“Entrust me to Turkish physicians”

Those words, which have filtered down through the decades and taken root in our ears, are so full of meaning, so valuable. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk placed his trust in our physicians—those who grew up on their own soil, equipped with their own social and cultural values.

As I celebrate March 14 Medicine Day with our physicians and our students currently receiving medical education, I recalled those words of Atatürk and felt a sense of relief in my heart. It is known how important a place science holds within the founding philosophy of the Republic. Therefore, it is clear how much importance is placed on medical education. Becoming a medical student is not easy; it is an education that the brightest, most hardworking young people earn the right to receive only after years of intensive study. Even after earning the right to receive that education, they can only become physicians by working day and night.

Medicine is a very important, but equally difficult profession. Being the guardian of human health, being responsible for a person's life, is not a task to be taken lightly. They touch human lives. Perhaps most of the time, they rekindle hope at the moment of exhaustion and bring people back to life. We feel safe because they exist.

With this being the case, isn't the recent surge in violence against physicians truly dire? It is astonishing that those who boast about committing violence against and attacking the physicians to whom we entrust our lives and health openly express their feelings of hatred on social media. Not a day goes by without a physician being attacked by their patients or their patients' relatives. Not a day goes by without someone raiding a hospital.

But what is this violence, this rage? What is our problem with our physicians? What is our issue with physicians who exhaust themselves to find a cure for our ailments?

Providing answers to these questions is not as easy as it might seem, but I believe there is a serious communication problem at hand. Moreover, this is not one-sided. We cannot empathize. There is something missing in terms of respecting the most fundamental human rights. We struggle to understand each other, or we do not want to understand. Because understanding requires effort, it requires labor, it requires deep thought. As a society, we neglect to direct our labor and effort toward such humane things. Furthermore, we are not unhappy about this, because we do not see it as a deficiency. We have reached a strange point where everyone easily invades each other's personal space, and no one respects anyone else. Insensitivity and a lack of empathy are running rampant.

There was a time when physicians were held in high regard in this society. I never forget. I had just started primary school. It was the first day. The teacher entered the classroom, made each of us stand up, and asked our names, what our fathers and mothers did for a living, and what we wanted to be when we grew up. All the students except me said they wanted to be doctors. I had made my decision in those days; I was going to be a teacher. In short, the medical profession was so sacred and important in the eyes of society that every family wanted their child to be a doctor. Today, however, young people are jumping through hoops to avoid studying at medical school. It is not just the youth; for children just starting school, studying medicine has long since ceased to be an ideal.

LACK OF EMPATHY

The reason for this is not that the field of medicine has lost its value or that the profession has fallen out of favor. There is no such thing. On the contrary, every kind of progress in science makes the field of medicine even more important. Developments in the field of artificial intelligence are creating very important new opportunities for medicine. The field of medicine is making great strides globally. Despite all these developments, if the children and youth of this society are avoiding becoming medical professionals, the most fundamental reason is the erosion of the culture of love, respect, and values in society. Furthermore, the reason for this is the increasing distance from the sharing of humane emotions and the loss of the sense of empathy. If physicians are leaving the country, their families, and their homes to go to other countries, it means the problem is serious.

So, what is the solution to the problem? First, let us emphasize this point: problems that develop on the basis of communication and emotion are never one-sided. All parties have a certain share in the emergence of the problem.

HUMANITIES AND ART SHOULD ALSO BE INCLUDED IN MEDICAL EDUCATION

Since the problem is not one-sided, the solution cannot be one-sided either. The problem can only be overcome through the joint effort and partnership of both physicians and patients or their relatives. For this, everyone involved in the process must first utilize the possibilities of communication. Starting with medical professionals, there is a necessity for the education provided in medical faculties to be supported by the humanities. Providing courses such as communication, psychology, and sociology in a qualified manner, and directing students toward artistic fields, is important in terms of them getting to know humans, being able to perform social and cultural analyses, and most importantly, becoming good emotional literates. This is the only way empathy develops.

EMOTIONAL LITERACY EDUCATION IS NECESSARY

On the other hand, awareness-raising activities can be carried out within the scope of adult education for society to develop sensitivity toward physicians. The increase in violent incidents against physicians with the Covid pandemic is striking. Therefore, it is of serious importance to provide training on communication, crisis management, and emotional literacy at the social level, to increase social awareness in this direction, and to carry out projects to strengthen sensitivity.

For physicians to be able to heal, society must also be good to them.

Happy Medicine Day to all physicians.