The Istanbul Faculty of Medicine is among the oldest school of its kind in the world. Training duration is 12 terms (6 years) and education is provided in three main departments: Fundamental Medical Science (two years), Clinical Studies (three years), and Family Medicine (one year). The achievement shown by alumni at the TUS (Specialization in Medicine) examination is exceptional. The faculty provides its students with every possible scientific support, and the annual students’ congress organized has acquired worldwide renown.

One of the main features of the faculty is the well-stocked library named after Prof. Hulusi Behçet, the famous dermatologist. The library also stocks valuable works dating from the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries, as well as a collection of CDs used as teaching aids. It further houses a skills laboratory where students are taught application on models.

The faculty is in academic cooperation with the Münich Faculty of Medicine, the Institute of Hospital Management affiliated to Berlin Technical University, and Würztburg Faculty of Medicine in Germany, and with the Vienna Faculty of Medicine and Graz Faculty of Medicine in Austria.

The faculty offers public services with its facilities for 2 000 inpatients and a large polyclinic. According to the statistics for the last five years, the intake of inpatients is 35 000. There have been 500 000 applications for the polyclinic, and 390 0000 analyses have been performed in the 85 laboratories. The average number of operations performed in the 44 operating theatres is 20 000 a year. The Patients’ School is a joint health project realized by the faculty with the Cerrahpafla Faculty of Medicine. It was introduced in the