Prof. Emel Özcan, MD

Prof. Emel Özcan, MD is a specialist in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation with more than 44 years in medicine. She graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Medicine in 1975 and completed her training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine in 1980. She became Associate Professor at Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, in 1984 and was appointed Prof. Dr. at Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, in 1990. In 2011 she obtained the Medical Specialization Board qualification in Algology. She has also completed certified training programs in acupuncture practice and prolotherapy practice.

From 1986 to 2019, Dr. Özcan worked at Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicine in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the Department of Algology, and in 2018 served as Head of Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine. In 2000 she coordinated the establishment of the Rehabilitation Hospital at Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, and in 1995 she was owner and medical director of the Functional Rehabilitation Center in Istanbul. Her training abroad included rehabilitation and electrodiagnostics at Universite Catholique de Lauvain, Service de Medicine Physique et Readaptation in Brussels (1982), rheumatic diseases and local injections at the Clinique de Rhumatologie, Hopital Cochin in Paris (1983), spinal manipulations and epidural injections at Hopital Hotel Dieu Service de Rééducation Functionnelle in Paris (1986), the Oxford Back School at the University of Manchester and Oxford (1989), and work on low back pain, chronic pain, acupuncture, stroke rehabilitation and post-polio syndrome at the National Rehabilitation Hospital and the National Institute of Health in Washington D.C. (1991–1993). She later attended ergonomics courses in the United States and prolotherapy courses organized by the American Association of Orthopedic Medicine (AAOM) and by the Hacket Hemwall Paterson Foundation and University of Wisconsin. After working at a private medical center from 2021 to 2024, she joined Acibadem Health Group in 2025.

Clinical focus

Dr. Özcan evaluates and treats chronic low back pain, symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, musculoskeletal pain and ankylosing spondylitis. Her work also covers work-related upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders and repetitive motion disorders, an area in which she has published on ergonomic interventions among computer workers. In rehabilitation, her listed fields include post-polio syndrome, stroke rehabilitation, paraplegia rehabilitation and hemiplegia rehabilitation.

The procedures she performs include dextrose prolotherapy, acupuncture, epidural injections and spinal manipulation. Her selected publications address dextrose prolotherapy in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, evidence-based use of prolotherapy in musculoskeletal pain, functional disability measurement in chronic low back pain, and work productivity and muscle function in ankylosing spondylitis. She is a member of the Osteoporosis Association, the Association of Physicians Specializing in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Association and the Algology Association.

How Dr. Özcan works with international patients

Dr. Özcan consults in Turkish and English, and interpreters can be arranged for other languages. The Acibadem international patient team coordinates the collection of prior reports and imaging, arranges appointments and organizes the hospital visit. A first consultation typically covers the patient’s history and symptoms, a review of existing imaging and previous treatments, a clinical examination and a discussion of the options. Video consultation is available for international patients who wish to speak with Dr. Özcan before traveling.