A striking new trend has emerged in Türkiye’s medical field, with students increasingly favoring specialties like aesthetics for better working conditions and higher earnings, according to the 2025 Medical Specialization Exam (TUS) results.
The data revealed that top-performing candidates now gravitate toward branches with safer, more predictable working environments. Leading the list of preferred specialties is dermatology and venereal diseases, followed by plastic, reconstructive, and aesthetic surgery and ophthalmology. At the bottom lies pediatrics, once a highly respected and sought-after field.
Experts interpret this transformation as a reflection of changing priorities. They point to heavy patient loads, long night shifts and frequent conflicts with parents as major reasons for the waning appeal of pediatrics.
Likewise, the decline in interest in once-prestigious branches such as neurosurgery and cardiovascular surgery is partly attributed to the growing number of malpractice lawsuits filed by patients’ relatives.
Türker Kılıç, the dean of İstinye University’s Faculty of Medicine, commented, “This preference pattern shows that young doctors prioritize branches promising comfort, higher income and fewer legal risks. However, I see trends as temporary. In my time, neurosurgery, cardiovascular surgery and obstetrics were the top fields, demanding high responsibility and attracting the most successful candidates.”
Marmara University faculty member Mehmet Ali Gülpınar emphasized that the tense atmosphere in hospitals and lengthy legal processes are deterring students from surgery. “Naturally, students prioritize themselves. The new generation seeks less responsibility and more balance,” he said.
