There are some days that are not just a date on the calendar. They are a day a symbol of morality, of a stance and a mentality. March 14 is such a day. This date, which has been celebrated as “Medical Day” in Turkey for years, is actually not a day of celebration, but a day of is a day of resistance.
The symbolic uprising launched by the students of the Medical School in occupied Istanbul in 1919 was not only a reaction against foreign occupation. It was also a declaration of a professional understanding, a principle of humanity and a conscience.
On that day, the young students of the Medical School did not just raise a flag. They also said:
“Medicine is not just a profession; it is an ethic that defends human dignity.”
One of the strongest exponents of this sentence is history. Medical Hikmet as a young student.
The courage of that young man who stood up during the discussion of the American mandate at the Erzurum Congress and said these words to Mustafa Kemal was not just a political stance:
“Pasha, the Medical Faculty, of which I am a delegate, sent me here to defend our cause of independence. I cannot accept the mandate. If you accept it, we will reject you too.”
These words were not the excitement of a student, but a manifesto of professional honor.
Because throughout history, medicine has not only been a field of science, but also a moral responsibility has been.
Between the Hippocratic Oath and Market Logic
The medical profession is based on an ethical tradition that is thousands of years old. The Hippocratic oath is the best known expression of this tradition.
A physician promises not to harm his or her patients, to protect human life and to use his or her knowledge for the benefit of humanity.
But the reality of the modern world is not always compatible with these ideals.
The transformation of the world economy over the last four decades has radically changed health systems. Health services are increasingly from a public right to a giant economic sector turned.
Today, the health sector has become a trillion-dollar market on a global scale.
Private hospital chains, health tourism, pharmaceutical companies, insurance systems and technology companies... All together they form a gigantic health industry is being created.
The inevitable result of this transformation was the following:
The boundary between medicine and commerce has become increasingly blurred.
The System Where Patients Become Customers
Even the language used in many hospitals today clearly shows this transformation.
Patients used to be “patients”.
Today, in more and more places “customer” are defined as.
An operation is no longer just a medical intervention; it is also a pricing item.
A birth is not only the beginning of a new life; it is also a part of hospital packages. economic transaction.
Hospitals calculate revenue per patient.
Physicians are evaluated with performance points.
Health care is increasingly being run on a production line.
But the human body is not a factory product.
A patient's story does not fit in an Excel spreadsheet.
The Newborn Gang The System's Darkest Mirror
In recent years, the emergence of “newborn gang” scandal showed one of the most frightening faces of this transformation.
It is important to remember that babies who have just started life are in the intensive care system. made part of a commercial mechanism The allegations caused a major shock in Turkey.
According to the allegations, some health workers and hospital administrators had set up a scheme that unjustly profited from the health system by keeping newborn babies in intensive care unnecessarily.
Whether these allegations are true or not will be revealed in the judicial process.
But the shock of this event has raised a much bigger question:
When did the health system become so polluted?
How did a structure come into being where a doctor has to act within the economic logic of the system instead of saving lives?
How can a baby's life become part of a financial calculation?
These questions are not just about individual crimes, of a structural crisis is a sign.
The Loneliness of Medicine
Many doctors today are actually victims of this system.
Young physicians are overwhelmed by the intense workload.
They have to examine patients in minutes.
They fear losing the soul of their profession under the pressure of performance.
Many physicians are now saying:
“We are trying to improve the system, not the patients.”
This is one of the biggest challenges in the history of the medical profession. one of the moral tensions.
Professional ethics on the one hand and market logic on the other.
The Hippocratic oath on the one hand and performance points on the other.
Forgotten Message of March 14
Today, March 14th Medical Day is often marked with ceremonial speeches, flowers and social media messages.
But when one remembers the historical meaning of this day, a much harsher message emerges.
March 14th is a not a day of celebration, but a day of reminder.
The story of Hikmet, the medical student, tells us this:
Medicine is not only a technical specialty.
It is also a profession of conscience.
A physician is not just a person who prescribes medicines.
He is a man who has helped people in the most vulnerable moments of society. a figure of hope for life.
That is why the medical profession is not only scientific, but also is a moral profession.
A Matter of Civilization
The health system actually shows the level of civilization of a country.
How hospitals function in a society is largely reflected in the morality of that society.
If the health system is overshadowed by commercial interests, it is not just medicine in that society, and the sense of humanity weakens.
That is why March 14 is not only a holiday for doctors.
This is actually a day when the whole society should ask itself this question:
How valuable is human life really?
If Medical Doctor Hikmet were alive today
Sometimes it is necessary to look at history through today's eyes.
What would Hikmet the Medicine Man do if he were alive today?
He would probably stand up again and say the same thing:
“We are here to defend human dignity.”
Perhaps today his voice would ask the question:
Is medicine really still a profession of conscience, or is the health system getting lost in the gears of a big commercial mechanism?
A Holiday or an Examination of Conscience?
If we really want to understand March 14, it is not enough to see this day as a celebration of a profession.
This day is actually a a day of soul-searching.
The distance between the moral stance represented by Hikmet and the commercial pressures facing the health system today is growing.
On the one hand, a professional understanding that considers human life sacred.
On the other side, a system that measures health services on the basis of economic efficiency.
The tension between these two worlds is the greatest test of modern medicine.
And perhaps the most important thing that March 14 reminds us is this:
Medicine is not a business, it is a matter of humanity.
If one day we forget this fact, then what we will lose is not only the medical profession, but also the conscience of society will be.