M.D. Ismail Akkar

Our 78-year-old mother, who has complex pediatric-onset conditions from childhood polio, was dismissed by other specialists who said 'geriatrics isn't pediatrics.' Dr. Akkar disagreed. He spent three hours reviewing her 70-year medical history, connecting her current respiratory issues to childhood complications nobody had considered in decades. His cross-generational approach and willingness to treat the 'whole life patient' rather than just the 'current age patient' was extraordinary. At Acibadem Kozyatagi, he coordinated with adult pulmonologists while maintaining his pediatric perspective - a bridge between medical eras that gave our family answers we'd stopped hoping to find.

When my 8-year-old son developed sudden, violent tremors at midnight, the ER doctor suspected neurological emergency. Dr. Akkar was called in and noticed something others missed: the boy was subtly mimicking the blinking fluorescent light rhythm. Instead of rushing to invasive tests, he dimmed the lights, spoke softly about video games, and discovered our son had experienced a dissociative episode after an online bullying incident. His crisis intervention felt like psychological archaeology - gently uncovering layers until finding the trigger. The hospital's child-friendly environment became a therapeutic space under his guidance, avoiding trauma where others might have created it.

Our newborn's routine checkup turned into a forensic investigation when Dr. Akkar noticed asymmetrical creases in her thighs - something seven previous examinations had overlooked. He didn't just measure and weigh; he observed movement patterns with the intensity of a choreographer. Suspecting developmental hip dysplasia, he used ultrasound (not standard at this age) and found the earliest stage. His 'preventive interception' approach meant non-invasive harness treatment instead of future surgery. What seemed like an overly detailed exam actually prevented years of disability. He treats wellness visits as detective work, finding stories in silences and potential in imperfections.

Following a complex intestinal reconstruction surgery performed elsewhere, my daughter's follow-up care was abandoned when her surgeon retired. Dr. Akkar accepted this 'medical orphan' despite the procedure being outside his typical cases. He reverse-engineered the surgical approach by studying operative notes like ancient manuscripts, then developed a novel nutrition protocol that accounted for both her anatomy and adolescent growth spurts. His follow-up wasn't just monitoring; it was architectural - rebuilding care around a patient others saw as too complicated. At Kozyatagi, he created a multidisciplinary team for one child, proving continuity isn't about who started treatment, but who commits to finishing it.