January 25, 2025

The “Workshop on Digitalization in Health” organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Health was held at the Council of Higher Education in order to adapt to the changes brought about by technologies in the health sector and to train the health professionals of the future. At the workshop chaired by Erol Özvar, President of the Council of Higher Education, sector representatives shared their opinions.

CoHE President Özvar said, "In this workshop, we will receive your valuable opinions for the development of associate degree and undergraduate programs in health fields other than medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, discuss the effectiveness of existing programs and their compatibility with the sector, and determine the concrete steps we can take for the future. In this context, we are working intensively on reviewing existing programs, designing new programs and strengthening university-industry cooperation. We will make curriculum arrangements with Turkish universities to provide digital skills to the students in existing programs."

Özvar stated that they are working to bring universities and the sector together not only in the field of health, but in all fields, and that they are trying to develop a teaching model that meets the needs of the employment market. Özvar said, “In this sense, we attach importance to the 7+1 model in undergraduate and 3+1 model in associate degree programs, which emphasize practice and internship.”

Deputy Minister of Health Şuayıp Birinci drew attention to the importance of rapidly updating the skills of existing human resources as well as the transformation of programs.

Yasin Erkoç, Deputy Minister of Health, said that he believes that the workshop will make an important contribution to Türkiye creating its own model for the transformation in health education.

Deputy Ministers of Health Şuayıp Birinci and Yasin Erkoç, managers of the relevant units of the Ministry of Health, Deputy Presidents of the Council of Higher Education, Members of the Executive Board of Higher Education, representatives of the Presidency Strategy and Budget Presidency, rectors and deans of some universities with programs in the field of health, academics working in the field of health and biomedicine, and representatives of the sector operating in the field of health attended the workshop.