Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Hikmet Koçak, and Üsküdar University Rector Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör.

Prof. Dr. Haydar Sur: “The medical profession requires great dedication”

Üsküdar University Faculty of Medicine Dean Prof. Dr. Haydar Sur, who delivered the opening speeches in both Turkish and English sessions, emphasized that the primary duty of doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals is to save the lives of others before their own. Prof. Dr. Haydar Sur stated; “The medical profession requires great dedication and is more difficult than many other professions. Not only the physician themselves, but everyone close to the physician contributes to this dedication. We are individuals who have made it our profession to prioritize the lives of others before our own. In my eyes, the white coat has three meanings, all of them valuable. The first is cleanliness; white is the color that best reveals even the smallest dirt, so a doctor must always be clean. They must not transmit germs. It is a visual symbol to ensure they are wearing a pristine coat. The second meaning is honesty. If we were to assign a color to an honest person, that color would be white. A doctor has no right to lie. If another person's life is entrusted to your hands and you lie to that person, you step outside humanity. A doctor, with this awareness, while treating their patient and guiding the patient's relatives, must always remain firm at the station of honesty. An honest person and an honest doctor are the second key to success. The third meaning is that white represents hope. We are people who, even next to the most critical patient, do not lose hope and still stand on the side of life. A doctor will never side with death. We will always carry hope within us.”

Prof. Dr. Hikmet Koçak: “Doctoring is a profession based on human love”

Üsküdar University Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Hikmet Koçak, who delivered the opening speeches in both sessions, stated that he still feels as excited as on the first day at white coat ceremonies. Prof. Dr. Hikmet Koçak said; “As physicians who graduated years ago, we get excited as if we are going to wear a new coat at a white coat ceremony. From the very first day you wear the white coat, responsibilities come to you. Doctoring is a profession based on human love. We tell our students that doctoring is a profession where social life continues, and which has a high social aspect. You learn knowledge from books and from your instructors, but you learn the social side, the skill side, and the art side from your instructors and your families. If you only pursue knowledge, you become a good scientist. You would be one-winged. Doctors need to apply all they know in the best possible way. Doctoring has existed, will exist, and will continue in every geography since the first day of humanity.”

Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör: “The work of physicians is to touch people…”

Üsküdar University Rector Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör, who delivered the opening speeches at the ceremony held in Turkish and English, emphasized to future physicians the importance of establishing communicative empathy. Güngör stated; “If you love people, you will succeed in this profession because the work of physicians is to touch people. Therefore, you must love the person you are going to touch. My advice to young physicians is to always empathize; 'communicative empathy' is very important. You will always be dealing with the aching, paining, and suffering aspects of humanity. Therefore, you will always be in a struggle. There will always be shouts in your life, you will always hear shouts. So, you have a duty to turn human shouts into smiles and laughter. You will give a lot of yourselves. Society's expectations of you are very high, and to meet those expectations in the best possible way, you need to equip yourselves with some artistic knowledge in addition to medical and scientific knowledge. To empathize, you need to know good psychology; to understand people, you also need to be a philosopher. Your touch to people should not only be physical but also read their spiritual and emotional sides. A doctor must be a good emotional literate, a good spiritual literate, a good intuitive literate. Therefore, you need to know people very well. We should start by knowing ourselves. We need to develop our emotional, spiritual, and intuitive sides. You are very lucky because you are in the right place. Our university is a university that prioritizes human touch. It is a university that prioritizes human values, human love, social responsibility, and ethics—all these values.”

A great pride for the academic mother… 

While Faculty of Medicine students experienced the joy of wearing their coats, Prof. Dr. Tuğba Altıntaş, an academician from Üsküdar University Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Health Management, dressed her daughter Nil Ceren Altıntaş in her white coat. Altıntaş, who dressed her daughter in her coat on this special day, expressed her pride in her daughter. 

Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan's book was presented as a gift

Students of the Faculty of Medicine, who wore their white coats, were presented with the book ‘Being a Conscious Young Person,’ written for young people by Üsküdar University Founding Rector-Psychiatrist Author Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan. 

Prof. Dr. Mehmet Demirhan: “Orthopedics goes hand in hand with many branches”

Additionally, as part of March 14th Medical Day, a panel titled “From Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Şahane to 'Istanbul Faculty of Medicine', the First Modern Faculty of Medicine” was held, with Orthopedics and Traumatology Specialist Prof. Dr. Mehmet Demirhan participating as a speaker. 

Prof. Dr. Mehmet Demirhan, pointing out that everything began on March 14, 1827, stated; “When Mahmud II saw very serious losses in wars, he decided to establish a faculty of medicine in the Ottoman Empire. This adventure thus began. Orthopedics goes hand in hand with many branches and is truly important, perhaps the undifferentiated state of internal medicine. Because pediatric orthopedics is separate, shoulder-elbow is separate, hand surgery is separate, trauma is separate, and all are separate subspecialties. Turkey is in a very good position in this regard. Orthopedics is in a quite important situation.”

A plaque was presented to Prof. Dr. Mehmet Demirhan by Üsküdar University Faculty of Medicine Dean Prof. Dr. Haydar Sur and Üsküdar University Faculty of Medicine Head of Orthopedics and Traumatology Department Prof. Dr. İsmet Teoman Benli.