President Ranil Wickremesinghe has decided to appoint a committee to identify suitable government hospitals to be used as Teaching Hospitals to provide clinical training for medical students.

Thereby, the medical students enrolled at the Kotelawala Defence University (KDU), Dr. Neville Fernando Hospital, Lyceum Campus and other universities in Colombo, Kalutara, Gampaha, Kurunegala and Polonnaruwa, will be given clinical training at selected government hospitals without hampering the training of students in state universities, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.

State Minister of Health Dr. Seetha Arambepola will be appointed as the Chairperson of the aforementioned Committee, according to the PMD.

Meanwhile, the other appointed members will include Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Health Dr. R.M. Saman Kusumsiri Ratnayake, Additional Secretary (Medical Services) of the Ministry of Health Dr. A.K.S. de Alwis, Chairman of the University Grants Commission Senior Prof. Sampath Amarathunga, Senior Consultant Surgeon Prof. Mohan de Silva, Professor in Surgery in the Faculty of Medicine USJP Prof. Bawantha Gamage, Senior Consultant Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgeon Dr. Narendra Pinto, Dean, Faculty of Medicine at the KDU Prof. Namal Wijesinghe, President of SLMC Prof. Vajira Dissanayake, President of GMOA Dr. Darshana Sirisena, Executive Director at the University Hospital KDU Prof. J. Balawardane and Director Nursing (Medical Service) in the Ministry of Health Mrs. R.L.S. Samanmali, it added.

The Committee will be responsible for studying, reviewing and identifying suitable government hospitals to function as Teaching Hospitals to provide clinical training for Medical Students enrolled at the KDU, Dr. Neville Fernando Hospital, Lyceum Campus and other universities in Colombo, Kalutara, Gampaha, Kurunegala and Polonnaruwa. 

The Committee is also expected to make recommendations for the necessary developments to upgrade the hospitals identified for the provision of such training and submit a report on the findings and recommendations of the Committee within a period of eight weeks, the PMD said.