History of the Department

The Department of Biostatistics at Ondokuz Mayıs University Faculty of Medicine was established on July 13, 1999. With the letter of the Council of Higher Education dated June 25, 2009 and numbered 18671, it was decided that the name of the Department of Biostatistics within the Faculty of Medicine should be revised to “Biostatistics and Medical Informatics.”

Former Heads of the Department

Theoretical Structure and Academic Purpose of the Department

Each year, hundreds of new statistical methods are developed by theoretical statisticians. The applicability of these methods, the consistency of their assumptions with real data, and their suitability for real biological data can only be assessed through studies conducted within the field of Biostatistics.

The main objective is to train professionals who can analyze research conducted in various disciplines that collect data from living organisms (such as Biology, Veterinary Medicine, Medicine, Agriculture, Physical Education, etc.) using discipline-specific statistical methods; who can comparatively evaluate the statistical methods used in these fields; and who can conduct studies aimed at developing new methods when necessary. In addition, the department aims to establish an adequate institutional structure to formalize consultancy services for research conducted by research assistants and faculty members.

To conduct detailed methodological studies related to the design, organization, and analysis of good clinical practices, animal experiments, and drug trials (Phase I, II, III, and IV), advanced-level thesis studies must be carried out in the field of Biostatistics. The fundamental goal is to ensure active graduate programs that can undertake methodological research in areas such as dose–response studies; development of statistical methods for gene sequence analysis; population dynamics studies in microbiology; survival analysis; statistical methods developed for the analysis of specific cancer conditions; and quantitative epidemiology. Therefore, addressing these topics within the field of Biostatistics is essential.

Conducting studies related to hospital quality management, developing various specialized forms used in disease diagnosis and treatment, performing and comparing norm studies, developing telemedicine and e-diagnosis applications, and managing laboratory quality systems are all specialized areas that necessitate focused work within the Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics.

The activities of the Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics are not limited to meeting the methodological needs of researchers working within the Faculty of Medicine; they also aim to develop statistical methods with distinct features in applied statistics, and to compare their applications, for researchers conducting scientific studies in other disciplines (such as Dentistry, Physical Education, Veterinary Medicine, Pharmacokinetics, etc.).

Education

The Department does not offer an independent undergraduate program. It contributes to the undergraduate medical education curriculum and delivers Biostatistics courses taught within the Faculty of Medicine. Within the undergraduate medical education, the Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics provides second-year medical students with fundamental Biostatistics topics over a four-week period as part of the Ethics and Medical Research Techniques Block. For fourth-year students, Biostatistics applications related to the basic topics covered in the second year are conducted within the Professionalism in Medicine II Block.

Master’s and doctoral programs in the Department are conducted as joint programs with the Department of Biostatistics at Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine. Graduates of Statistics and Mathematics departments are eligible for admission to the master’s program, as are graduates of other biology-based undergraduate programs. However, according to Ondokuz Mayıs University regulations, graduates of Statistics or Mathematics departments are required to attend and successfully complete a one-year preparatory program at the Faculty of Medicine, while graduates with a biology-based background must complete and pass a one-year preparatory program in Statistics and Mathematics. After completing the preparatory programs, students are entitled to take the standard joint Biostatistics master’s courses.During the Biostatistics master’s program, students are required to take courses for at least one semester from the Biostatistics Master’s Program of the Institute of Health Sciences at Hacettepe University (Department of Biostatistics). The remaining courses must be taken from the master’s courses offered by the Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics at the Institute of Graduate Education of Ondokuz Mayıs University. In the doctoral program, courses are taken in accordance with the regulations of the joint program.

Committees in Which Faculty Members Serve in Medical Education

Medical Education Committee; Measurement and Evaluation Committee; Local Ethics Committee for Animal Experiments; Ethics and Medical Research Techniques Block Committee; Professionalism in Medicine II Block Committee.

Professional and Academic Society Memberships

Biostatistics Association; International Society for Clinical Biostatistics; International Biometric Society.

Future Plans of the Department

The primary goal is to bring the Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics—an essential unit within the Faculty of Medicine—to an adequate level in terms of both staffing and services. Consultancy activities must be institutionalized. To enable a unit that serves a large number of research assistants and an equivalent number of faculty members to deliver services effectively, there is a need for enhanced human resources and infrastructure. The overarching objective is to gain access to human resources capable of following, applying, and contributing to the fields of Biostatistics and Informatics, where thousands of new methods are developed daily, and to achieve sufficient capacity in other service areas as well.

Address: Ondokuz Mayıs University Faculty of Medicine Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics Atakum / Samsun