The story of the Colombo Medical School
K. Andree – First
Lecturer in Anatomy.
Professor Gordon Smith – Anatomy
1927 - 1929
Dr. W.C. Osman Hill,
Professor Anatomy 1930 - 1944
British anatomist, primatologist, and a leading
authority on primate anatomy during the 20th century.
He is best known for his nearly completed eight-volume
series, Primates: Comparative Anatomy and Taxonomy, which covered all living
and extinct primates known at the time in full detail and contained
illustrations created by his wife, Yvonne.
Next
to the (St. Bridget's)convent was “Hurst Green” the home of Professor W.S.Osman
Hill. He had a menagerie of apes and monkeys in cages around his home, which
attracted the attention of passers by. The house was demolished in the nineteen
fifties and in its place stands several modern houses
Prof George Wickremasuriya – First Prof. in Obs & Gyn.
Sir Nicholas Attygalle KBE, MRCOG, FRCS– Professor Obs & Gyn, 1944 – 1953.
Educated initially at St. Luke’s school in Ratnapura, and
then at Royal College, Colombo.
He entered the Medical College in 1913, and completed LMS in
1919 obtaining a first class in the Final Examination as well as coming first
in the batch
His early days as a doctor were spent working in the
provinces leading the fight against ‘yaws’.
In February 1925 he married Conyta Attygalle, who was the
granddaughter of John Attygalle, one of the first Western qualified doctors
among the Sinhalese. Conyta and Dr. Nicholas were blessed with two children
Lakshman and Anula.
From 1925 to 1929, Dr. Nicholas trained in the United
Kingdom, and returned to Ceylon, with MRCS, LRCP (Lond), DLO (Lond) and FRCS.
His attempt to secure a post as ENT Surgeon, GH Colombo was not acceeded to by the Department of Health.
He was posted as the District Medical Officer, Nawalapitiya.
Demonstrator in Anatomy at the Colombo Medical School in 1931
He was posted as the District Medical Officer, Nawalapitiya.
Demonstrator in Anatomy at the Colombo Medical School in 1931
He was selected to be trained as the Gynaecologist of the
General Hospital, pending the retirement of Dr. Lucian De Zilva.
Dr. Nicholas was the first Ceylonese to obtain MRCOG (Gr
Britain).
From Great Britain he proceeded to Vienna, as it was the
practice then and followed a course in Gynaecological Pathology and Physiology
where he also studied operative techniques in Gynecology.
He qualified to be enrolled as a member of the Austrian
Medical Association.
On his return he succeeded Dr. Lucian De Zilva as the
Gynecologist of the General Hospital in 1935.
1. Among his close associates who made a significant
contribution to Medicine are those such as Prof. F. J. Browne of the University
College Hospital.
2. Mr. Gwillim had a special link with Ceylon. Mr. Gwillim’s
early education was at Wesley College, as his father worked for the Ceylon
Railway. He returned as an examiner at MBBS and MOG examinations and also introduced
vaginal hysterectomy to the University Ward headed by Prof. Attygalle.
3. Dr. Samson Wright was a great Physiologist whose text
book on Applied Physiology was very popular.
4. Sir Johnson was the President of the Royal College of
Surgeons and was the Surgeon to the Royal family.
5. Mr.McNeil Love co-authored ‘Baily & Love’s Text-book
of Surgery’- dubbed the ‘Yellow peril’ by some.
Dr. Nicholas Attygalle was appointed Professor and Head of
the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of
Ceylon in 1944.
He succeeded Prof. W. A. E. Karunaratne as the Dean of the
Faculty in 1945 and held the post with distinction until 1953.
He succeeded Sir Ivor Jennings as the first Ceylonese Vice
Chancellor in 1955 and held this post until 1966.
In 1952, he was
appointed to the Senate.
Was made its President in 1953.
In 1953, her Majesty the Queen honored him by making him a Knight Bachelor of the Empire.
Educated initially at St. Luke’s school in Ratnapura, and
then at Royal College, Colombo.
He entered the Medical College in 1913, and completed LMS in
1919 obtaining a first class in the Final Examination as well as coming first
in the batch
His early days as a doctor were spent working in the
provinces leading the fight against ‘yaws’.
In February 1925 he married Conyta Attygalle, who was the
granddaughter of John Attygalle, one of the first Western qualified doctors
among the Sinhalese. Conyta and Dr. Nicholas were blessed with two children
Lakshman and Anula.
