 Statistics show that there are 1.7 doctors for every 1,000 people in Turkey. DHA photo |
The quality of medical education in Turkey is set to plummet in the future because universities lack sufficient permanent academic staff, resources and laboratories for the number of students, according a number of medical experts.
“Three years ago, the number of students accepted to medical faculties was around 4,000. Now, it has increased to 8,000,” Professor Özdemir Aktan, the second chair of the Istanbul Chamber of Doctors, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Tuesday.
According to statistics from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development there are 1.7 doctors for every 1,000 people in Turkey, Aktan said. “The Health Ministry … is trying to double this amount, but the infrastructure is inadequate.”
Aktan and others from the Chamber of Doctors contributed to the Turkish Medical Association’s recently released 2010 Pre-Graduation Medical Education Report, which expressed a pessimistic outlook for medical education in Turkey.
Although the ministry has said there are now 74 medical faculties in Turkey, Aktan said it would be impossible to train so many students to become doctors when hospitals lack their own buildings, libraries, pathology centers and research laboratories.
“Twenty medical faculties have a campus library also used by other universities. While some faculties receive between one and 10 human cadavers for research, there are 10 medical faculties that do not have cadavers,” said the report.
“As the report says, there is one medical faculty for every 1.5 million people in Turkey. This is a world record. This ratio is one for 600,000 in the United States and one for 500,000 in Europe,” said Aktan.
Howeve, while the number of academic staff in medical faculties grew 8 percent between 2008 and 2010, this figure was outstripped by the growth in the number of students over the same period at 14 percent, Aktan said.
The Higher Education Board, or YÖK, has ultimately failed to create an occupational pyramid in which full professors are on top of the system. “If you look at the report’s statistics, you notice that the number of professors is double the number of associate professors. The pyramid has been turned upside-down. Thus, it needs to be fixed.”
Some 10,413 academic staff members consisting of 4,976 professors, 2,781 associate professors and 2,656 assistant professors were nominally part of university medical faculties in 2010, the report said.
However, 21 medical faculties cannot provide sufficient levels of training on their own campuses because of a lack of infrastructure. Consequently they provide training at other hospitals, Aktan said. “There are several medical faculties which don’t have their own buildings. They only have a sign [at the entrance], but they don’t have the facilities,” said Aktan.
“Furthermore, 30 percent of the 120,000 doctors in Turkey are in Istanbul,” Aktan said.
Growth in the number of private universities worrying
The TTB report further criticized the recent growth of medical faculties at private universities since they can offer much higher wages in comparison to state universities, according to experts.
“As the state hospitals are … not adequate, the academic staff working under the “whole-day” law on inadequate salaries either go through retirement early, or transfer to private universities,” said Taner Güren, the chair of the Istanbul Chamber of Doctors.
The “whole-day” law, which was passed in 2010, means doctors at state hospitals can no longer run private practices after hours.
Aktan said profiting from the operation of a medical faculty is almost impossible because of the high cost involved. “[Private] universities try to provide the education, but we cannot say they have been sufficiently effective in terms of quality. Even the state universities admitting students with the lowest scores are in better conditions than the [private] universities,” Aktan said.
“Doctors cannot work in labs as much as is expected of them. Also, research doesn’t bring profit commercially, as it has so many expenses. Consequently, private medical universities built for commercial aims do not allocate sufficient funds for research.”
Necessary to continue attracting the best
Despite the increased numbers of faculties and students, being accepted into a medicine course is still difficult as prospective doctors must place in the top 0.5 percent to win placement at a faculty, Aktan said, adding that being a doctor was a good occupation since no medical professionals lost their jobs during the economic crisis.
“The best students would like to become doctors and it should stay this way. If we create a glut of doctors and [thus eventual] unemployment, the occupation would not be preferred by the best,” said Aktan.
“Three years ago, the number of students accepted to medical faculties was around 4,000. Now, it has increased to 8,000,” Professor Özdemir Aktan, the second chair of the Istanbul Chamber of Doctors, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Tuesday.
According to statistics from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development there are 1.7 doctors for every 1,000 people in Turkey, Aktan said. “The Health Ministry … is trying to double this amount, but the infrastructure is inadequate.”
Aktan and others from the Chamber of Doctors contributed to the Turkish Medical Association’s recently released 2010 Pre-Graduation Medical Education Report, which expressed a pessimistic outlook for medical education in Turkey.
Although the ministry has said there are now 74 medical faculties in Turkey, Aktan said it would be impossible to train so many students to become doctors when hospitals lack their own buildings, libraries, pathology centers and research laboratories.
“Twenty medical faculties have a campus library also used by other universities. While some faculties receive between one and 10 human cadavers for research, there are 10 medical faculties that do not have cadavers,” said the report.
“As the report says, there is one medical faculty for every 1.5 million people in Turkey. This is a world record. This ratio is one for 600,000 in the United States and one for 500,000 in Europe,” said Aktan.
Howeve, while the number of academic staff in medical faculties grew 8 percent between 2008 and 2010, this figure was outstripped by the growth in the number of students over the same period at 14 percent, Aktan said.
The Higher Education Board, or YÖK, has ultimately failed to create an occupational pyramid in which full professors are on top of the system. “If you look at the report’s statistics, you notice that the number of professors is double the number of associate professors. The pyramid has been turned upside-down. Thus, it needs to be fixed.”
Some 10,413 academic staff members consisting of 4,976 professors, 2,781 associate professors and 2,656 assistant professors were nominally part of university medical faculties in 2010, the report said.
However, 21 medical faculties cannot provide sufficient levels of training on their own campuses because of a lack of infrastructure. Consequently they provide training at other hospitals, Aktan said. “There are several medical faculties which don’t have their own buildings. They only have a sign [at the entrance], but they don’t have the facilities,” said Aktan.
“Furthermore, 30 percent of the 120,000 doctors in Turkey are in Istanbul,” Aktan said.
Growth in the number of private universities worrying
The TTB report further criticized the recent growth of medical faculties at private universities since they can offer much higher wages in comparison to state universities, according to experts.
“As the state hospitals are … not adequate, the academic staff working under the “whole-day” law on inadequate salaries either go through retirement early, or transfer to private universities,” said Taner Güren, the chair of the Istanbul Chamber of Doctors.
The “whole-day” law, which was passed in 2010, means doctors at state hospitals can no longer run private practices after hours.
Aktan said profiting from the operation of a medical faculty is almost impossible because of the high cost involved. “[Private] universities try to provide the education, but we cannot say they have been sufficiently effective in terms of quality. Even the state universities admitting students with the lowest scores are in better conditions than the [private] universities,” Aktan said.
“Doctors cannot work in labs as much as is expected of them. Also, research doesn’t bring profit commercially, as it has so many expenses. Consequently, private medical universities built for commercial aims do not allocate sufficient funds for research.”
Necessary to continue attracting the best
Despite the increased numbers of faculties and students, being accepted into a medicine course is still difficult as prospective doctors must place in the top 0.5 percent to win placement at a faculty, Aktan said, adding that being a doctor was a good occupation since no medical professionals lost their jobs during the economic crisis.
“The best students would like to become doctors and it should stay this way. If we create a glut of doctors and [thus eventual] unemployment, the occupation would not be preferred by the best,” said Aktan.
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