The Journey
From Medical Student to Gastrointestinal Surgeon
The story of Dr. Hasanjaya Gunawardhana's career spans medical education in Colombo, postgraduate surgical training, specialist development in Japan and the United Kingdom, and several decades of consultant practice in Sri Lanka.
Chapter 1 — Medical beginnings
Colombo: The Foundation
Dr. Gunawardhana entered the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Colombo in 1984.
He completed the MBBS degree in 1991, graduating with Second Class Lower Division honours and a Distinction in Medicine.
Medicine was followed by a commitment to surgery. During the 1990s he entered structured postgraduate surgical training and worked as a Registrar and Senior Registrar within the Professorial Surgical Unit associated with the University of Colombo and the National Hospital of Sri Lanka.
He successfully completed the MS Surgery Part II examination in January 1998 through the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo.
Chapter 2 — Surgery and academia
Training, Teaching and the First Academic Years
Surgical training was accompanied by an early involvement in medical education.
From 1998 to 2000, Dr. Gunawardhana served as a Lecturer in the Department of Surgery at the University of Kelaniya, where his responsibilities included teaching and participation in examinations.
Teaching would remain a continuing element of his career, later extending to undergraduate and postgraduate surgical education, assessment and supervision.
Chapter 3 — Japan
Tokyo, 1999
In 1999, Dr. Gunawardhana undertook specialist training at Kyorin University School of Medicine in Tokyo, Japan.
The programme exposed him to gastrointestinal endoscopic examinations, endoscopic surgery, ultrasound examination and multidisciplinary clinical conferences.
He also attended the Japanese Digestive Diseases Week International Symposium in Hiroshima.
The period in Japan strengthened an interest in endoscopy and minimally invasive gastrointestinal practice that would remain central to his later work.
Chapter 4 — United Kingdom
The UK Years
From 2000, Dr. Gunawardhana entered a period of intensive surgical training in the United Kingdom.
Over several years he held registrar and specialist registrar positions across general surgery, upper gastrointestinal surgery, hepatobiliary surgery, laparoscopic surgery and colorectal surgery.
His appointments included surgical centres in King's Lynn, Birmingham, Selly Oak and Shrewsbury.
The breadth of these rotations allowed him to work across several subspecialties of gastrointestinal surgery while continuing to develop operative experience, clinical judgement and surgical teaching.
| 2000–2001 | Registrar in Surgery — King's Lynn |
|---|---|
| 2001–2002 | Specialist Registrar — West Midlands / Selly Oak |
| 2002–2003 | Hepatobiliary Surgery — Birmingham |
| 2003 | Upper GI & Laparoscopic Surgery — Birmingham |
| 2003–2004 | Colorectal Surgery |
| 2004 | General Surgery — Royal Shrewsbury Hospital |
Chapter 5 — Fellowships
Fellowship of the Royal Colleges
FRCS Glasgow — 2001
Dr. Gunawardhana was elected a Surgical Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in 2001.
FRCS Edinburgh — 2002
He subsequently obtained Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
Chapter 6
Robert H. Sage FRCS Award
2003
During his UK surgical training, Dr. Gunawardhana received the Robert H. Sage FRCS Award for Specialist Surgical Registrar.
The award recognised qualities extending beyond technical surgical ability, including industry, attention to duties, consideration for patients and their relatives, professional disposition and personal character.
The accompanying recognition described the intended recipient as an outstanding all-round officer.
Chapter 7 — Return to Sri Lanka
Bringing Experience Home
Following his overseas surgical training, Dr. Gunawardhana continued his consultant career in Sri Lanka.
From 2005 to 2008 he served as a Consultant in Gastrointestinal and General Surgery at the teaching hospital in Karapitiya, Galle.
In 2009 he joined North Colombo Teaching Hospital in Ragama as a Consultant Gastrointestinal and General Surgeon.
His subsequent work has combined complex gastrointestinal surgery, endoscopic practice, minimally invasive procedures, cancer surgery, teaching, postgraduate training and examining.
A Career Built Across Continents — Practised at Home
Training in Colombo, Tokyo and the United Kingdom ultimately became part of a career centred on surgical practice, education and patient care in Sri Lanka.