İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları, İstanbul, 2017
Galatasaray School of Medicine,The beginning of modernization in medicine during the late Ottoman Empire
The nineteenth century was a period of
reformation for the Ottoman Society as a whole; the determined efforts for
modernization beginning in the first decades had its reflections in the field
of education, as well. Modern institutions of higher education started with the
establishment of the Military Academy (1773), the Naval Academy (1793), and the
School of Medicine, Tıbhane-i Amire,
(1827) which was combined with the School of Surgery, Cerrahhane-i Mamure, later in 1832. Soon after, Tıbhane-i Amire ve Cerrahhane-i Mamure
(School of Medicine and Surgery) failed to cover the needs of contemporary
medicine and brought about demands for educational reform and for a more
functional education system necessitating a larger building. An old palace
school in Galata Saray at Pera (Istanbul) was modified and rebuilt to that aim,
and the institution began to serve as the Imperial School of Medicine (Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Adliye-i Şahane)
(1838), named in honour of the Sultan Mahmud II, Adli, the Just and Equitable. This institution was mentioned as
“Ecole Impérial de Médecine de Galata-Sérai” or “Galatasaray Medical School” by
foreign sources. The Imperial School of Medicine operated there as a modern
medical institution for ten years.