Donations

Make a donation to help us to do more for our community

This page is dedicated to the Peradeniya Medical School Alumni who have passed away.
If any member find about the death of any of our medical school's alumni, please bring it to our notice. Please also send us a brief obituary (up to100 words)

 

Mr Ponampalam KumaranayakanMr Ponampalam Kumaranayakan
FRCOG - 1962 Batch
Dr Padma Samarawickrama MBBS MRCP (UK) 1963 BatchDr Nadarajah Sivananthan
1963 Batch

Mr Kumaranayakan was a graduate of the first batch (1962) Faculty of Medicine Peradeniya and was a retired Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow, Essex UK sadly passed away peacefully at home in Hertfordshire. His cremation took place on 24 March 2020 at Parndon Crematorium, Harlow, Essex.

He had been an ardent supporter of PeMSAA-UK. We would like to offer our heartfelt Condolences to his wife Wiji, sons and their families

But all the pleasure that I find; Is to maintain a quiet mind.
My wealth is health and perfect ease; My conscience clear my choice defence;
I neither seek by bribes to please, Nor by deceit to breed offence.
Thus do I live, thus will I die; Would all did so as well as I!

By Sir Edward Dyer (1543-1607)

Dr Sivananthan graduated from the Peradeniya Medical Faculty in 1968 and worked as a Consultant Radiologist in Colchester, Essex, until his retirement. He passed away after a brief illness on 26 March 2020.

PeMSAA-UK would like to offer our sincere condolences to his wife Chandra, his daughter Anjana, son in law Hasita and his grandchildren Darshan and Haran.

   
Dr Lalithambigai (Lali) ThambiaiyahDr Lalithambigai (Lali) Thambiaiyah
(nee Kathirgamalingam) MBBS MD - 1977 Batch
Dr S A S GoonewardenaDr S A S Goonewardena MBBS, MS, FRCS, DUrol. - 1977 Batch
Senior Consultant Urologist, The National Hospital of Sri Lanka

An Internal Medicine Physician at Kaiser Permanente Pleasanton, California USA, sadly passed away on 16th April 2020 after ill health in California.

PeMSAA-UK would like to offer our deepest heartfelt condolences to her loving family and friends

He was one of the leaders in the history of Sri Lankan Urology in the formation of Sri Lanka Association of Urological Surgeons (SLAUS) in December 1999. Under his editorship, Sri Lanka Journal of Urology (SLJU) has opened a golden path to urological research and publication of Sri Lanka. His final rites were conducted on 14th March at Borella Cemetery.

PeMSAA-UK would like to offer our profound heartfelt condolences to his loving family and friends

   
Dr Sinnathurai BalasanthiranDr Sinnathurai Balasanthiran -1962 Batch
Retired General Practitioner, Ashby, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire
Dr Shanthi ChellappahDr Shanthi Chellappah
FDSRCS - 1963 Dental Batch

"Bala" peacefully passed away on the 20th April 2020 in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire. He was an utterly devoted husband, father, grandfather & brother. Due to the current situation, a small private ceremony will be held on 5th May with a larger memorial and celebration when able.

Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Instead of flowers, please send donations via justgiving to "Ambaal Temple" a place close to his heart: https://ambaal.org/archanai-and-pooja/

PeMSAA-UK would like to offer our deepest sympathies to Bala's loving wife, family and friends

She was a retired Oral and Maxillary Surgeon - Associate Specialist at Northwick Park hospital and at Basildon Group of Hospitals.

Sadly passed away peacefully after a short illness on 29th March 2020.

PeMSAA-UK would like to offer our heartfelt condolences to her loving husband Dr Mandalanayagam Chellappah, her family and friends

   
Dr. Tilak De SilvaDr. Tilak De Silva
MS, FRCOG
Dr H S R WijemanneDr H S R Wijemanne
Consultant Physician

Tilak De Silva MS, FRCOG passed away peacefully in the UK on the 15th of June 2020. He worked as a VOG in Kandy and Peradeniya Teaching Hospitals, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist in the UK, and finally as a Consultant in Accident & Emergency Medicine until his retirement.

He was a founding member of PeMSAA (Peradeniya) in 1992 and served as the Secretary of the inaugural PeMSAA Committee from 1992-1994.

He was a loving and devoted husband to Chandra and father to Punyanganie and Manya.

May he attain Nibbana

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Dr H S R Wijemanne on 12th October 2020. The
funeral services were held on 14th October 2020 in Kandy.

He was a Consultant Physician - General Medicine at General Hospital, Kandy, affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya.

PeMSAA-UK would like to offer our profound heartfelt condolences to his loving family and friends.

