Medical Law

Hello. I am Dr. Nihan KOYUNCU AKTAŞ, Assistant Professor at Istanbul Medeniyet University, Department of Medical Law, and Head of the Department. Medical law encompasses a wide range of issues, such as legal disputes between patients and healthcare providers, bioethical issues, pharmaceutical law, and recently, the frequently discussed topic of international health tourism. The advancement and development of medical science, as well as the impact of technology on the field, require simultaneous legal work. For instance, the pandemic that deeply affected the world has demonstrated the importance of being legally prepared for future potential outbreaks. In this context, medical law is a field of great interest for both legal professionals, healthcare providers, and the general public.

To meet the demands of students interested in advanced education in the field of medical law, we have established postgraduate programs. These programs have been operational since 2012. The courses offered within these programs take place at Istanbul Medeniyet University's Göztepe Campus, North Campus. I would like to mention our program and the separate postgraduate programs included in it. Our postgraduate programs in medical law consist of a thesis-based master's program, a non-thesis master's program, and a doctoral program. The duration of study, admission requirements, and graduation conditions vary among these programs. Firstly, let's discuss the duration of study. For students pursuing a doctorate, the duration is 8 semesters from the start of the course. For the thesis-based master's program, the duration is 4 semesters, and for the non-thesis master's program, it is 2 semesters. After completing these study periods, our doctoral program requires a doctoral qualification exam. Following successful completion of the doctoral qualification exam, an original thesis must be successfully completed and defended before a jury. In our thesis-based master's program, an original thesis must also be successfully defended before a jury. In our non-thesis master's program, a project must be deemed successful. Let me mention the application requirements for our programs. These requirements vary among our programs. For our thesis-based master's and doctoral programs, students are required to have an undergraduate degree in law. In addition, they need to achieve a score of 60 or above on the Foreign Language Proficiency Exam (YDS) or an internationally recognized foreign language exam acknowledged by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK). They are also required to obtain a score of 70 or above on the Academic Personnel and Postgraduate Education Entrance Exam (ALES).For our non-thesis master's students, not only a law degree but also a bachelor's degree from a faculty of health sciences or a medical school is sufficient. For these students, ALES and foreign language requirements are not applicable. However, for both programs, a scientific exam or interview, or a combination of ALES and foreign language exam scores, is required for evaluation, and these scores are assessed based on a certain proportion. Medical law is an interdisciplinary branch of law. In this context, we can say that medical law is a legal field equipped with both private law and public law principles. Our faculty members who will conduct our programs come from many other main disciplines and are experts in their fields. When designing our programs, we made an effort to include courses that address medical law issues and how these issues are resolved in different legal systems. In this regard, we have included courses such as medical law in practice, comparative medical law, and medical law in light of constitutional court decisions. However, we also know that disputes primarily arise between patients and healthcare professionals. Therefore, we have courses that focus on the obligations arising from the legal relationship between these parties and the responsibilities of the parties. However, medical law is not limited to these topics alone. We also have courses on topics such as pharmaceutical law, international health tourism, administrative responsibility for the provision of healthcare services, bioethics, and law. In this context, it is worth mentioning that our students, especially after graduation, can choose elective courses from these areas depending on their desired specialization. Within our university, national and international medical law congresses are organized. For example, we have recently organized the fourth edition of our international medical law congress, and we continue to organize similar events. Additionally, there are journals published within our university. Therefore, our students can contribute to these academic activities and even become part of them. We believe that these academic activities will be highly beneficial for our students. Our students can benefit from various resources, including our university's central library, specialized libraries, research rooms, and meeting halls. In particular, they can utilize the works available in the libraries and conduct source research there. We have ERASMUS agreements with 13 countries, including Germany, Italy, and Poland. If students meet the requirements, they can benefit from these programs. We have made an effort for our postgraduate programs to have an interdisciplinary nature like medical law. In this regard, it is important to mention that our postgraduate programs have a great curriculum. The opportunity for students to become part of academic activities such as national and international congresses, seminars, and journals organized within our university is, in my opinion, one of the significant features of our programs. Medical law encompasses broad and comprehensive areas such as the legal relationship between patients and healthcare professionals, bioethical issues, pharmaceutical law, and health tourism. Therefore, it can be said that medical law has become an important field of law. Furthermore, advancements in medical science, especially the impact of technology on medical science, necessitate simultaneous legal studies. With the example of the pandemic, which deeply affected the whole world, we have come to realize the importance of being legally prepared for potential outbreaks or other diseases. In this context, graduate programs have been established to meet the demands of students who are particularly interested in advanced education in medical law. We have been admitting students to our graduate programs since the 2012-2013 academic year. The Department of Medical Law offers thesis-based master's, non-thesis master's, and doctoral programs. The courses offered within these three programs are conducted at Istanbul Medeniyet University's Göztepe, North Campus. There are certain differences among our programs, such as the duration of study. For thesis-based master's, students typically complete 4 semesters, while for doctoral programs, it is 8 semesters, and for non-thesis master's, it is two semesters. The courses offered in our graduate programs also address medical law issues and solutions in comparative law. Consequently, graduates from our programs can pursue careers as judges, prosecutors, lawyers, or academics who apply legal norms to specific cases or are responsible for researching and ensuring the enforcement of good legal principles. For non-thesis master's students as well, the importance of comparative law is significant. For example, for students working in the healthcare field, understanding how common problems are solved in different legal systems through comparative law is essential and guiding. Furthermore, active participation in classes, involvement in presentations, case studies, and the projects and theses conducted by our students after completing the coursework are highly beneficial for them. When designing our curriculum, we aimed to equip our students, who are or will be practitioners of medical law, with the necessary knowledge and expertise to resolve potential disputes they may encounter. In this regard, we aimed to create a rich content. Therefore, we believe that it would be advantageous for students to apply to these programs. Considering the interdisciplinary nature of medical law, we also believe that students' problem-solving skills will be enhanced not only in the field of medical law but also in other areas related to medical law. Information about the courses offered in the Department of Medical Law, as well as application and graduation requirements, can be found on our university's website. Therefore, prospective applicants are advised to visit our university's website. I wish all the students who will apply the best of luck. I hope to see you all at Istanbul Medeniyet University.