MD. Vedat Bilgic
Dr. Vedat Bilgic has been working as a psychiatrist at Norra Älvsborgs State Hospital in Sweden since October 2017. He was an Associate Professor and the head of the Psychiatry Department at Fatih University between September 2012 and July 2016. He also worked at Bakirkoy Mental Health Training and Research Hospital in Istanbul between December 2004 and May 2010. In 2005, he did his Observership at McGill University (Canada), Child Psychiatry Unit and the Culture & Mental Health Research Unit, Institute of Community & Family Psychiatry at Sir Mortimer B. Davis-Jewish General Hospital, Montreal.
Dr. Bilgic’s research interests are psychiatry and electrophysiological responses. He has authored over 25 published articles. Some of his research is interdisciplinary work done in collaboration with Biomedical Engineers at Fatih University.
Reflecting his interest in the social aspects of psychiatry, Dr. Bilgiç has written articles and carried out projects on subjects where art and social psychology intersect. In 2014, he published a book titled Ruhun İki Yakası – The Two Sides of the Soul, and his second book was published in 2015, titled Politika ve Psikoloji: Müşfik Diktatör – Politics and Psychology: The Merciful Dictator.
Between 2012 and 2016, Dr. Bilgic organized a series of educational-awareness seminars called “Film Readings,” focusing on social/psychological/political analyses through the art of cinema. These seminars took place in Turkey and abroad at scientific congresses and institutions such as universities, hospitals, municipalities, and associations.
Bilgiç also produced a music album titled Düşünen Şarkılar (Thinking Songs) with lyrics written by schizophrenic patients at the Bakirkoy Mental Health Hospital. The album was intended to combat widespread prejudice against people with mental illnesses. Two of the nine songs in the album were also composed entirely by schizophrenic patients. The lyrics have been put to music by famous musicians and music groups such as Teoman, Ahmet Özhan, Soner Arıca, and Demet Sağıroğlu. The revenues from sales of the album will be transferred to the Bakırköy Mental Hospital Foundation to be used for the treatment of patients. Three of the songs were composed by Bilgic, and he also sang a song on the album. A short film by Dr. Bilgiç, Deliler Kahvesi (Mads’ Café), received a winner’s prize from the Turkish Psychiatry Association.