A sociological perspective on the medical industry: The case of Diyarbakir

Neoliberal policies, which are effective at the global level, also have significant effects on the health sector and medical practices. With the influence of these policies, public health facilities are gradually being replaced by private health institutions compared to previous periods. The increasingly widespread private health institutions have begun to add a new dimension to the medical profession, which is traditionally considered a sacred profession. This situation causes health services to be increasingly provided in an industrial model. With the developing health and medical industry, new business fields are emerging, especially health consultancy, telemedicine, telemedicine and online medicine applications. This study reveals how neoliberal policies affect general practitioners' preferences for medical specialization in Diyarbakir. In this context, the study conducted with 161 participating general practitioners was sociologically examined in terms of sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and professional factors affecting physicians' specialization preferences, their perspectives on the development of the medical industry, their thoughts on public-private health institutions, their plans for a specialist career, working conditions, and information on professional personnel. A significant majority of the participants in the study emphasized that the Medical Industry has positive effects on the development of the medical profession, preventive and protective public health campaigns, early diagnosis, treatment, and screening programs, the spread of health insurance, and the early detection and prevention of epidemic diseases. According to the research results, a significant portion of physicians do not find the current working conditions sufficient and state that they would not choose the medical profession if given the right to choose again. On the other hand, it is seen that factors such as personal interest and professional motivation are still effective. It is observed that there is a shift in specialization preferences from surgical branches that require risky and intense workload to internal sciences. However, a significant portion of physicians who want to choose surgical branches are concerned about possible occupational risks, busy work lives, etc. Tends to pursue an academic career for various reasons. In addition, it has been determined that the tendency to migrate abroad is especially evident among young and male physicians, and that economic and professional dissatisfaction, violent incidents and systematic support inadequacies are behind this. While physicians generally evaluated the innovations brought by the medical industry positively, increasing workload, economic anxiety, obligations imposed by the malpractice law, and violence in health were expressed as problems encountered. If precautions are not taken, as revealed by the study that these problems also affect specialty choices, there will be migration and shortage of specialist physicians, especially in surgical branches, and there will be a risk for the health of the society. Keywords: Medical Specialization Examination, medicine, medical industry, specialization choice, transformation in health, malpractice, professional ethics, neoliberal health policies.