So I have waited a few days to write this review, but felt it was quite pertinent to future prospective patients. To start, I am a US trained emergency physician (MD), and I wanted to explain to you my concerns about this clinic as well as the good things I experienced so that you can make a judgment decision about whether you should attend HWT clinic. I attended on 2 May 2026 for a hair transplantation. Reflecting upon my personal experience, I should have walked out and not allowed them to continue. Let me start with my concerns.
1) No one spoke English there, even to a basic level of competence. Now, you might find it odd that I am even referencing this, but this clinic serves and has served a 100% native English speaking population for the past 14 years, and the surgical staff do not know even the most basic of English. I tried using words like ‘no,’ ‘stop,’ ‘wait,’ ‘I do not understand,’ etc, and I was rudely replied to by everyone with ‘no speaka Engariss.’
2) I was unknowingly and unwillingly given sedation. After all of the rushing around, I was placed into the surgical chair (in a not very clean room) and I saw what appeared to be an obese homeless appearing man come in to connect my IV fluids. Initially, I thought to myself ‘okay, sure, they want to keep me hydrated.’ Then he pulled out of his pocket a syringe with about 6 mL of fluid in it. When I said ‘stop!’ and also ‘what is that?!?’ he simply looked at me and pushed whatever it was into my IV line extremely fast. I then had an absolutely overwhelming sense of nausea, felt as if the room was spinning, and had a massive headache. I asked multiple people in the room what I had been given and I was continually told ‘no Engriss.’ I even asked the non medical translator, who did not know what it was.
3) About 2 hours after being given this medication, after the donor hair was extracted, the translator came in asking for an additional £300 for ‘sedation’ that I had apparently not paid for as part of my ‘package.’ This was the first I had ever heard of this, I was feeling very ill, and they were insisting on an additional £300. Any reputable medical business knows that you do not negotiate contracts, ask for payment, make purchases or decisions about your life for at least 24 hours after receiving ‘sedation.’
4) Hygiene and standard precautions were a concern to me throughout the entire procedure. I never observed anyone washing their hands, everyone smelled like a pack of half smoked cigarettes, and they were double-gloving. I think whoever manages infection prevention and control in Turkey should pay a visit to this establishment.
5) I never saw a doctor. At first, the translator said to me that ‘oh, you saw doctor, he was big man that came this morning.’ Then, upon completion of the procedure I was told that ‘oh, you didn’t see doctor, he was very busy with family today.’ Can a surgical center perform surgical procedures without a doctor on staff?
6) To this date, I am not sure what the qualifications of anyone that administered medication into my IV, performed the surgery or took care of me were. Quite frustrating as an MD to have no idea what happened, who did it, and not even know their first name. The only thing I know about the staff is that they all smoked a lot and didn’t wash their hands as I could continually smell old stale cigarettes. They all had generally poor hygiene with dirty fingernails and hair.
As a doctor, I have often had patients tell me that they have experienced medical trauma. I never truly understood that I could also experience medical trauma myself because I felt as if I was a pretty bullet proof guy; I do think I experienced some level of medical trauma, however.
Would I recommend going to Turkey for a hair transplant to my patients? Absolutely not, not in a long stretch.
Now, what did they do well?
1) After complaining to the recruiter, they did not charge me that additional £330.
2) The hair transplant looks like things are going well on day 4.
So I have waited a few days to write this review, but felt it was quite pertinent to future prospective patients. To start, I am a US trained emergency physician (MD), and I wanted to explain to you my concerns about this clinic as well as the good things I experienced so that you can make a judgment decision about whether you should attend HWT clinic. I attended on 2 May 2026 for a hair transplantation. Reflecting upon my personal experience, I should have walked out and not allowed them to continue. Let me start with my concerns.
1) No one spoke English there, even to a basic level of competence. Now, you might find it odd that I am even referencing this, but this clinic serves and has served a 100% native English speaking population for the past 14 years, and the surgical staff do not know even the most basic of English. I tried using words like ‘no,’ ‘stop,’ ‘wait,’ ‘I do not understand,’ etc, and I was rudely replied to by everyone with ‘no speaka Engariss.’
2) I was unknowingly and unwillingly given sedation. After all of the rushing around, I was placed into the surgical chair (in a not very clean room) and I saw what appeared to be an obese homeless appearing man come in to connect my IV fluids. Initially, I thought to myself ‘okay, sure, they want to keep me hydrated.’ Then he pulled out of his pocket a syringe with about 6 mL of fluid in it. When I said ‘stop!’ and also ‘what is that?!?’ he simply looked at me and pushed whatever it was into my IV line extremely fast. I then had an absolutely overwhelming sense of nausea, felt as if the room was spinning, and had a massive headache. I asked multiple people in the room what I had been given and I was continually told ‘no Engriss.’ I even asked the non medical translator, who did not know what it was.
3) About 2 hours after being given this medication, after the donor hair was extracted, the translator came in asking for an additional £300 for ‘sedation’ that I had apparently not paid for as part of my ‘package.’ This was the first I had ever heard of this, I was feeling very ill, and they were insisting on an additional £300. Any reputable medical business knows that you do not negotiate contracts, ask for payment, make purchases or decisions about your life for at least 24 hours after receiving ‘sedation.’
4) Hygiene and standard precautions were a concern to me throughout the entire procedure. I never observed anyone washing their hands, everyone smelled like a pack of half smoked cigarettes, and they were double-gloving. I think whoever manages infection prevention and control in Turkey should pay a visit to this establishment.
5) I never saw a doctor. At first, the translator said to me that ‘oh, you saw doctor, he was big man that came this morning.’ Then, upon completion of the procedure I was told that ‘oh, you didn’t see doctor, he was very busy with family today.’ Can a surgical center perform surgical procedures without a doctor on staff?
6) To this date, I am not sure what the qualifications of anyone that administered medication into my IV, performed the surgery or took care of me were. Quite frustrating as an MD to have no idea what happened, who did it, and not even know their first name. The only thing I know about the staff is that they all smoked a lot and didn’t wash their hands as I could continually smell old stale cigarettes. They all had generally poor hygiene with dirty fingernails and hair.
As a doctor, I have often had patients tell me that they have experienced medical trauma. I never truly understood that I could also experience medical trauma myself because I felt as if I was a pretty bullet proof guy; I do think I experienced some level of medical trauma, however.
Would I recommend going to Turkey for a hair transplant to my patients? Absolutely not, not in a long stretch.
Now, what did they do well?
1) After complaining to the recruiter, they did not charge me that additional £330.
2) The hair transplant looks like things are going well on day 4.
