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Skilled hands and good heart vital for surgeons
View(s):- CSSL President calls for compassion, ethics, innovation & resilience at Surgical Congress 2025
By Kumudini Hettiarachchi
It was a star-studded Wednesday evening, as eminent local and international surgeons from wide and varied fields, put down their scalpels to gather in Colombo.
The spotlight, however, was on the patient, more so the humble and impoverished man, woman or child rather than those of affluence who have easy access to surgical care.
“We are all well-qualified, knowledgeable and very skilled. Our skills should percolate right down to the poorest of the poor, living in remote areas in Sri Lanka, not just be available only to those who can afford the most complex of procedures in towns such as Colombo or Kandy,” reiterated the President of the College of Surgeons of Sri Lanka (CSSL), Dr. Duminda Ariyaratne.
Eminent surgeons, local and foreign, at the inauguration of the Sri Lanka Surgical Congress 2025. Chief Guest Justice Lalith Dehideniya is 7th from the left; CSSL President Dr. Duminda Ariyaratne is 8th from the left; and CSSL Secretary Dr. Malik De Soysa is the 1st from the right. Inset: Master of Ceremonies Dr. Dulantha de Silva. Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
This was what was underscored when the Sunday Times met both Dr. Ariyaratne and CSSL Secretary Dr. Malik De Soysa at the CSSL’s charming base at No. 6, Independence Avenue, Colombo 7 – the former home of Dr. Noel and Nora Bartholomeusz – for an exclusive interview amidst hectic preparations for the ‘Sri Lanka Surgical Congress 2025’.
Dr. Ariyaratne emphasised that surgeons need to have a heart in addition to skilled hands. This has been his theme as CSSL President.
Later standing before a record-breaking audience of registrants at the inauguration of the congress on the theme ‘Empowering the future surgeon in the service of humanity’, the “pinnacle” event of the CSSL on Wednesday at a Colombo hotel, he said that the international participants reflect the strong bonds of collaboration and friendship that unite them as one global surgical fraternity.
Dr Duminda Ariyaratne
Elaborating on the theme, he said the future surgeon should be more than a master of technique. He/she should be compassionate, ethical, innovative and resilient. “At a time when our profession here faces challenges such as the migration of skilled professionals and limited resources, we must groom the next generation to transform obstacles into opportunities.”
Pointing out that in Sri Lanka, despite resource constraints, surgeons have continually shown resilience, innovation and a commitment to excellence, he said that these challenges were not unique to this country but shared by many other nations. “This is why when the world’s surgical leaders come together in Colombo, we reaffirm that surgical knowledge and skills have no borders and that our duty to humanity transcends geographical boundaries.”
Urging that the congress should not only be a platform for academic enrichment, but also for building bridges of friendship and strengthening fellowship, Dr. Ariyaratne added that the final beneficiaries of their deliberations were surgical patients in Sri Lanka and beyond.
Dr. Malik De Soysa, dubbed the “live wire” behind the preparations, said that the three days of deliberations of the 54th annual academic sessions had fully-loaded programmes covering topics relevant to all sub-specialities.
It was also a platform for budding surgeons to submit their work in research and development, he said, adding that they had received an unprecedented number of oral and poster presentations. There were also a “remarkable” number of foreign delegates as well as local participants. Many surgeons of Sri Lankan origin working in the United Kingdom and Australia attended to share their knowledge and expertise.
In his vote of thanks, Dr. De Soysa spoke of the surgeons who worked tirelessly in every nook and corner of the country, some far away from their young families, and surgeons who had not exited their operating theatres (OTs) as he spoke.
Dr Malik De Soysa
“In surgery, we are not ‘islanders’ – there are many different specialities who complement our work in curing our patients………our better halves in the OTs, the anaesthetists; the radiologists who give us the maps by which we navigate our surgeries; the pathologists who give us the ultimate verdict; the physicians who help us treat patients holistically; the microbiologists who keep us protected from potential bugs; the intensivists, haematologists, transfusion specialists; the list is long,” he added.
While the co-hosts of the congress were the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) of Edinburgh and the South Asian Surgical Care Society, the chief guest at the inauguration was the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, Justice Lalith Dehideniya.
Other high-level delegations were from the RCS of England and Glasgow; the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons; and from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, the Maldives, Singapore and Malaysia.
The Academic Chairpersons were Prof. Ajith Malalasekera & Dr. Ranga Wickramarachchi, while the Congress Co-chairs were Dr. Gayan Ekanayake and Dr. Kavinda Rajapakse.
The South Asian Surgical Care Society Oration was delivered by Dr. Lokesh Agarwal and the Dr. R.L. Spittel Oration by Prof. Bawantha Gamage.
In view of the large number of road traffic accidents in Sri Lanka, a highlight of the congress was the launch of the 2nd edition of the National Trauma Management Course (NTMC) manual and also the initiation of accreditation by the International Society of Surgery (ISS). This comes in the wake of the CSSL training 3,700 doctors and 1,600 nurses in trauma care not just in Colombo but in the outstations too.
| CSSL, the mother bodyWith a membership of more than 800, the CSSL is the umbrella organization for 10 surgical sub-specialities in Sri Lanka. These sub-specialities are general surgery; neurosurgery; cardiothoracic & thoracic surgery; vascular surgery; gastroenterological surgery; orthopaedic surgery; urological surgery; oncological surgery; plastic, reconstructive & aesthetic surgery; and paediatric surgery. | |
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