Enough Is Enough! We Demand a Solution
Enough Is Enough! We Demand Solutions.
The problems that have been accumulating for years in dental education and professional organization have deepened even further with the decision taken by the Board of Medical Specialization on June 16, 2026. We oppose this decision.
“Doctoral-Level Dentists”—who demand the correction of the coefficient injustice in the public sector, the restoration of educators’ rights, and their own professional rights; “Dentists with PhDs” who, when seeking to continue their academic careers, are turned away by the universities they apply to with the statement “only specialists will be accepted now,” are in the right.
Students who passed their doctoral exams and planned their futures accordingly—but whose hard work and plans were completely upended by the elimination of doctoral programs—are in the right.
Due to the application of different standards at each university—where, on one hand, we see graduates receiving high salaries despite having theses of a quality below even the undergraduate level, and on the other hand, “Ph.D. students” who are unable to complete their degrees because they cannot meet the requirement of scientific publications in the Q1 category and are therefore protesting—these students are also in the right.
“Residency students and Specialist Dentists” who demand that the specialty exam be administered twice a year and oppose the granting of specialty certificates earned through the exam to doctoral graduates are also justified.
“Specialist Dentist Faculty Members” who demand a reorganization of the duration and academic structure of specialty training, as well as recognition of their specializations obtained abroad, are also in the right.
So who is in the wrong?
Those in the wrong are the authorities who permitted the opening of new universities without sufficient faculty and turned a blind eye to the decline in educational quality.
In the wrong is the mindset that created the employment problem we face today by increasing enrollment quotas haphazardly.
In the wrong is the mindset that, by leaving doctoral education to the discretion of universities, has led to the admission of hundreds of students into the same field of study and caused doctoral programs to drift away from scientific education and transform into a for-profit, certificate-based system.
What is unjust is the lack of planning and foresight that led to the elimination of doctoral programs without assessing the requirements of university education, the need for academics, and the country’s future human resources planning.
The Board of Medical Specialization cannot single-handedly decide the future of dentistry.
No educational model can succeed if equal standards are not established for every faculty, long-term planning is not carried out, and the views of all stakeholders are not taken into account. The situation we see today is the clearest indication of this.
The time has come to say “enough.”
An independent “Committee on Doctoral and Specialization Programs in Dentistry,” composed of representatives from the Council of Higher Education (YÖK), the Ministry of Health, universities, the Turkish Dental Association, professional chambers, and scientific associations, must be established without delay.
Until this committee is formed, the implementation of the decision adopted on June 16, 2026, must be suspended.
We have been paying the price for the lack of planning and misguided decisions in the education system for years.
We do not want to suffer any further losses.
The future of dentistry must be shaped not by ad-hoc decisions, but by scientific criteria, collective wisdom, and justice.
Sincerely,
ISTANBUL DENTAL ASSOCIATION