From 1925 to 1929, Dr. Nicholas trained in the United
Kingdom, and returned to Ceylon, with MRCS, LRCP (Lond), DLO (Lond) and FRCS.
District Medical Officer, Nawalapitiya,
Demonstrator in Anatomy at the Colombo Medical School in 1931
Demonstrator in Anatomy at the Colombo Medical School in 1931
He was selected to be trained as the Gynaecologist of the
General Hospital, pending the retirement of Dr. Lucian De Zilva.
Dr. Nicholas was the first Ceylonese to obtain MRCOG (Gr
Britain).
From Great Britain he proceeded to Vienna, as it was the
practice then and followed a course in Gynaecological Pathology and Physiology
where he also studied operative techniques in Gynecology.
He qualified to be enrolled as a member of the Austrian
Medical Association.
On his return he succeeded Dr. Lucian De Zilva as the
Gynecologist of the General Hospital in 1935.
1. Among his close associates who made a significant
contribution to Medicine are those such as Prof. F. J. Browne of the University
College Hospital.
2. Mr. Gwillim had a special link with Ceylon. Mr. Gwillim’s
early education was at Wesley College, as his father worked for the Ceylon
Railway. He returned as an examiner at MBBS and MOG examinations and also introduced
vaginal hysterectomy to the University Ward headed by Prof. Attygalle.
3. Dr. Samson Wright was a great Physiologist whose text
book on Applied Physiology was very popular.
4. Sir Johnson was the President of the Royal College of
Surgeons and was the Surgeon to the Royal family.
5. Mr.McNeil Love co-authored ‘Baily & Love’s Text-book
of Surgery’- dubbed the ‘Yellow peril’ by some.
Dr. Nicholas Attygalle was appointed Professor and Head of
the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of
Ceylon in 1944.
He succeeded Prof. W. A. E. Karunaratne as the Dean of the
Faculty in 1945 and held the post with distinction until 1953.
He succeeded Sir Ivor Jennings as the first Ceylonese Vice
Chancellor in 1955 and held this post until 1966.
In 1952, he was
appointed to the Senate.
Was made its President in 1953.
In 1953, her Majesty the Queen honored him by making him a Knight Bachelor of the Empire.
Farewell to Prof Nicholas Attygalle – Obs & Gyn. Feb 1954.
Prof. Blaze – Medicine
1946
Farewell to Prof Nicholas Attygalle – Obs & Gyn. Feb 1954.
Prof. Blaze – Medicine
1946
Prof Blaze was a Classics scholar. The stories about him were a legend of the medical students of the late 1940s.
Stories
1. A student who had failed his finals in Medicine approached Prof Blaze just before his ward rounds and requested whether he could 'follow' Prof Blaze. Prof. Blaze assented and the student 'followed' during the ward rounds. Prof Blaze ignored the student. At the end of the ward r the student followed the Professor to the parking area where Blaze got into his car. Blaze looked up and the student and told the student ' I am going to the Caves bookshop in the Fort area. If you want you can follow me there' and drove away leaving a nonplussed student.
2. There was a Mr. Muller who was the first Orthopaedic Surgeon at the GH Colombo. Muller followed the British practice of dropping the Dr. title after obtaining his FRCS. He continued doing so in Ceylon. Prof Blaze referred a patient addressing him as Dr. Muller. The reply came from Mr.Muller with the added sentence 'Prof Blaze, Spare me the therapeutic title'.
1. A student who had failed his finals in Medicine approached Prof Blaze just before his ward rounds and requested whether he could 'follow' Prof Blaze. Prof. Blaze assented and the student 'followed' during the ward rounds. Prof Blaze ignored the student. At the end of the ward r the student followed the Professor to the parking area where Blaze got into his car. Blaze looked up and the student and told the student ' I am going to the Caves bookshop in the Fort area. If you want you can follow me there' and drove away leaving a nonplussed student.
2. There was a Mr. Muller who was the first Orthopaedic Surgeon at the GH Colombo. Muller followed the British practice of dropping the Dr. title after obtaining his FRCS. He continued doing so in Ceylon. Prof Blaze referred a patient addressing him as Dr. Muller. The reply came from Mr.Muller with the added sentence 'Prof Blaze, Spare me the therapeutic title'.
Prof. MVP Peiris - Surgery
He later became the Minister of Health in a UNP Government.
