Prof. Zeynep Karaali, MD

Prof. Zeynep Karaali, MD is an Internal Medicine specialist at Acibadem Maslak Hospital in Istanbul, with more than 31 years in medicine. She graduated from İstanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine in 1995. From 1996 to 1997 she worked as a general practitioner at the Turkish Kidney Foundation Ahmet Ermiş Dialysis Center, and from 1997 to 2002 she completed her Internal Medicine residency in the 2nd Department of Internal Medicine at Taksim Training and Research Hospital.

Dr. Karaali then spent many years at Haseki Training and Research Hospital. She worked there as an Internal Medicine specialist and chief assistant from 2002 to 2010, became an associate professor and instructor in Internal Medicine in 2012, served as Internal Medicine training officer from 2016 to 2020, and was appointed professor of Internal Medicine in 2020. From 2020 to 2024 she was training and administrative officer in the Department of Internal Medicine at Başakşehir Çam ve Sakura City Hospital. In 2024 she joined Acibadem Healthcare Services as an Internal Medicine specialist. She is a member of the Turkish Medical Association and the Internal Medicine Association, and she has co-authored peer-reviewed publications on topics including type 2 diabetes, diabetic nephropathy and anaemia in inflammatory bowel disease.

Clinical focus

Dr. Karaali’s practice covers general Internal Medicine for adults, with a subspecialty interest in thyroid diseases and their treatment. Her areas of expertise include the management of chronic diseases, prediabetes, obesity, thyroid disorders and anaemia, as well as geriatric health for older adults with several coexisting conditions. She also evaluates and manages oedema and upper respiratory tract diseases.

A further part of her work concerns digestive organs. She sees patients with chronic pancreatitis and other pancreatic diseases, and with liver and biliary tract diseases, including fatty liver disease. In these conditions, her role as an internist is to assess the overall clinical picture, coordinate the necessary investigations and discuss medical management, with referral to other specialties when this is appropriate for the individual patient.

How Dr. Karaali works with international patients

Dr. Karaali consults in Turkish and English, and interpreters can be arranged for patients who speak other languages. The Acibadem international patient team coordinates the collection of prior reports and imaging, arranges appointments and organises the hospital visit. A first consultation typically covers the patient’s history and current symptoms, a review of existing imaging, laboratory results and previous treatments, a clinical examination and a discussion of the possible options. Video consultation is available for international patients, which can be used for an initial review of the case or for follow-up after treatment.