Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Faculty of Health Sciences Dean Prof. Dr. Mehtap Malkoç, explained the status of the health sector and health education in the process of COVID-19, which affected educational institutions. Explaining that we have experienced difficult days and continue to, Prof. Dr. Malkoç stated, “Nothing is back to normal. We once again saw how important health is. What we call health does not only mean a body which is socially, mentally and physically healthy, but that the universe is healthy. We are experiencing one of the biggest pandemics in the world in the last 100 years. We are in a health crisis. As a result, our approach to health in this area has experienced a great change”.
“The Traditional Health Approach has Changed”
Emphasizing that in the world today, contemporary health has replaced the traditional view of health, Prof. Dr. Malkoç said, “The traditional approach of health had to change. In the traditional approach, while treatment of illnesses was forefront, in the contemporary approach, protection of community health and the need for activation of protective health services has become forefront. There is a need for large changes within health teams also. While in traditional approaches doctor provided services was important, now the team approach has become forefront. We need to go to intersectoral cooperation and not just the health sector. We are working together to survive this crisis in cooperation with local governments, up to the highest level of the state, during the pandemic process”.
“The Education Curriculum will be Updated”
During this process when we have closed in our homes, Prof. Dr. Malkoç brought to our attention that serious measures should be taken in health education and service and new strategies should be determined, and went on to say, “As EMU, we have tried to offer our students the best education with online education and live connections, together with all our units. We can easily say that nothing will be the same as before. New strategies and new targets should be set in health services. Interdisciplinary integration must occur. In this process, we saw that some equipment should be included in the training of the health professionals we train. In actual fact we are still in the traditional approach. While emphasizing face-to-face education, we had to move toward the concept of tele-rehabilitation or distance education. Therefore, the curriculum needs to be updated in health education.” Prof. Dr. Malkoç, as the EMU Faculty of Health Sciences, emphasized that they are closely following the changes in the health sector and health education due to the pandemic.