May he attain Nibbana

   
Dr. T BalasuntharamDr. T Balasuntharam Retired Psychiatrist
St Albans, Hertfordshire - 1963 (3rd) Batch
Dr Kandiah RatnakumarDr Kandiah Ratnakumar FRCS Lon. Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon
Alumnus of Peradeniya Medical School 1971 - 1975
Dr. T. Balasuntharam, fondly called Bala, passed away peacefully following a short illness on Thursday 24th December 2020.
Bala hailed from Manipay in Sri Lanka. He moved to the UK in 1975, and worked in Barnet, St Albans, and Stevenage as a Registrar in Psychiatry. Sadly, his promising career was cut short in 1982 due to ill health. Bala bore his ill health with immense courage, charm, and good humour. Renowned for his infectious laughs, he was at his best among his batch-mates whom he held close to his heart.
Bala is survived by his devoted and loving wife Pathmini, son Sanjeevan and daughter-in-law Karie and daughter Shivani and son-in-law Peter, and grandchildren Ashan and Tarun

PeMSAA-UK is saddened to announce the passing away of the above who succumbed to Covid 19 on the 26th Jan 2021 at a hospital in London. He leaves behind his wife Sarojini retired Consultant Anaesthetist who herself was an alumnus of the faculty.

May he attain Moksha

   
Dr T SivabalanDr T Sivabalan MBBS, FACRRM, FRCOG, FRANZCOG, FCOG
Peradeniya Medical School 1966 - 1971
Dr Sampanthanathan SivaloganathanDr Sampanthanathan Sivaloganathan Psychiatrist
Peradeniya Medical School First Batch

Dr T Sivabalan graduated in 1971, and after working in many hospitals in Sri Lanka , he moved to London in 1983, where he specialised in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. He went back to Sri Lanka and after working there for a while, he moved to New Zealand and then to Australia. In Australia he undertook postgraduate training in General Practice.

He was working in general Practice in Melbourne, Auatralia, when he passed away after a period of illness on 05 November 2021.

May his soul rest in peace

Dr Sivaloganathan was a graduate of the first batch of Faculty of Medicine Peradeniya and was a retired psychiatrist of Sussex Partnership Trust, Sussex, UK. He sadly passed away peacefully at home on 7th Jan 2022 with his family around him.

He was an ardent supporter of PeMSAA-U.K. having served as Treasurer in the initial years.

Sincere condolences to his wife, Dr Saraswathy Sivaloganathan, an alumnus, and her family

   
Dr Athula KahandaliyanageDr Athula Kahandaliyanage
Batch 1973 Peradeniya Medical School
Dr. Bandusiri EdussuriyaDr Bandusiri Edussuriya
Batch

Dr Kahandaliyanage joined the medical administrative service of the Ministry of Health, and steadily rose in the ranks to the highest post of Secretary Health. Thereafter he took up a post in the WHO in India, where his abilities were soon recognized, with several other assignments being offered to him. On his return back home, he was in great demand again in the private and public sector.

"He was courteous and charming, compassionate to the downtrodden, courageous during adversity, competent in administration, conciliatory during a crisis, careful in conversation - a charismatic persona".
May he attain the supreme bliss of Nibbana.

It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of our colleague, past president of the KSM, retired ENT surgeon Teaching Hospital Kandy, Dr. Bandusiri Edussuriya on the 29th of May 2023. Affectionately called Dr. Bandu he lived a life of service and compassion. He hailed from Kalutara and entered the Colombo Medical Faculty from Ananda College, Colombo. He passed out from the Colombo Medical College with the rare distinction of receiving the Garvin Gold Medal for Operative Surgery in 1959. He reported to Teaching Hospital Kandy after his foreign training in ENT in UK in 1972 and served till his retirement in 1989. This eminent healer is survived by stories of his legendary surgical skills and love for teaching. He pioneered cadaveric dura mater transplants to heal perforated ear drums in the early 1980’s. He was a mentor to many in the medical field. He campaigned actively for establishing a MS examination program in ENT in Sri Lanka which he was able to establish with the PGIM Sri Lanka in his tenure as President of the College of Otolaryngologists.

He worked tirelessly to establish the Hearing care center at the TH Kandy with the help of the rotary club of Kandy in which he became an active member. An avid history buff who authored several concise versions of major history chronicles such as the Mahawamsa and Culawamsa, he is best remembered for his sense humor, golden voice and love for tennis. In the 1970’s and 1980’s there was hardly a day he spent not teaching tennis or enjoying a game of tennis. A strict disciplinarian by nature he was keen to see everything done with precision. Many were the days he would invite colleagues for a sing song and the home still echoes with his constant whistling. He will be missed sorely by his son Kapila, daughter Nimalka, daughter in law Deepthi, Son in law Sivakumar and grandchildren Taveesh, Yohan and Aari

   
Prof. Raja BandaranayakeProf. Raja C. Bandaranayake
Batch:
 

(04/04/1935 -18/01/2024)

I was shocked to hear of the passing of Prof. Raja Bandaranayake, an icon in the Medical spheres of Anatomy & Medical Education both in Sri Lanka and of International renown in Australia and New Zealand.

