World · Middle East · 1 day ago
Doctors in Ankara honour Rümeysa Berin Şen and call for rest after night shifts
Doctors and health workers gathered at Ankara Bilkent City Hospital to remember Rümeysa Berin Şen, a resident doctor who died in a traffic crash after a shift.
The memorial was held by the Ankara Medical Chamber, with support from health workers’ organisations.
In 2022, a regulation said resident doctors who work overnight must not be assigned to provide health services the next day.
A survey found one in five Ankara training clinics still does not grant that rest.
Speakers said long hours and heavy workloads can put doctors’ wellbeing and patient care at risk.
They also said resident doctors carry much of the health service workload while their training suffers.
The organisers urged health authorities to enforce the rule and improve working conditions.
Doctors and health workers gathered outside Ankara Bilkent City Hospital to honour Dr. Rümeysa Berin Şen, who died in a traffic accident after a night shift.
The Ankara Medical Chamber said a survey found that one in five medical training clinics in Ankara did not provide the legally required rest period after night shifts.
Speakers called for the rest period to be enforced and for better working conditions for resident doctors.
A 2022 regulation says medical residents who work night shifts cannot provide health services the following day.
- Who
- Dr. Rümeysa Berin Şen was honoured by the Ankara Medical Chamber, the General Health-Work Union and doctors.
- What
- They held a memorial and called for resident doctors’ post-shift rest rights to be respected.
- When
- 23 October 2026. Şen died five years before the memorial, according to Son Dakika.
- Where
- Outside the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital at Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara, Türkiye.
- Why
- Şen died in a traffic accident after a night shift. The gathering also highlighted that some clinics do not provide the required rest after night shifts.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Rümeysa Berin Şen earned her medical degree.
A regulation stated that medical residents who work night shifts cannot provide health services the following day.
An İstanbul Medical Chamber survey found that 72% of resident doctors surveyed had considered resigning and 60% said their specialist training was inadequate.
Doctors and health workers held a memorial for Şen outside Bilkent City Hospital.
- Memorial site
- Bilkent City Hospital Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital, Ankara
- Reported rest-right gap
- One in five clinics in Ankara did not provide post-night-shift rest
- Regulation date
- 3 September 2022
- Medical residents in Türkiye
- About 20,000 in 2010; 60,000 at the time of the report
- Survey on resignation
- 72% of resident doctors surveyed in 2023 had considered resigning
3 sources
What people are saying
We saw that one in five clinics does not grant the right to rest after a night shift.
Resident doctors are not slaves.
Would you want to be examined as the 100th patient in the outpatient clinic of a doctor who has worked a 36-hour shift?
I invite the Ministry of Health and the Council of Medical Specialty Education to think again.