History

Our department was founded in 1982 by Dr. Coşkun İKİZLER, Dr. Sait AŞLAMACI and Dr. Atılay TAŞDELEN in the Emergency Aid and Traumatology Hospital, also know as the ”Traffic Hospital”; and was one of 3 centers where open heart surgery was performed. In 1983, Dr. Ali YENER joined the department and started the coronary artery surgery. After moving to the Gazi University School of Medicine Hospital, Dr. Ali YENER took the post of “Head of Department”. Dr. Levent GÖKGÖZ joined the academic staff in 1986 and Dr. Halim SONCUL in 1987. After joining the academic members in 1989, Dr. Ali ERSÖZ was apoointed Heda of Department and continued this post until his retirement in 2004. Dr. Mehmet Emin ÖZDOĞAN joined the academic members in 1990 and Dr. Velit HALİT in 1991. They were followed by Dr. Volkan SİNCİ in 1993, Dr. Sedat KALAYCIOĞLU in 1996, Dr. Yıldırım İMREN and Dr. Erkan İRİZ in 2002 and Dr. Dilek ERER in 2003. Dr. Ali YENER continued the duty of head of department until 2006. In 2006 Dr. Levent OKTAR joined the ranks. Dr Halim SONCUL took over the post of head of department from Dr. Velit HALİT in 2006 – 2007.  In 2011, Dr. Tolga TATAR joined the staff as an instructor. Currently Prof. Dr. Levent GÖKGÖZ is the head of department. Our department which was founded by 2 academic members and a research assistant, houses today 9 academic members and 9 research assistants. Since it’s foundation, our department has schooled 31 research assistants and provided them with specialties.

Our vision is to be a department  where studying and working is a priviledge, which contributes to the national and international progress with the education and training it provides in national and international environments as a part of medical school’s education structure, as a department with specialty training programs, and as a department where modern surgery practices are performed.  Our mission is to contribute to the schooling of qualified doctors for the future of the country by  benefiting from our accumulation of medicine, science and technology under the light of universal values; to train cardiovascular surgeons who contribute in the highest extent to the protection and reinstatement of human health; and to present to the public use it’s production in the fields of research and service.

In our department, where all kinds of congenital and adult cardiovascular surgeries can be performed; heart, heart and lung, and cardiac valve transplantation from human donors are also performed. Over 5000 open heart surgeries have been performed in our clinic up to this day.

Clinical and experimental studies can be carried out in our department. Experimental researches are generally carried out on guinea pigs in the Department of Physiology Laboratory in tandem with the department. Clinical studies are mainly concentrated on cardiac ischemia, cardioplegia and the effects of the Heart and Lung Machine, and are continued within our own unit. There are many articles written in our department which have been published in internationally indexed journals.