The History of Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy UniversityBurdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, which started education and training in 1965 under the name of "Burdur Girls' Teacher School", continued its formation with Burdur Education Faculty and Burdur Vocational High School, which were affiliated to the Rectorate of Akdeniz University established by the decree law numbered 41 dated July 20, 1982, and later in 1992, it was affiliated to Süleyman Demirel University established by law number 3837. During the period of affiliation with Süleyman Demirel University, Tefenni Vocational High School, Burdur Health High School, Bucak Hikmet Tolunay Vocational High School, Bucak Emin Gülmez Technical Sciences Vocational High School, Ağlasun Vocational High School, Gölhisar Vocational High School were established in addition to two units in 2009. On March 1, 2006, with the law numbered 5467, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, which was affiliated with Akdeniz University, and the newly established Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Institute of Social Sciences, Institute of Science and Institute of Health Sciences also joined this formation. The Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Institute of Educational Sciences, School of Physical Education and Sports, Bucak Zeliha Tolunay Applied Technology and Business High School, and the Faculty of Dentistry are the latest units to join the formation.
With a history of over 50 years, it offers a happy living space for its students with its educational and research activities provided by its high technology infrastructure and qualified academic-administrative staff in a wide range from education to health, agriculture to animal husbandry, engineering to basic sciences, as well as its social and cultural richness. Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University is a student-centered university with its course programs aiming to train its students as individuals with high levels of knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and project production culture, and student communities established for social, cultural, artistic and sports purposes. Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, which carries the name of Akif and has made his life philosophy its vision, continues its path strongly in Burdur, where it took its first steps during the national struggle years and sowed the seeds of its works, in order to keep the generation of Asım alive, together with the local dynamics of the province and national and international events and symposiums.
The History and Physical Features of the Faculty of DentistryThe Faculty of Dentistry of Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University was established by the Council of Ministers Decree No. 2017/10549 dated 03.07.2017. Our Rector Prof. Dr. Adem KORKMAZ immediately started the construction of the Faculty of Dentistry Building, which has a closed area of 17,000 m2, and allocated a floor in the Faculty of Theology Building located in the Independence Campus of Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University for the faculty members to be taken. The Founding Dean Prof. Dr. Ali Alp SAĞLAM was appointed on 04.03.2020. The construction of our permanent Faculty building located in Burdur Center is still ongoing. The rough construction of our building, which is planned to be completed by the end of this year according to the plans, is completed.
During this transition period, due to the need for classrooms, library and Phantom-Preclinical Laboratories necessary for the increase in the number of faculty members in our Faculty and student admission, restoration works have been started in a 2-storey building with a closed usage area of nearly 2,000 m2 right next to our permanent building under construction. On the ground floor of our temporary building, which is planned to be completed in a short period of 1-1.5 months, there are 2 classrooms of sufficient size, 1 large library (Figure 1), and student Phantom and Preclinical Laboratories (Figure 3) close to 300 m2. On the upper floor, there are faculty member rooms, administrative staff rooms and Faculty Management rooms (Figure 2). In our temporary building, there are also additional sections such as archive, warehouses, toilets and compressor room. Our Faculty, which will start its education and training activities in the temporary building in the 2021-2022 Academic Year, will continue its way with confident steps to become a distinguished Faculty with the latest technological machinery and equipment and a sufficient number of faculty members with equipment, in the permanent building, which is still under construction in Burdur Center and is planned to be completely finished by 2022 at the latest.
Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Faculty of Dentistry consists of 2 Departments, Clinical Sciences and Basic Sciences, and 8 Main Science Branches belonging to the Department of Clinical Sciences. In the Department of Oral, Dental and Jaw Surgery, 1 Professor, in the Department of Orthodontics, 1 Professor and 1 Dr. Faculty Member, in the Department of Periodontology, 2 Dr. Faculty Member, in the Department of Prosthetic Dental Treatment, 2 Dr. Faculty Member, in the Department of Endodontics, 1 Dr. Faculty Member, in the Department of Restorative Dental Treatment, 1 Dr. Faculty Member, in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry (Pedodontics), 1 Dr. Faculty Member, in the Department of Oral, Dental and Jaw Radiology, 1 Dr. Faculty Member is on duty. In our Basic Sciences Department, 1 Professor and 4 Dr. Faculty Members are working as staff. We have faculty members in the fields of Anatomy, Microbiology and Pathology, which are necessary in our Basic Sciences Department. As a result, there are a total of 16 faculty members in our Faculty, 11 in the Department of Clinical Sciences and 5 in the Department of Basic Sciences.
As Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Faculty of Dentistry, our first goal is to train successful, self-confident dentists who have received very good education in our Faculty, which will be equipped with the latest technological equipment, and who have the desire to serve their country and nation. In order for us to achieve this goal, it is essential that our Faculty building is equipped very well in terms of machinery and equipment. Our aim is to ensure that our students take their theoretical and practical lessons with the support of the latest technological devices, to teach the latest innovations in the field of dentistry with a one-to-one face-to-face education system. It is planned that our Faculty of Dentistry, with its clinics, laboratories, and research laboratory where scientific studies can easily be conducted, will reach a position at world standards that can be shown as an address not only in our region but also in our country.
In their theoretical lessons, our students will be able to blend theoretical and practical knowledge with a mechanism designed to transfer the applications to be made to the classrooms with a closed circuit imaging system, and in the Preclinical and Phantom Simulation Laboratories, they will be able to reach the knowledge and experience necessary for patient care in clinics as if they were treating a live patient. Our faculty members who will give the course will be able to walk around in the classroom instead of explaining the course from a fixed lectern with visuals, and with the help of a wireless radio lapel microphone, they will be able to explain the case live from the patient during the clinical application and/or various visuals, and discuss the case with our students if necessary.
In our Faculty, there will also be Anatomy, Histology, Pathology and Biochemistry laboratories besides prosthesis laboratories. In the anatomy laboratory, there will be anatomy models related to the tooth, jaw and face system, and after our students learn the lesson from two-dimensional anatomy atlases, they will be able to reinforce what they have learned in three dimensions with models.
In conclusion, Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Faculty of Dentistry will take its place as a shining star in a way that suits the name of our national poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy, not only in our region but also in our country, in terms of our patients, our students and our faculty members.