An Abstract of the Dissertation of Ceren Gülser Ilikan Rasimoglu, for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the Atatürk Institute for Modern Turkish History at Bogaziçi University to be taken August 2012

Title: The Foundation of a Professional Group: Physicians in the Nineteenth Century Modernizing Ottoman Empire (1839-1908)

This dissertation studies the foundation of the modern professional group of physicians in the nineteenth century Ottoman Empire between the Tanzimat period, during which the first School of Medicine was introduced, and the Second Constitutional Period, after which new medical institutions and political atmosphere were born. The aim of the research is to find out the process in which the modern state formation overlapped with the appearance of this specific profession by considering new ideas of progressivism and modernism. The research first describes the general atmosphere created by the new medical technologies and understanding of the nineteenth century. Then, the new system regulating medical activities is explained and the ways to deal with irregular practitioners is analyzed. After that, within this new system, the formation of a medical student is described by focusing on an ordinary life within the school with political and medical activities. The final focus is given to their civilian activities and the different reactions to them in the Ottoman provinces through the study of provincial physicians and the quarantine doctors. The appearance of the physician is analyzed through the consideration of the shift in the eyes of the state, the self-perception of the physicians, and the perception of the physicians by the common people by primarily the use of the Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives in addition to the memoirs and biographies of the physicians. The study targets the introduction of everydayness of these professional elite in relation to the people, the state and the profession itself, and to look behind the legislations introduced under the progressivist and centralizing administrative mentality of the modern state.

 
Bogaziçi Üniversitesi Atatürk Ilkeleri ve Inkilap Tarihi Enstitüsü’nde Doktora derecesi için Ceren Gülser Ilikan Rasimoglu tarafindan Agustos 2012'de teslim edilen tezin özeti

Baslik: Bir Mesleki Grubun Olusumu: On Dokuzuncu Yüzyil Modernlesen Osmanli Imparatorlugu'nda Hekimler (1839-1908)

Bu tez On Dokuzuncu Yüzyil Osmanli Imparatorlugu’nda ilk Tip Okulu’nun açildigi Tanzimat Dönemi ile yeni tibbi kurumlar ile siyasi atmosferin ortaya çiktigi Ikinci Mesrutiyet dönemi arasinda modern hekimligin bir meslek grubu olarak olusumunu ele almaktadir. Çalismanin amaci modern devletin olusumunun bu belirli meslegin ortaya çikisi ile çakisma noktalarini yeni gelismeye baslayan ilerlemecilik ve modernism fikirleri ekseninde ortaya koymaktir. Çalisma ilk olarak On Dokuzuncu Yüzyil’in yeni tibbi teknoloji ve anlayisinin yarattigi genel atmosferi tasvir etmektedir. Bunun ardindan tibbi faaliyetleri düzenleyen sistemi anlatmakta ve tibbin bu sistemin disinda kalan icracilari ile basa çikma yöntemleri incelenmektedir. Daha sonrasinda, bu sistem içerisinde tip ögrencilerinin yetistirilmesi okuldaki gündelik hayatin siyasi ve politik faaliyetlerini vurgulayarak tartisilmaktadir. Son olarak üzerinde durulan nokta ise memleket hekimleri ile karantina hekimleri vasitasiyla Osmanli vilayetlerindeki sivil faaliyetler ile bunlara karsi gelistirilen tepkiler üzerinedir. Böylelikle modern hekimin ortaya çikisi devlet nazarindaki degisim, hekimlerin kendilerini ve mesleklerini algilayisi ile toplumun hekimlere bakisi gözönünde bulundurularak ve esas olarak Basbakanlik Osmanli Arsivleri belgelerine ek olarak hekimlerin biyografileri ile hatirati kaynak olarak kullanilmasi ile tahlil edilmistir. Çalisma bu mesleki elitin halkla, devletle ve meslekle iliskisine bakarken gündelik hayati sunmayi ve modern devletin ilerlemeci ve merkezilestirmeci idari anlayisinin tesis ettigi hukuki yapilanmanin arkasindaki gündelik gelismelere bakmayi hedeflemistir.