After obesity surgery, advertising professional Özlem Özkulak dropped from 110 kilos to 55 kilos, and her life changed along with the weight she lost. Turning to health tourism, Özkulak quickly brought patients from around the world to our country and introduced Turkish doctors to the world through the web platform she founded.
After obesity surgery, advertising professional Özlem Özkulak went from 110 kilos to 55 kilos, and her life changed along with the weight she lost. Turning to health tourism, Özkulak quickly attracted patients from around the world to our country and introduced Turkish doctors to the world through the web platform she founded.
Working as an advertising director at a national newspaper, Özlem Özkulak decided to undergo obesity surgery when she could no longer cope with her excess weight. She had the surgery in Elazığ and quickly lost weight. Entering the operation at 110 kilos, she dropped to 55 kilos within a year. Leaving her job at the newspaper and founding her own advertising agency, Özkulak also started focusing on health tourism. She received health tourism training both domestically and abroad and was elected as the İzmir Representative of the Turkey Health Tourism Association.
She is promoting Turkish doctors to the world.
After her surgery, Özkulak started working on sleeve gastrectomy operations and weight loss. In 2018, she organized a large-scale obesity fair in İzmir, which attracted great attention from academics, specialists, and the people of İzmir. Dedicating herself to informing the public, especially about obesity, Özkulak founded a platform called ‘Find Doctor in Turkey’ to promote Turkish doctors abroad. Through the association and the platform, Özkulak has been promoting Turkish doctors to the world and said:
“Our goal with this project is not to make money. We want to promote our own country and make investments here. Find Doctor also gained another mission — doctors from abroad reached out to us through the site to do internships and work in Turkey. We supported them free of charge in this regard. Our aim as Find Doctor is to become even stronger. After health tourism started to develop in Turkey, many countries chose Turkey as their destination. Turkey managed the coronavirus period very successfully in terms of health tourism. We are preferred because Turkish doctors are very experienced. It is very important that these works are carried out by competent people. On the contrary, sometimes there can be situations where, especially in Istanbul, what we call ‘under the counter’ places are very common, and news about such places can appear abroad. This negatively affects health tourism,” she said.
“There is an incredible potential abroad”
“We choose the best doctors and the best places. It’s necessary to research doctors from the right sources,” said Özkulak. “We publish the doctors’ articles. We select doctors who have a health tourism authorization certificate, excellent CVs and experience, and centers accredited by the ministry. There are penalties for unaccredited centers. The Turkey Health Tourism Association supports us. As Find Doctor, we have a large network. There is also an online consultation option. Geographically, Turkey is in a very important location for health tourism, and it needs to be promoted very well. We collaborate with supporting companies. We do our best not only to promote our doctors but also to promote our country. Especially İzmir is not known by foreign patients. İzmir also needs to be promoted in terms of health tourism. İzmir is a more peaceful and safer city. A workshop can also be planned to promote İzmir. We provide patients with a completely VIP service, offering all necessary services from airport assistance to companion services,” she said.
“A project is being developed at the technopark.”
Explaining that a new project is currently being developed at the technopark for Find Doctor in Turkey, Özkulak said:
“Through the site, a foreigner will be able to get to know the doctor, see where and how to receive the best service — from hotel to meals — when they come to our country, and securely make all their reservations and treatment plan. Through the platform, we also have the chance to measure which fields are in highest demand among the countries seeking healthcare services in Turkey, and we provide significant data. As the Turkey Health Tourism Association, we are also preparing a workshop on ethical rules in health tourism.”
Source: https://www.turizmnews.com/110-kilodan-55-kiloya-dustu-turizm-elcisi-oldu/29841/
