Orhan Gazi YİĞİTBAŞI
Orhan Gazi YİĞİTBAŞI
Board Member of TİM
Vice President of Service Exporters Assembly
Prof. Dr. Gazi Yiğitbaşı was born in Afyon in 1965. Professor Yiğitbaşı graduated from Ege University Faculty of Medicine in 1988. Between 1989 and 1993, Professor Yiğitbaşı served as a research assistant in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine. At the same university, Professor Yiğitbaşı was appointed Assistant Professor in 1996, Associate Professor in 1999, and Professor in 2005.
During an extensive academic career, Professor Yiğitbaşı served as a visiting observer at the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Pittsburgh and worked for two years as a researcher at the Department of Head and Neck Surgery at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Professor Yiğitbaşı has authored numerous scientific studies published in national and international journals. Academic distinctions include the “Faculty Member Contributing the Highest Number of International Publications” award from Erciyes University and the first-place award in the field of Clinical Translational Research in a scientific competition organized by the University of Texas in 2004.
In addition to academic work, Professor Yiğitbaşı has held senior executive roles in the healthcare sector. From April 2005 to November 2011, Professor Yiğitbaşı served as Chief Physician of İzmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital. During this tenure, the implementation of the main components of the “Health Transformation Program” was led under Professor Yiğitbaşı's administration. In recognition of these efforts, Professor Yiğitbaşı was granted the “Outstanding Achievement Award” by the İzmir Konak District Governorship in 2009 and by the İzmir Governorship in 2010.
In November 2011, Professor Yiğitbaşı left public-sector service to assume the role of Medical Director during the establishment of Medipol Mega University Hospital. Within this structure, Professor Yiğitbaşı played an active role in the development and implementation of the “Foundation University–Private Hospital Collaboration Model,” which was introduced for the first time in Türkiye. Since July 2018, Professor Yiğitbaşı has continued to serve as Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Medical Director of Istanbul Medipol University.
Prof. Dr. O. Gazi Yiğitbaşı has applied extensive knowledge and experience in the fields of healthcare and education to initiatives focused on the export of healthcare and education services, thereby making significant contributions to the development of service sectors. Within this framework, Professor Yiğitbaşı served as Chair of the Health Business Council of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Türkiye (DEİK) in 2018. Following two years of work in this role, Professor Yiğitbaşı was granted the “Best Member Relations and Highest Member Acquisition” award by the DEİK Board of Directors. Since the beginning of 2020, Professor Yiğitbaşı has served as a Member of the DEİK Board of Directors and currently continues to serve as Vice Chair of the Education Business Council under DEİK.
In addition to these roles, Professor Yiğitbaşı served as Chair of the Healthcare Committee of the Service Exporters' Association (HİB) between 2018 and 2026. Following the elections held in April 2026, this responsibility was transferred upon Professor Yiğitbaşı's assumption of the role of Chair of the Education Services Committee. Having served as a member of the Board of Directors of HİB since the Association's establishment in 2018, Professor Yiğitbaşı continues to serve as Vice President of HİB following the most recent Association election. Following the elective General Assembly of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) held in June 2026, Professor Yiğitbaşı continues to serve as a member of the TİM Sectors Council, representing the services sector.
Within the scope of these responsibilities, Professor Yiğitbaşı actively contributes to efforts aimed at increasing Türkiye's exports across all fields, with a particular focus on strengthening the country's capacity in healthcare and education services exports, which are among Türkiye's significant export areas.