Assoc. Prof. M.D. Ertuğrul Emre Güntürk

I'm a 72-year-old retired teacher who arrived at Adana Hospital with what I thought was just exhaustion. Dr. Güntürk listened to my vague complaints about 'feeling heavy' for weeks, then did something remarkable—he asked about my childhood rheumatic fever, which even I'd forgotten. His suspicion led to a transesophageal echocardiogram that revealed a hidden vegetation on my mitral valve. His explanation was so clear, using sketches of heart valves like classroom diagrams. The minimally invasive valve repair he performed felt like a rebirth; I tend my rose garden again without gasping. His team called me 'hocam' (teacher), making me feel respected beyond being just a patient.

Our 8-year-old son Kerem collapsed during a football match. The ER team stabilized him, but it was Dr. Güntürk who identified the rare congenital coronary anomaly from the chaos of initial scans. What struck us was how he knelt to Kerem's eye level, explaining the heart's 'plumbing problem' using a stuffed toy's ribbon as an artery model. The corrective surgery was tense, but he gave hourly updates in plain Turkish, never medical jargon. At follow-up, Kerem showed him a drawing of 'Dr. Emre's Heart Fixing Shop'—a clinic with superhero tools. Dr. Güntürk framed it in his office. We've found not just a cardiologist, but a guardian for our child's future.

As a 45-year-old long-haul truck driver, I ignored palpitations for years until a dizzy spell nearly caused an accident. Dr. Güntürk's approach was unexpectedly practical: he mapped my symptoms against my driving logs and caffeine intake, discovering the arrhythmias clustered during night shifts. Instead of immediate medication, he designed a 'driver's heart protocol'—hydration schedule, specific compression socks, and a wearable monitor that synced with my truck's rest stops. His solution considered my livelihood. Six months later, my ectopic beats decreased by 80% without drugs. He treats the person, not just the EKG.

Following a complex aortic dissection repair at another hospital, I was a 'medical jigsaw' with conflicting advice. Dr. Güntürk spent three hours cross-referencing my imaging, creating a unified 3D heart model that showed the true anatomy. His bold decision was to postpone further surgery, instead optimizing my blood pressure control with a tailored regimen that considered my genetic background (which he inquired about). At my last visit, he noted the slight improvement in aortic diameter wasn't just numbers—it meant I could safely lift my granddaughter. His genius lies in knowing when not to cut, and in seeing the life beyond the scan.