BERLIN. CITY WEST // BRIGHT MINDS // HEALTH INDUSTRY IN CITY WEST
For around three years, Özge Tor Vural has been organizing medical treatments in Turkey through her company, Medical Fly. There are heated arguments about the height of hedges, overly loud music, or the alleged noise of children. “Whoever has neighbors doesn’t need enemies,” they say. Özge Tor Vural also has neighbors. The 35-year-old has placed a chair on the street and sits in the sun in front of her office. One of her neighbors walks by. The two women greet each other—a attentive nod, a smile, a friendly hello. People here know each other; they greet each other. This is something Özge Tor Vural values, speaking fondly of Behaimstraße in Charlottenburg: “The neighborhood is really great. The people are very friendly and polite.” Neighborhood relationships can indeed be different.
The offices are located in a small side street off Otto-Suhr-Allee. From there, the entrepreneur manages one of the leading agencies for medical tourism in Germany. Medical Fly organizes hair transplants, eye laser surgeries, dental treatments, or cosmetic surgeries abroad. Specifically, in Turkey. “I have Turkish roots myself. I thought that fits,” says Tor Vural, who fulfilled a dream by becoming self-employed. However, the founder describes the path there as “pure chaos”: studying media informatics in Bremen, studying communication science at TU Berlin. And in the end, what she hadn’t planned to study: economics. “My father and my sister studied economics. And for me, it was clear for a long time that I wanted to do something different,” she recalls.
The idea for Medical Fly arose during her studies. “I’ve worn glasses since I was 16. As an adult, I wanted to have laser eye surgery,” says Tor Vural. However, she quickly realized that she couldn’t afford the procedure in Germany. €6,000 – simply too much for a student. But the young woman is determined and compares prices with those in Turkey. “The surgery cost around 900 euros there. An incredible difference,” says Tor Vural, who recognized the potential for medical tourism in Turkey at that time. In 2008, she started having conversations with doctors and hospitals, attending medical fairs, collecting information about the necessary certificates. In 2011, she participated in the Business Plan Competition Berlin-Brandenburg, attended evening courses and workshops alongside her job in wholesale.
“Today, those who have their eyes lasered in Turkey do it partly because of the price, but mostly because of the good reputation of the treatments,” says Özge Tor Vural, who recommends the right specialists to her clients. She does not collaborate with a specific hospital but has built a network of individual doctors. The network also functions in the other direction: patients from Arab countries come to Germany for medically necessary surgeries. Sometimes, however, she advises against surgery, for example, if there is a pre-existing condition.
“The satisfaction of my customers is very important to me,” says the entrepreneur. The specialists work in Istanbul, Izmir, or Antalya. Every two months, they come to Germany to get to know their patients in person. In plastic surgery, direct contact is enormously important. “Such procedures are delicate; patients need to feel they are in good hands,” explains Özge Tor Vural, “Trust comes from familiarity.” Just like in a good neighborhood.
