Doctors to get Kurdish course in Diyarbakır
DİYARBAKIR - Anatolia News Agency
Medics and local often have language difficulties in the southeast and east.AA photo
Students of medicine at Dicle University in the eastern province of Diyarbakır will be able to take Kurdish language classes starting in the upcoming academic year.The new courses came about in response to complaints from Diyarbakır residents and doctors appointed to the province, Dicle University general secretary Professor Sabri Eyigün said.
Communication
“The studies we have carried out showed that Kurdish people who cannot speak Turkish have a hard time communicating with their doctors, and they expressed their complaints. We also observed that the language barrier can make work difficult for doctors appointed to the region. In light of these studies, we decided to open selective Kurdish classes for freshmen in the school of medicine, designed to help our graduates establish a better rapport with patients in their future careers,” Eyigün said, adding that if there is a demand from doctors already working in the region they could open Kurdish language courses for non-students.
“The classes will be held in two weekly sessions. The students will be divided in two groups. The current program is enough to help doctors establish basic communication with non-Turkish-speaking Kurdish people.”
Dicle University School of Medicine dean Dr. Fuat Gürkan said, comparing the importance of the Kurdish classes to preventive medicine. Dr. Gürkan said he is himself a graduate of Dicle University, and that he also had had a hard time working in the region, as any other non-Kurdish-speaking doctor would.
A graduate of Ege University, Doctor Süleyman Çakmakçı said he has been working in the Diyarbakır region for two years, and in his first year he had great difficulty understanding and helping his patients. “It is obligatory to learn Kurdish for any doctor who is going to work in this region. These classes are an unprecedented opportunity for our future colleagues.”