Midwifery in Turkey

A midwifery degree in Turkey is a four-year bachelor's taught in Turkish at a faculty or school of health sciences, combining biomedical science with supervised clinical training in maternity and newborn care. For 2026–27 the private universities in our table publish annual list fees from $4 000 (Ankara Medipol) to $8 000 (Istinye and Medipol); Antalya Bilim's 2026 list shows $8 300. Plan for Turkish at clinical level, because patient contact and hospital placements run in Turkish.

Midwifery is its own regulated profession. It is neither nursing with an obstetric focus nor a shortcut to obstetrics and gynaecology, which requires a medical degree and a separate specialty track.

Turkish midwifery curricula move from basic sciences to independent clinical judgement. The first two years resemble other health-science programmes; from the third year the timetable is dominated by labour-ward, antenatal and postnatal practice. Many faculties reserve most of the final year for a supervised clinical internship in partner hospitals, so ask each university which hospitals it uses and how students are rotated.

Private (foundation) universities admit most international midwifery students on their school-leaving results, while state universities usually rank applicants through TR-YÖS or another accepted exam. Each university publishes its own minimums, so the list below describes the typical file rather than a fixed national rule.

1. School certificate and transcript. Applicants from Russia and other CIS countries apply with the 11-year certificate of secondary education and its grade supplement; strong biology and chemistry marks help. After admission the Ministry of National Education (MEB) issues the equivalence certificate (denklik) needed for final registration.
2. Exam results where required. TR-YÖS, SAT or national exam scores are optional at many private universities and decisive at state ones. The ÖSYM calendar linked in the sources shows the 2026 TR-YÖS session.
3. Turkish proficiency. Universities usually ask for a Turkish certificate (often at B2) or place the student in a one-year Turkish preparatory programme before the degree starts.
4. Health and conduct documents. Clinical programmes may request a health report and vaccination records before placements begin; ask for the faculty's list at the offer stage.
5. Timing. Applications for September intakes typically open in spring; apply early enough to leave several weeks for the offer, deposit, visa and translations.

Graduate applicants need a relevant bachelor's for the master's and a master's (or an integrated route) for the PhD, plus transcripts, a statement of purpose and sometimes ALES or a language test. The university decides admission, MEB decides the school-certificate equivalence, and the Presidency of Migration Management decides the student residence permit.

Tuition differences of a few thousand dollars matter less than the quality of clinical exposure. Use these checks before paying a deposit.

Graduates work as midwives in maternity wards, delivery rooms, family-health and antenatal services, and in public-health programmes on reproductive health. A master's or PhD opens university teaching and research roles.

The diploma records the qualification; the right to practise is a separate decision. Turkey is not an EU member, so the EU's automatic recognition of midwifery training does not cover Turkish degrees. In Russia and several CIS countries midwives are trained mainly at college level, and holders of a foreign diploma normally pass document recognition and then the national accreditation or licensing procedure. Working in Turkey as a foreign health professional follows its own work-permit and authorisation rules. Check the regulator of your target country before choosing a university.