Near East University Faculty of Medicine 2023-2024 academic year “White Coat Ceremony” was held at Near East University Atatürk Culture and Congress Center.

The ceremony started with a moment of silence and the reading of the National Anthem; Lecturer from Near East University Music Teaching Department İmge Dinçer and Expert İrada Melikova gave a musical concert.

The opening speeches of the ceremony, which took place with intense participation, were made by Near East University Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Meltem Nalça Andrieu and Near East University Faculty of Medicine Dean Prof. Dr. Gamze Mocan.

Following the speeches, the first lecture on “The First Brain Surgeons of Anatolia in the Light of Anthropological Findings” was held by Prof. Dr. Erksin Savaş Güleç from Ankara University, Faculty of Languages andHistory-Geography, Department of Anthropology.

After the first lecture, all first-year students took their first steps into the profession by reading the Student Oath together with Near East University Faculty of Medicine Dean Prof. Dr. Gamze Mocan.

Prof. Dr. Meltem Nalça Andrieu: “Education is not just the teaching of facts, it is the training of the mind to think.”
Near East University Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Meltem Nalça Andrieu said that Near East University Faculty of Medicine, founded in 2008, has the identity of an international medical school with its internationally respected academic staff and students from many countries of the world.

Prof. Dr. Meltem Nalça Andrieu also gave information about the Near East University Hospital, which provides practice opportunities for medical faculty students and said, “Near East University Faculty of Medicine Hospital, located on our campus, has a closed area of 55 thousand square meters, 8 operating rooms, 30 intensive care units and 17 neonatal intensive care units, well-equipped laboratories, and centers with the most technically advanced imaging and treatment devices. It meets the healthcare needs of not only our island but also our region.”

Addressing the students, Prof. Dr. Meltem Nalça Andrieu said, “Education is not just teaching the facts, it is training the mind to think. In fact, we live in an age where accessing information is very easy. But what is important is how we use that knowledge, and we will always be with you to teach you this.” Then, addressing the students’ families, Prof. Dr. Meltem Nalça Andrieu said, “Dear parents, you are entrusting your dearest children, whom you have been trusting to us for a while. Our most important mission is to educate them as highly qualified physicians who are skeptical, research-oriented, who do not deviate from the path of reason and science, who are committed to Ataturk’s principles and revolutions, and who you will be proud of.”

Prof. Dr. Gamze Mocan: “I sincerely believe that all our students will do justice to the white coat, which is a symbol of honesty and cleanliness.”
Near East University Faculty of Medicine Dean Prof. Dr. Gamze Mocan, in her speech, stated that the purpose of the Near East University Faculty of Medicine is to provide continuous medical education not only during education but also after graduation.

Stating that they graduated their students as fully equipped doctors, Prof. Dr. Gamze Mocan said, “We aim to train each of our doctor candidates as highly qualified medical doctors who are equipped with the ability to solve problems, knowledgeable, competent, honest, committed to professional and universal ethical values, aiming to serve humanity, respectful to their patients, understanding and responsible, creative, inquisitive, investigative and dedicated to Ataturk’s Principles and Revolutions.”

“The field of medicine is a field where new developments and inventions are constantly experienced and there is a lot of competition at national and international levels. Thus, our continuing medical education programs are carried out with intense success,” saying Prof. Dr. Gamze Mocan, also addressed the families of the students and said, “Your children are also our children. You raised them. We will provide them with a profession and develop their worldview and horizons.”

To all doctor candidate students, Prof. Dr. Gamze Mocan said, ” Wishing you an educational life full of health, happiness and success, I sincerely believe that you will do justice to the White Shirt, which is the symbol of honesty and cleanliness.”

Prof. Dr. Erksin Savaş Güleç: “Anthropology is a very broad field dating back to ancient times. Ataturk is one of the unique people who founded the Anthropology department in the first years of the foundation of the Republic.”

Prof. Dr. Erksin Savaş Güleç from Ankara University, Faculty of Languages and History-Geography, Department of Anthropology, delivered the first lecture of the 2023-2024 academic year of Near East University Faculty of Medicine with the title of “The First Brain Surgeons of Anatolia in the Light of Anthropological Findings”.

In his first lecture, Prof. Dr. Savaş Güleç talked about various skeleton images found in Anatolia from the neolithic period, as well as surgical interventions in that period. Prof. Dr. Erksin Savaş Güleç said, “Trepanation is known as the process of removing parts from the skull without damaging the brain, meninges and blood vessels. In addition, this procedure is considered the oldest surgical procedure.” and further explained the methods used in the trepanation procedure.

Prof. Dr. Güleç explained the details of trepanation method including scraping, drilling and cutting methods and the tools used during the process with visuals. Dr. Erksin Savaş Güleç stated that trepanation examples in Anatolia have been the subject of many detailed studies.