Following his term as Senior Lecturer in Anatomy and Medical Education at the Faculty of Medicine, Peradeniya, Ceylon, he emigrated to Australia, where he was appointed as a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons and the President of the Australian and NZ Association of Medical Education and was awarded the Fred Katz Memorial Medal for his achievements in 1991. We were looking forward to seeing him in the UK this year, as his trips to Oberammergau had been cancelled due to COVID in 2020/2022. His email at Christmas mentioned that he was unable to type or write and would prefer to chat, which sadly was not to be. He was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Motor Neurone Disease a few months ago, to which he succumbed on the 18th of January.

I owe my interest in Anatomy and Clinical Medicine to his introduction and lectures - a teacher par excellence, and I am proud that I had the privilege to be taught be him, as a ‘Fresher’ in the first year of Medical School. He was then Senior Lecturer in Anatomy at the Peradeniya Medical Faculty alongside Prof. ‘Jacko’ Jayatilleke and Mrs Eugene (‘Timmy’) Wickramanayake, and more familiarly known as ‘Banda’! One could not have wished for a better teacher to initiate us into coping with the rigorous medical training in the ensuing 5 yrs. His anatomical dissections were meticulous and thorough, diagrams perfect, thus inspiring interest in a difficult field. The Mnemonics were many and learned with great humour! By integrating theory into clinical situations, Anatomy turned into an enjoyable subject, and helped to dismiss the anxieties at Examination Practicals & Vivas.

He was a gentle giant walking the corridors of the Medical School at Peradeniya, a superb educator and clinical anatomist, a compassionate counsellor, role model and friend. His many talents and interests included sports, travel, literature, and history, exemplified by the books he has written i.e. ‘The Integrated Medical Curriculum’ , ‘Betwixt Isles’ etc. He was a pioneer in mastering the Electron Microscope when it first arrived and was ever ready to take up anything innovative. It even extended to involving students in helping organise fundraisers along with his wife Chandrani & other Faculty members.

One of my first experiences of this was when he roped me in to design and paint the entrance decor to the Fundraising Stall at the “Esala Mela,” held during the Annual Perahera, a far cry from Anatomy, albeit for a worthy cause! He advocated that the ‘Art of Medicine’ should be integrated with the ‘Science of Medicine’ thereby applying theory to practice, thus improving diagnostics, clinical skills, communication, and patient care. (a much-needed outlook even for today!)

He was one of the pioneers in Medical Education in Sri Lanka, attached to the Medical Education Unit of the Medical Faculty. He was a member of the team which conducted teacher training programmes for medical teachers from the SE Asia region. After he emigrated to Australia, he was based at the School of Medical Education, University of New South Wales, Sydney. From this base, he acted as a Consultant in Medical Education to countries in the Asia Pacific region.

As a unique Medical Educator, he believed ‘Education is for Life’ and many are the students who have benefitted and are a lasting testimony to his efforts. He was a person who certainly influenced and encouraged me in continuing with my chosen career for which I shall be ever grateful. I am sure my sentiments will be shared by many in the words of the following poem:

“As We Look Back”
As we look back over time, we find ourselves wondering
Did we remember to thank you enough for all you have done for us?
For all the times you were by our sides to help and support us
To celebrate our successes, to understand our problems and accept our defeats?
Or, for teaching us by your example, the value of hard work, good judgement, courage, and integrity?
And for the simple things like laughter, smiles and times shared?
If we have forgotten to show our gratitude enough for all that you did, we are thanking you now
And we are hoping you knew all along how much it all meant to us

My heartfelt sympathies to his wife Chandrani, and children Rohan, Ruveni and Roshini and their families.
May his soul rest in peace.

Dr. Christine Wirasinha (UK)

PeMSAA-UK wouls appreciate any donation from our well-wishers who would like to contribute towards the valuable projects that we are undertaking for our alma mater, the Faculty of medicine, University of Peradeniya. Our activities aimed at the betterment of the academic and social welfare of the Faculty and its students are described elsewhere in this website.

