Prof. Nur Dilek Bakan, MD

Prof. Nur Dilek Bakan, MD is a Pulmonary Medicine specialist in the Pulmonology unit at Acibadem Maslak Hospital in İstanbul. She has more than 32 years in medicine and joined Acıbadem Healthcare Services in 2023. Her career has combined clinical work in chest diseases and tuberculosis with academic teaching and a medical coordination role in lung transplantation.

Dr. Bakan graduated from İstanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine in 1994 and completed her Chest Diseases training at Yedikule Chest Diseases and Chest Surgery Training and Research Hospital in 2001. In 2012 she undertook Lung Transplantation Training at Leuven Catholic University in Belgium, and between 2013 and 2019 she held an Associate Professorship at Yedikule Chest Diseases and Chest Surgery Training and Research Hospital. Her professional positions have included Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis Specialist at İstanbul Beykoz Tuberculosis Control Dispensary (2002) and at Yedikule Chest Diseases and Chest Surgery Training and Research Hospital (2002–2012), where she later served as Medical Officer Responsible for Lung Transplantation (2012–2015) and as Training Officer and Head of Tuberculosis Clinics (2013–2015). From 2015 to 2023 she worked as a Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis Specialist at Memorial Şişli Hospital, and from 2019 to 2023 she was a Professor Faculty Member in the Department of Chest Diseases at Üsküdar and Arel University. She is a member of the European Respiratory Society, the Turkish Respiratory Research Association, the Verem Savaş Association and the Lung Health and Intensive Care Association, and she holds the Chairmanship of the Lung Transplantation Working Group of the Turkish Thoracic Association. Her published work includes studies on pulmonary rehabilitation for patients on the lung transplantation waiting list, early lung transplantation results, cryptogenic organizing pneumonia, dropout in a smoking cessation outpatient clinic, and immune parameters in COVID-19 pneumonia.

Clinical focus

Dr. Bakan assesses and manages a broad range of respiratory conditions. These include asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchitis, pneumonia and other lower respiratory tract infections, pulmonary embolism and pulmonary fibrosis. She also evaluates lung nodules and takes part in the assessment of lung cancer and other thoracic cancers.

Her procedural work includes bronchoscopy and EBUS, which may be used, where clinically indicated, in the evaluation of the airways, lung nodules and suspected thoracic cancers. Whether a procedure is appropriate is decided individually after a review of the patient’s history, imaging and previous findings.

How Dr. Bakan works with international patients

Dr. Bakan consults in Turkish and English, and interpreters can be arranged for patients who speak other languages. Before a visit, the Acibadem international patient team coordinates the collection of prior reports and imaging, such as CT, X-ray or MRI reports, laboratory and pathology results, operative notes and discharge summaries, and arranges appointments and 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 available options. Video consultation is available for international patients who wish to discuss their situation before travelling or to follow up after a visit.