EMEDEX members have strong affiliations with the pioneers of EM in Turkey, and several of our faculty have worked in different EDs in that country, observing as clinicians and conducting lecture series on the core curriculum of EM.
Turkey has one of the strongest training programs in EM outside the US, with approximately 18 residency programs at different hospitals throughout the country. EM was declared a medical specialty in 1993. The first residency was formed in 1994 in Izmir, and since that time, roughly 200 EM residents have graduated from their training programs. In addition, the different departments have hosted US visitors over the past 11 years, establishing a solid foundation for exchange.
EMEDEX served on the organizing board for the first three Eurasian Congress of Emergency Medicine. EMEDEX has partnerships with Akdeniz University Hospital in the city of Antalya and with Eskisehir Osmangazi University Medical Center in the city of Eskisehir. Our ongoing educational exchange programs not only allow U.S. based providers to rotate in the Turkish system, but also give opportunities to Turkish providers to complete observership and research rotations at SUNY Downstate and Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, NY.
With our close ties to the hospitals, Turkey’s well-established EM programs and our long history of international exchange, we look forward to this ongoing partnership with our Turkish colleagues.