Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation

Hello. I'm Professor İpek Yeldan. I graduated from Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation in 1993 as the valedictorian. I got my master's degree in 1997 and my doctorate degree in 2003. I became an associate professor in 2011 and a professor in 2017. Since 2018, I have been a faculty member of Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation. I am also the head of the department. Since 2019, I have been working as the vice dean at the same faculty. Our department offers a four-year program. The program offered here in the first year mostly includes basic medical sciences such as general anatomy, locomotor system anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, biophysics, microbiology and histology. In the second grade, the program includes clinical sciences such as orthopedics, neurology, rheumatology. At the same time it includes courses such as measurement and evaluation methods in physiotherapy, principles of treatment movements, physical modalities and electrotherapy, which are the basis of this profession. After the third grade, the program covers courses such as rehabilitation in rheumatology, cardiopulmonary, neurological, pediatric diseases, which are the basis for the practices and treatments we will execute in clinics. In the fourth year, we continue providing clinical practices in many departments of science. Here, we have 10 clinical applications in 8 shifts. These include specialized clinical applications in many health fields. We perform most of these clinical practices in Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty, which is one of the greatest benefits of this school. Let me talk about our laboratories. We have five laboratories. These are the manual therapy, electrophysical agents, basic treatment techniques, wellness and basic skills laboratories. In order to improve these, we are working within the physical space provided to us. Our internships and graduation program consist of 20 workdays in the summer internship in the second grade and 30 workdays in the form of summer internship in the third grade. In the fourth grade, we perform internships in 8 shifts, 4 days a week. At the same time, the graduation project is carried out under the consultancy of each faculty member within the framework of the shifts of these internship groups as a part of the graduation project in the fourth grade every year. We carry out the graduation project with our senior students during the spring term. All of our students obtain their graduation degree by participating in a project and pursuing their studies. Let me talk about the overseas education prospects offered in our department. We offer Erasmus Student Exchange Mobility and Student Internship Mobility programs. Many of our students have benefited from Erasmus Student Exchange Mobility and internship training. At the same time, we have faculty members who provide contact with these students both in our department and at the faculty level. In this sense, members closely monitor the processes and results of our students' education abroad. At the same time, we encourage our students to participate in these exchange programs starting off their first year in the department. We have national organizations organized by our faculty members. Here, there are many scientific meetings organized by our professor Derya Çelik, mostly covering clinical practices and at the congress level, in the Orthopaedic Rehabilitation Field. These meetings are also held jointly with faculty members from other universities. Also, another faculty member who received the Award of the Academy of Sciences of Turkey, Professor Ela Tarakçı, presents her studies concerning hematological rehabilitation and neurological rehabilitation in scientific platforms. Most of our faculty members in our department attend these meetings. Our students make important contributions in terms of the realization of such events.
Our students experience difficulties when they take the first step into this profession in the first year of our curriculum. Here, they need some support in anatomy and physiology courses, especially in terms of grasping the terminology. We overcome these difficulties by providing orientation services as the academic staff. During the orientation process, we provide information to our students about the structure of our curriculum. At the same time, we select one student representative from each class and we ensure that class representatives are in contact with us when they encounter any problems. Consulting services are given a great importance in our department. Each advisor takes an active role in solving problems related to his or her student. At the same time, when our advisor has a problem that he has difficulty solving, we discuss this issue in the department committee and solve it together. We hope students engage in active communication with their seniors. I advise candidates who will choose our department to properly research before choosing our department. Because after graduating from our department, as a physiotherapist, you will have established a new lifestyle. It is necessary to enjoy interacting with people, supporting and helping them. I think being a conscience, ethical, honest person who does whatever he can makes all the difference in the world. Our profession offers a very serious infrastructure and here too, many areas of rehabilitation are involved. At the same time, it is also possible to work in fields other than rehabilitation, to pursue a master's degree and a doctorate. For this reason, people who enjoy self-renewal, progress, life and learning should be involved in this profession. It is also beneficial for the person to be fit, however, after working with many people, you will become fit. To summarize, it is a suitable field for people who enjoy interacting with people, contributing to their health and are happy to maintain these relationships. Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa firstly offers a great teaching staff for students. We have 3 professors, 4 associate professors and 4 doctoral lecturers, plus of our faculty members, 3 of them are in our own staff, 7 of them have been assigned to their posts under the 35th article, each of them have at least a master's degree and is currently a PhD. We have a large and established teaching staff. Currently, there is no school in Istanbul with a better staff than our department. This is our most important asset, and all of our academic staff consists of people who have been involved in education and have the necessary clinical experience, and also have contributed with scientific studies. Secondly, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine is the best and most reliable university hospital in terms of clinical practices. Our department students complete their clinical internships in many departments of science, accompanied by supervisors and with the support of their professors. Our interdisciplinary courses also take place as a part of the assignments we have received from Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine and other faculties within the scope of Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa. Many professors and associate professors are there to contribute to the academic field. At the same time, our university has a rich library and supportive student clubs for participation in sports and artistic activities. Last year, our student club displayed a great theater performance. If you want to be a unique, distinguished and self-confident physiotherapist in your profession, your preferred choice should be Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Faculty of Health Sciences, Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Department. I wish you all the best.