Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo

Faculty of Medicine, UoC
	කොළඹ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල වෛද්‍ය පිඨය
Type	Public
Established	1870
Chancellor	Most Rev Dr Oswald Gomis
Vice-Chancellor	Professor Chandrika Wijeratne
Dean	Professor Vajira Dissanayake
Location	Colombo, Sri Lanka
Campus	Urban
Website	Official website

Established in 1870 as the Colombo Medical School, the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, is the second oldest medical school in South Asia. It is considered to be the topmost medical faculty in the country which requires the highest qualification in GCE Advanced Level examination to be entered.

History

In 1839, the Governor of Ceylon J. A. Stewart Mackenzie started sending Ceylonese students to Calcutta for medical studies to the oldest medical school in South Asia - The Bengal Medical College.

In the 1860s the Colonial Surgeon, Dr. James Loos was requested to report on the large depopulation of the Wanni. He recommended that medical facilities should be available throughout the island and to this end a medical school should be opened. The Colombo Medical School was thus opened in 1870 by the then Governor Sir Hercule Robinson. Dr James Loos was its first principal. Dr. E.L.Koch was the second principal in whose memory the Koch Memorial Clock Tower, which still stands, was built in 1881.

The beginnings of the medical school were modest. It was situated in the General Hospital Colombo, and had three teachers and 25 students. It offered a course of three years duration until in 1873 the course was extended to four years. Its progress was rapid. In 1880 the medical school was raised to the status of a college (renamed Ceylon Medical College) and in 1884 the course was extended to 5 years.

In 1875 Mudaliyar Samson Rajapakse gifted three and a half acres of land on which the present Faculty is located. Sir Charles Henry de Soysa, Mudaliyar Susew de Soysa, Muhandiram A.Simon Fernando Wijegooneratne and Mudaliyar Vimala Gunawardana donated the buildings. These buildings are no more and the Anatomy block, built in 1913, is the oldest building now. In 1887, the Diploma of Licentiate of Medicine and Surgery (LMS) granted by the College became registrable with the General Medical Council (GMC) of the United Kingdom.

The Ceylon Medical College and the Ceylon University College, which had been established in 1921, formed the nucleus of the University of Ceylon, which came into being in 1942. The status of the Ceylon Medical College was elevated to the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ceylon and the diploma of L.M.S. was replaced by the degree of MBBS Until it became the Faculty of Medicine, the Medical College was administered by the Civil Medical Department and its successor the Department of Medical and Sanitary Services. Dr. W.R. Kynsey served as Principal Civil Medical Officer (PCMO) between 1875 and 1897 and contributed much towards the college in its early years. Kynsey Road, which runs between the National Hospital and the Faculty, is named after him.

In 1942 the Faculty of Medicine had six Departments - Physiology, Anatomy, Pathology, Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Surgery. Departments of Public Health (Community Medicine) and Forensic Medicine were added in 1949 and 1951 respectively. At present there are 14 Departments. The Departments of Biochemistry and Pharmacology branched off from the Department of Physiology, Parasitology and Microbiology from the Department of Pathology, and Paediatrics and Psychological Medicine from the Department of Medicine. There are 5 Units in addition to these departments - the Malaria Research Unit, the Human Genetics Unit, the Molecular Biology Unit, the Medical Education Development and Research Centre (MEDARC), and the Audio-Visual Unit. From 25 students in 1870, the student number increased to about 500 in the '60s and 1533 at present. The staff strength too has increased considerably.

Current Status

The Faculty at present provides for the education and training of undergraduates in allied health sciences. The course in Pharmacy is a well established one at the faculty while that for Physiotherapy is now three years old. In addition courses ranging from medico-legal sciences to those in medical education are regularly conducted. There is also a strong ethics review committee for processing of research projects and training of staff in ethical practices. These have provided for an innovative and vibrant academic environment within the faculty.

In the future the faculty is gearing itself for the rapid changes in the health and medical educational needs of the country. It has taken the steps towards using advanced technologies by forward thinking. In doing so it is our (whose?) intention to establish and strengthen Inter departmental, inter faculty, inter – university and international links.

