Prof. M.D. Sabahattin Kaymakoğlu

As an 82-year-old with a lifelong fear of hospitals, meeting Dr. Kaymakoğlu was a revelation. I was admitted to Acıbadem Bakırköy with severe, unexplained abdominal pain that other clinics had dismissed as 'old age.' Dr. Sabahattin didn't just look at my charts; he listened to my entire history for forty minutes, asking about my youth in rural Anatolia and my diet. He suspected a rare parasitic remnant from decades ago, something no scanner would catch. His gentle colonoscopy confirmed it—a dormant infection flaring up. His treatment was simple, non-invasive, and he explained everything to my granddaughter in Turkish sign language because she's hearing impaired. He treats the person, not just the organ.

Our 7-year-old son, Deniz, developed a sudden, terrifying aversion to eating, crying that his 'tummy was on fire.' Pediatricians called it anxiety. Dr. Kaymakoğlu, recommended by a desperate friend, saw him immediately. He didn't wear a white coat for the visit and had a toy model of the digestive system on his desk. He let Deniz play with it while asking him about school and soccer. Through this distraction, he deduced the symptoms pointed to eosinophilic esophagitis, triggered by a mild allergy. The diagnosis required an endoscopy. The way he prepared Deniz was incredible—he called it 'a superhero mission to see inside with a tiny camera.' The procedure was smooth, and the dietary plan he gave us has changed our son's life. Deniz now says he wants to be a 'tummy doctor' like him.

I'm a 45-year-old software engineer who went in for a routine check-up due to family history of colon cancer. Dr. Kaymakoğlu's approach was methodical and tech-forward. He used a detailed genetic risk assessment algorithm alongside the standard checks. During the colonoscopy, he found and removed three precancerous polyps with a new, cold snare technique he explained minimizes scarring. What stood out was the follow-up: I received a secure, encrypted digital report with annotated video clips from my own procedure, showing exactly what he found and did. He then scheduled a virtual check-in six months later, not a year, to recalibrate my surveillance schedule. It felt less like a medical appointment and more like a highly sophisticated, personalized systems audit for my body.

This review is for the most complex emergency of my life. I was traveling through Istanbul when I was rushed to Acıbadem Bakırköy with perforated diverticulitis and sepsis. Dr. Kaymakoğlu was the on-call gastroenterologist. The situation required a risky, immediate endoscopic procedure to place a stent and avoid major surgery while I was so unstable. He explained the grave risks to my traveling companion in clear, calm English, but his hands were decisive. He performed the procedure at 2 AM with a focused intensity I'll never forget. It worked. He visited me twice daily in ICU, coordinating with the surgeons for my eventual elective resection. He remembered small details—that I was a botanist—and later explained how the infection spread using plant vascular system analogies. He didn't just save my life; he made the nightmare comprehensible.