Stories
1. Prof MVP had a habit of talking while dissecting on the operating table. Dr. Mark Amarasinghe while a student and assisting MVP in the surgery of a 'cystic hygroma' in the neck was puzzled when he was asked ' What are the tissues telling me?' MVP gave the answer ' They are telling me 'Gently brother, gently I pray' for if a break this cyst I will not succeed in retrieving it in its entirety. This would lead to a recurrence.
2. Dr. Mark Amarasinghe in his student days had felt a lump deep to his umbilicus in the abdomen. He had shown it to Dr. Noel Kiriella who was MVP's SHO. Noel wanted it shown to MVP. Prof.MVP had tried to dissuade any surgery but was persuaded to operate. For Mark this was the second time going under the knife of MVP. MVP had done an appendectomy on Mark earlier.
The surgery was done under spinal anaesthesia. Mark was fully awake and heard MVP commenting during the surgery 'I can see the lump. It is smooth and solid. It is sitting on the bifurcation of the aorta. I can easily get behind it'. At this moment Prof. Nicholas Attygalle who was operating in the adjoining theatre walked in. He peeped over MVP's shoulder. Mark heard Prof. Attygalla say
' Peter, is it not the kidney?' Mark felt MVP running his hand up to the right hypochondrium to look for the right kidney in its normal site. It was not there and he reached the conclusion that the lump was a 'floating kidney' and left it alone.
Dr Mark Amarasinghe, Orthopaedic Surgeon, who taught me the basics of surgery and set me on the path of becoming a surgeon recalled these incidents when he was 85 years old in the year 2013.
Prof Milroy Paul – Surgery.
1937 - 1965
Prof. WAE Karunaratne – Pathology
1942 – 1945
A man of infinite charm and gentleness he would arrive hat in hand as you see in the picture. We used to see him arrive in a
chauffeur driven car and ascend the stairs to the Department of Pathology at the Colombo Medical Faculty, in the early years of 1960. By then his work on the liver with Cameron was published and referred to in many journals.
His son John was a Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the General Hospital, Kandy. John showed me a newsletter written on paper prepared from waste from an ashram where Mahatma Gandhi spent his time. John told me that this parchment was in his father's collection.
Prof GSW de Saram - Forensic Medicine
Stories
1. Prof MVP had a habit of talking while dissecting on the operating table. Dr. Mark Amarasinghe while a student and assisting MVP in the surgery of a 'cystic hygroma' in the neck was puzzled when he was asked ' What are the tissues telling me?' MVP gave the answer ' They are telling me 'Gently brother, gently I pray' for if a break this cyst I will not succeed in retrieving it in its entirety. This would lead to a recurrence.
2. Dr. Mark Amarasinghe in his student days had felt a lump deep to his umbilicus in the abdomen. He had shown it to Dr. Noel Kiriella who was MVP's SHO. Noel wanted it shown to MVP. Prof.MVP had tried to dissuade any surgery but was persuaded to operate. For Mark this was the second time going under the knife of MVP. MVP had done an appendectomy on Mark earlier.
The surgery was done under spinal anaesthesia. Mark was fully awake and heard MVP commenting during the surgery 'I can see the lump. It is smooth and solid. It is sitting on the bifurcation of the aorta. I can easily get behind it'. At this moment Prof. Nicholas Attygalle who was operating in the adjoining theatre walked in. He peeped over MVP's shoulder. Mark heard Prof. Attygalla say
' Peter, is it not the kidney?' Mark felt MVP running his hand up to the right hypochondrium to look for the right kidney in its normal site. It was not there and he reached the conclusion that the lump was a 'floating kidney' and left it alone.
Dr Mark Amarasinghe, Orthopaedic Surgeon, who taught me the basics of surgery and set me on the path of becoming a surgeon recalled these incidents when he was 85 years old in the year 2013.
Prof Milroy Paul – Surgery.
1937 - 1965
He was educated at Royal College,
Colombo.
He then went on to study medicine at Ceylon Medical
College.
He went to King's College London from
where he graduated in 1925 withMB degree and
a Conjoint Diploma.
Dr. Paul was the first Ceylonese to deliver the Hunterian Oration at
the Royal
College of Surgeons of England on three occasions - The
Surgical Anatomy of the Spermatic Cord (1950), Congenital
Abnormalities of the Midline Abdominal Wall (1953) and Haemorrhages
from Head Injuries (1955).
He was also the first Ceylonese to become a member of the
James IV Association of Surgeons. He was an honorary member of the Association
of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland.
He served as president of the Sri Lanka Medical Association
and Registrar of the Ceylon Medical Council (1942–82).