The Faculty has close links with several hospitals for teaching, training, clinical services and research. These include;

The National Hospital of Sri Lanka (Colombo General Hospital)
De Soysa Maternity Hospital (DMH)
Castle Street Hospital for Women (CSHW)
Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children
National Eye Hospital - Sri Lanka
National Cancer Institute, Maharagama
National Institute for Mental Health, Angoda

Notable alumni

Professor Sir Nicholas Attygalle, KBE, FRCS, FRCOG - former President of the Senate of Ceylon, Vice Chancellor of University of Ceylon, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine & Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
I. M. R. A. Iriyagolle - former Minister of Education
Sir Ratnasothy Saravanamuttu - former Mayor of Colombo
Professor Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, FRCOG, FRCS - former President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (2007–2010)
Professor Sanath Lamabathusooriya, MBE - former Dean of the Medical Faculty, University of Colombo
Professor Sunitha Wickramasinghe, FRCP - Deputy Dean of the Imperial College School of Medicine and Professor of Haematology[1]
Deshamanya Dr P. R. Anthonis, FRCS - former Chancellor of University of Colombo
Deshamanya Professor AH Sheriffdeen - pioneer in vascular and transplant surgery in Sri Lanka
Vidyajyothi Professor Rezvi Sheriff, FRCP - Professor of Medicine, University of Colombo
Professor Devaka Fernando - Professor of Medicine, University of Sri jayawardanapura
Professor Ravindra fernando - Professor of Forensic Medicine
Professor Harendra de Silva - Founder Chairman Child Protection Authority and Professor of Paediatrics, University of Kelaniya

Current Chairs and Heads of Departments and Special Units

Dean: Prof. Vajira Dissanayake

Anatomy

Chair: Prof. Vajira Dissanayake
Head: Prof. Vajira Dissanayake

Physiology

Chair: Vacant
Head: Dr. S. Wasalathanthri

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Chair : Prof. Sunethra Athukorale
Head :Dr. Kithmini Sirideva

Pathology

Chair: Prof. Chandu de Silva
Head: Prof. Chandu de Silva

Pharmacology & Pharmacy

Chair: Prof. Laal Jayakody
Head: Prof. Priyadarshani Galapptthy

Microbiology

Chair: Prof. Jennifer Perera
Head: Dr. Channa Senanayake

Parasitology

Chair and Head: Prof. Nadeera Karunaweera

Community Medicine

Chair: Prof. Dulitha Fernando.
Head: Dr. Wasantha Gunathunga

Forensic Medicine & Toxicology

Chair: Prof. Jean Perera
Head: Dr. Asela Mendis

Clinical Medicine

Chair: Prof. Saroj Jayasinghe
Head: Prof. Godwin Constantine

Surgery

Chair and Head: Prof. Mandika Wijeyratne

Paediatrics

Chair and Head: Prof. Manouri P. Senanayake

Obstetrics and Gynaecology

Chair and Head: Prof. Harshalal Rukka Senevirathne

Psychological Medicine

Chair:
Head: Prof. Raveen Hanwella

Malaria Research Unit

Director: Prof. Nadeera Karunaweera

Human Genetics Unit

Director: Prof. Rohan W. Jayasekera

Medical Education and Research Centre

Director: Prof. Indika Karunaratne

Chairs of Study Streams

Introductory Basic Sciences Stream

Chairperson: Dr. Mangala Gunathilake, Department of Physiology

Applied Sciences Stream

Chairperson: Prof. Anuja Abeydeera, Department of Surgery

Community Stream

Chairperson: Dr. Nalika Gunawardena, Department of Community Medicine

Behavioural Sciences Stream

Chairperson: Prof. Wasantha Gunathunga, Department of Community Medicine

Clinical Sciences Stream

Chairperson: Prof. Ariyaranee Gnanathasan, Department of Medicine

gollark: Why NOT make a unary calculator, or a calculator which solves halting problems, or or one which only runs some sort of deranged LISP?

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gollark: Or use low power hardware and run it entirely off solar or something, there are many possibilities.

gollark: Or, with a highish res display, G R A P H I N G.

gollark: Maybe you can get some kind of 48-character-or-so letters+numbers+some punctuation keypad and have a programmable one which is actually not terrible to use.

References

Prof Sunitha Wickramasinghe

A history of medicine in Sri Lanka - from the earliest time to 1948. Uragoda C G. 1987. Sri Lanka Medical Association. Colombo

https://web.archive.org/web/20100529152253/http://www.cmb.ac.lk/academic/medicine/index.htm

External links

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[1] Prof Sunitha Wickramasinghe