Comparative analysis of the physician at İnebolu Syphilis Hospital Dr. Milaslı İsmail Hakkı’s “Essential Information on the Disease of Syphilis for Everyone (1899)” treatise with its contemporary Western Works

Abstract

Despite the political and economic challenges faced by the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century that complicated efforts in healthcare, the responsibility of developing effective health policies to combat diseases that threatened public health was a priority for those in positions of authority. In this context, the state aimed to train scientifically competent physicians. Beginning in 1827, considered the onset of modern medical education in the Ottoman period, medical training shifted to a Western-centered model. This transformation emphasized teaching scientific advancements from the West and training physicians within this framework. One such physician was Dr. Milaslı İsmail Hakkı (1869), who graduated as a doctor from the civilian branch of the Imperial School of Medicine (Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Şahane) in 1888. Throughout his career, he conducted significant work in combating epidemic diseases. Additionally, leveraging his scientific knowledge, he authored written works to inform his contemporaries and the public. In 1899, while combating a syphilis outbreak in İnebolu, he was asked by the health authorities of the time to write the work titled Essential Information on Syphilis for Everyone to raise public awareness about the disease. He made a substantial contribution to the fight against syphilis with this work, written in simple language that the general public could easily understand. In this study, document analysis and content analysis methods were used. Its aim is to evaluate the information provided by Milaslı İsmail Hakkı on syphilis by comparing with its contemporary Western medical sources and assessing doctors’s knowledge in light of his period’s modern scientific medical knowledge.