The city of Rize is situated in the middle of the 160 km coastal route linking Trabzon and Georgia. Even though the population of Rize Province is about 350000, it is a vibrant city for economical activities and health services. Hospitals in Rize Province serve more than 1.5 million outpatients annually. In addition, led by Artvin, there are substantial referrals from surrounding towns and cities. Often patients from Georgia, too, benefit from our health services. Taking these into consideration, the Teaching & Research Hospital of Recep Tayyip Erdogan University (RTEU) was put into service. With its state of the art and sufficient infrastructure, comprising an indoor area of 60 000 m², 70 polyclinic rooms, 400 beds, 9 operation theatres, intensive care units, haemodialysis centres, and angiography & imaging centres, the hospital provides modern health care.
The Medical School of RTEU was established based on the Statute 5467 issued on 1 March 2001, which was published in the Official Gazette on 17 March 2006. The constructions of the administrative and education & training buildings were initiated on 15 January 2005 and then inaugurated on 5 March 2009 by the PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The cost was met by the philanthropist Sevket Yardimci. The administrative and education &training buildings house administration (22) and lecturer (91) offices, a meeting room, a library, a computer class, 3 lecture theatres-accommodating up to 90 each, 2 multidisciplinary labs, 10 research labs, 7 classrooms/seminar rooms, 3 offices for research staff, a refectory, a cafeteria, and one rest area for students.
With the appointments of teaching staff to tenured positions, academic and clinical divisions along with departments were established from 2008 onwards.  Initially, the faculty members were assigned to work at the Teaching and Research Hospital of Rize operated by the Ministry of Health. From 26 April 2011, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University and the Ministry of Health have jointly operated the hospital.
Matriculations for education in the Medical School of RTEU started in 2008. Enrolled students attended the Medical School of the Black Sea Technical University for two years. Afterwards, they continued their education in the present establishment. In addition, residency/speciality intake was initiated in 2009 in accordance with the Medical Specialisation Exam, which progressively expanded annually.