Who is Professor İlhan Paşaoğlu?

İlhan Paşaoğlu was born in Kirkuk on August 23, 1950. After completing his primary, secondary and high school education there, he came to Istanbul in 1968. He enrolled in Istanbul University's Istanbul Faculty of Medicine in 1969 and graduated in 1974. In the same year, he began specialization education in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in the Faculty of Medicine at Hacettepe University, becoming a specialist in 1979. After working for two years in that department, he was sent by Hacettepe University to England in April 1981. In London, he worked at the St. Thomas Hospital and the Ryne Institute. His colleagues in London did not want him to return to Turkey. They suggested he stay in London because patients from other countries would go to Turkey instead of England if he went back to Turkey. As a matter of fact, what they thought was true. He had many foreign patients. He returned to Turkey in October 1983 and was assigned as an assistant professor in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in the Faculty of Medicine at Hacettepe University. He became an associate professor on April 9, 1986. He participated in studies related to cardiac transplantation at the University of Wisconsin in America in 1987. His colleagues also suggested that he should stay there. They told him that the Americans gave him a nickname, “Golden Boy,” and if he had stayed, he would have been treated with honor, but he was determined to come back to Turkey. One year later, he returned to Hacettepe University and became a full professor on April 12, 1991. After November 7, 1995 he worked as the Head of the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in the Faculty of Medicine at Hacettepe University. He performed approximately 16,000 open heart surgeries. He also performed tens of thousands of lung and vein surgeries. He educated many successful thoracic and cardiovascular surgeons. He carried out the first cardiac transplant at Hacettepe University, and he performed the first heterotopic heart transplant in Turkey. He published more than 100 articles in Turkish and international journals and presented more than 100 papers at various congresses. He was exposed to the hardships of various restrictions, defamation and falsified news. He tried to bear up by struggling hard. He was a member of the International Society of Artificial Organs, the International Society of Heart Lung Transplantation, the International Society for Cardiothoracic Surgeons, the American College of Angiology, the American College of Surgeons, the Turkish Society of Cardiology and the Turkish Society of Pediatric Cardiology. He also served as a member of the High Council of Organ Transplant in the Ministry of Health. İlhan Paşaoğlu was an extraordinary person with his successes, lifestyle and in every respect... He also passed away in an extraordinary way. May God rest his soul in peace and may he sleep in heavenly light.