In a recent article, I wrote about our visits to nursing homes and the impressions we gained
from them. Among this year's 'March 14th Health Week activities', our meeting at Biruni
Faculty of Medicine had a special place. In this article, I will share it with you separately.
After meeting in Çapa on the morning of Wednesday, March 13th, as the Istanbul Medical
Chamber (ITO) Commission for Retired Physicians, we went together to the faculty's building
in Cevizlibağ. The friends who met us at the entrance of the building first took our team to the
dean's office.
The dean's office of the faculty was like an ordinary civil servant's office, far away from the
pomp and circumstance we were used to. As a matter of fact, it should have been like this in
every faculty, but this was a structure we had not been used to for years. This was our first
surprise at Biruni. In the small waiting room in front of the room, we met the dean and the
professors. I signed my latest book and gave it to them. After drinking tea and chatting for a
while, we took the elevator down to the hall on the bottom floor where the meeting would be
held.
It's quite a big lecture hall, we learn that it seats five hundred people. More than four hundred
students fill most of the seats. Among them are their teachers in the front rows.
We were very impressed when we saw our flag on one side of the stage and Atatürk's picture
on the other side. We also met our young anatomy professor from Gazi, Prof. Erdinç Tunç,
who is still working at Biruni, and we made up with him there on the occasion of the meeting.
At the meeting, our eldest Dr. Ülkü Sema Aydın, our sister, Prof. Taner Gören, our ITO
president Prof. Nergis Erdoğan, our elder Dr. Erdinç Köksal, our general surgery professor
from Biruni and I, respectively. Ülkü Sema Aydın, Prof. Taner Gören, our ITO president Prof.
Nergis Erdoğan, our elder Dr. Erdinç Köksal, our general surgery professor from Biruni and
myself talked about our experiences as physicians over the years, the development of
medicine, the importance of deontology, humanism and empathy in medicine. We talked
about the things that should be done and the wrong practices and behaviors that should not be
done.
Despite the long duration of the meeting, the students did not leave the hall and watched us
with curiosity, asking questions. After a while, Rector Prof. Adnan Yüksel joined us. After the
speeches, a teacher sang songs in French and Turkish accompanied by an instrument. After
the folklore performances of the students, we watched a ney performance by another teacher.
In the hall, the dean was not like a dean, but like a doctor sister of the students. We learned
that her daughter was an obstetrician. She told us that Biruni Faculty of Medicine organized a
one-week course for senior high school students, introducing them to the university and its
faculties, and the benefits of getting information beforehand when choosing a profession. This
was the first time we heard about this practice. We were quite impressed.
At the end of the meeting, each of us was given a copy of 'Biruni, a Scholar of Civilization'
and a book introducing the university, 'The Future of Science, Biruni University'. In the
introduction of the introductory book, the following is written in summary:
Dear young people, our university takes its name from the scientist Abu Reyhan El Biruni,
who is recognized as the "Universal genius" in the history of world science and who gave his
name to the ll. Century is named after the scientist Abu Reyhan Al Biruni.
The greatest capital of today's age is knowledge, technology and trained manpower. Our
university, founded with the principle of "the future of science", aims to educate qualified
individuals who produce the knowledge needed by all humanity, have the responsibility to
apply it, respect the value judgments and differences of the society, and are equipped with the
requirements of the age.
Our university has made a significant difference in higher education with internationally
acclaimed educational practices such as Be a Genius and Be a Scholar.
It is indispensable for you to be successful in life after university education, and for this
purpose, it is our main task to develop your reasoning, critical thinking, problem solving,
cooperation, entrepreneurship and analysis skills.
We are about to write the future of science together with the energy and excitement Biruni's
'passion for science and determination to work' gives us… With love and respect. Rector
Prof. Dr. Adnan Yüksel.
We would like to thank the contemporary management, professors and students of Biruni
Faculty of Medicine, who impressed us with their scientific behavior and mindset. May your
path be clear and always straight on your scientific journey, friends.
Prof. Dr. Haldun Güner