If you would like to contribute, please let us know wishes by emailing to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Bank Account details for online money transfer, setting up Standing Orders and online payment links are given below:

 

Bank Sort Code Account Number Name of Account Donate with PayPal PayPal QR Code
20-45-45 60275476 PeMSAA-UK  
donation qr ode

 

 

PeMSAA-UK Career Guidance Project

PeMSAA-UK appointed Dr Chula Goonasekara to lead “PeMSAA-UK Career Guidance Project” on 10th September 2017.

During his recent visit to Sri Lanka Dr Goonasekara met Prof Kumarasiri (PeMSAA President) and Dr Pathirage (PeMSAA Secretary) on 12th October at Peradeniya Medical faculty to discuss how PeMSAA-UKs members could assist in academic activities.

Both of them agreed that an academic contribution especially with face-face contact be most useful. However, Prof Kumarasiri and Dr. Pathirage stated that the faculty would have to be informed and need PeMSAA executive committee’s approval.


Proposal.

Since above discussion, following items were proposed for consideration by the relevant committees (i.e. PeMSAA and PeMSAA-UK).

  1. To name the contribution of the PeMSAA-UK as “PeMSAA-UK Career Guidance Project”.
  2. One or two members will visit Peradeniya at one time targeting a two-day workshop to be held over a weekend on subject areas of their choice and expertise. This could include any subject matter they wish to present (surgery, medicine, etc. etc., family medicine, higher education, skill training, GP set up, ethics, MBBS curricular changes abroad, shared decision making with patients, evidence based medicine at practice etc. etc. etc.)
  3. The program offered will be written by the 1-2 resource persons of the PeMSAA-UK directly involved with their workshop in the format they wish, for example, lectures, interactive sessions, skill training sessions, use of online resources, etc. etc.
  4. PeMSAA will negotiate space, location and facilities without hindrance to any of the faculty activities with minimal interference to faculty curricula activities. They will also set the pitch – i.e. whether a session is useful for students 1-3 or 4-5 year standing, junior doctors etc. etc. and advertised via PeMSAA to extend an open invitation to interested students and young doctors.

Funding

PeMSAA will find it difficult to fund air travel and accommodation in Kandy. Kandy has cheap but good guest house accommodation and PeMSAA will help find these and provide local hospitality facilities.

Dr CG suggested that a proposal will be made for PeMSAA-UK to establish a fund to support this Career Guidance Project and utilise it for members in need to make above come true. It is likely that PeMSAA-UK members may consider self-funding some of their costs.

These meetings will take place regularly once a month in the faculty premises. Thus, the program will need to be drawn up well in advance to ensure that it takes place smoothly. The program will appear in their relevant websites

Dr Chula Goonasekara
Lead Coordinator
Dr Krish T Radhakrishnan
President PeMSAA-UK
Dr Abey Abeyasekara
Secretary PeMSAA-UK

 


 

PeMSAA-UK Mentoring Scheme

PeMSAA-UK appointed Dr Uditha Jayatunga to lead “PeMSAA-UK Mentoring Scheme” on 10th September 2017.

We the PeMSAA-UK are keen to provide initial support by the way of advice and mentoring for any PeMSAA member who come to UK to work. It could be for PGIM members or doctors who come to work via PLAB route.


The Proposal:
  1. The support PeMSAA-UK could provide are;
    1. Initial advice and guidance on career development
    2. Improving the network with likeminded personal
    3. Offering pastoral role
    4. Mentoring during their stay in UK
    5. Enrolling them as associate members of PeMSAA-UK
  2. PeMSAA-UK’s input will ONLY be on the recommendation of parent PeMSAA
  3. We feel that the recommendation by the parent PeMSAA will encourage younger PeMSAA members to seek formal membership in Sri Lanka as well us will help PeMSAA-UK to identify them early for our future activities.
  4. For this mentoring scheme to be successful, parent PeMSAA will have to publicise the scheme on their web site as well as in their programme.
  5. Allocation of PeMSAA-UK Mentor will depend on the area of interest and the preferred location of the new Postgraduate doctor.
  6. Initial contacts will be via the generic PeMSAA-UK e-mail (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
  7. Depending on the demand, we will endeavor to have a list of PeMSAA-UK Mentors covering whole of UK and their area of expertise.
Dr Uditha Jayatunga
Lead Coordinator
Dr Krish T Radhakrishnan
President PeMSAA-UK
Dr Abey Abeyasekara
Secretary PeMSAA-UK

PeMSAA-UK

logoPeMSAA-UK is a nonprofit organisation based in the United Kingdom established by the alumni of the Peradeniya Medical School, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

By using this website, you agree to abide our Terms and Conditions and our Privacy Policy.

Contact Us

City Campus
Hucknall Road
Nottingham,
NG5 1PB
United Kingdom
+44 1159 691169
info@pemsaa.uk