He was one of the founders of the International
College of Surgeons and the Association of Surgeons of Sri Lanka. He
was awarded honorary degrees by University of Colombo, University of Peradeniya and
University of
Jaffna.
Prof. Paul was a member of the Volunteer
Regiment of the Ceylon
Medical Corps and rose to the rank of Major.
He served in Ceylon Defence Force briefly
during World War II.
Prof. Paul died in 1989.
Dr.
William Paul[ was among the graduates of that medical college (Green Memorial Hospital, Manipay, Sri Lanka) and his son
Samuel C Paul was the first ceylonese Doctor to obtain FRCS london.
Professor Milroy Pauls dad. (Email from Dr.Bala Balakrishnan).
Professor Milroy Pauls dad. (Email from Dr.Bala Balakrishnan).
Stories about Prof Milroy Paul
1. Prof. Milroy Paul would regale the medical students of incidents during the war years. He was at an examination for award of the St Johns Ambulance Badge to a soldier. The question put by a British Medical Colleague officer was ' If you are in the middle of the Sahara and your colleague has accidentally cut his femoral artery. What will you do?' At the end of the question the questioner was looking at his watch. The soldier was gathering his thoughts to give a suitable answer. As he started the examiner exclaimed ' Your time is up. Three minutes have passed and the patient is dead. We will get on to the next question.
2. Milroy suffered a retinal detachment when a tennis ball struck his eye. The regulation for a valid small pox vaccination were in effect for entry to the UK. Milroy has had smallpox vaccinations in earlier years but did not carry a valid yellow card. He was advised not to repeat the vaccination and he took flight to the UK. At Heathrow the airport medical officer had wanted his yellow card. Milroy had said that he had an eye injury and did not renew his vaccination. The Medical Officer had exclaimed ' You do the vaccination on your arm man not on your eye'. Milroy had to explain that he was a Professor of Surgery and he found out that the said officer was a Kings College graduate. Kings College was also Milroy's alma mater. Amity was restored and he was escorted in style out of the air port.
Dr.Vanniasingam, the Consultant Anesthetist related how Milroy's
mother had a goiter and it was decided to operate on her. They did not want to
get her operated by one of the newer surgeons like Dr.Anthonis, but got an
older surgeon, Dr.Silva to do it. The anaesthetic used was apparently, ether in
olive oil, administered as a retention-enema. The surgery went alright. On
recovery the patient could not utter a word, her voice had gone. It was most
probably due to damage to both recurrent laryngeal nerves.
1942 – 1945
chauffeur driven car and ascend the stairs to the Department of Pathology at the Colombo Medical Faculty, in the early years of 1960. By then his work on the liver with Cameron was published and referred to in many journals.
His son John was a Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the General Hospital, Kandy. John showed me a newsletter written on paper prepared from waste from an ashram where Mahatma Gandhi spent his time. John told me that this parchment was in his father's collection.
Prof GSW de Saram - Forensic Medicine
Prof De Saram was very meticulous in his field of Forensic Medicine. One of the famous criminal cases in Ceylon helped to get an innocent man escape punishment. Mr. Sathasivam was a Cricket Captain. He was separated from his wife. One day after a visit by Sathasivam to the house where his wife lived, the wife was found raped and murdered in the house. Sathasivam was arrested and accused of the murder. Prof de Saram did the post-mortem. His findings were forwarded to Sir Sydney Smith a famous forensic authority in the UK. Sir Sydney on arrival in Ceylon went straight to the scene of the murder. He wanted to verify that there was a nail on a door inside the house where the victim had been murdered. Using some of these findings, the garden help of the house was questioned. He confessed to the crime and Sathasivam was freed. This is one of the cases related in the book 'Mostly murder' written by Sir Sydney Smith. He praised Dr. de Saram in that book for his meticulous attention to detail.
One of his publications is on the web-link below:-
A tireless researcher the following are some web-links to his publications:-
One of his publications is on the web-link below:-
Prof Cullumbine –
Physiology
1947 - 1951
1947 - 1951
Phillipo, Read your 'Milestones in the history of the Colombo Medical School -Part -2 without even pausing for a puff on the pipe!. The charm of it is the informality. Unfortunately , there were so many illustrious characters and even greater number of anecdotes associated with each-that it would take hours as a presentation. Now that all the hard work re collating the data had been done, suggest you consider seeking this work to be published e.g. by CoMSAA - for the future generations, Well done Phillipo, Karals (still freezing in London).
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