Sent by Priya Gunaratne de Silva
Walking into the anatomy lab to see all those lifeless bodies arrayed in front of you. Tissa Wickramasuriya (our junior) doing an "Elvis" on top of an anatomy slab as part of the ragging by our batch mates. Applying the smelly body fluid on these poor half dissected bodies at the end of each day & coming home to discover a part of a liver surreptitiously put in the pocket of my dress.
Those dreadful 'sig' tests where Prof. Panditaratna & Dr Jayasekera ruled supreme.
Ward classes at the General with Prof. Rajasuriya (Did we girls wear Sari?) Drs. Thanabalasunderam, Attygalle, Ernie Pieris, Prof.Rajasuriya, & my favourite Dr Wijenaike (always in grey).
Running like a herd of cattle along the corridors of the General Hospital to beat the closing of the door to Path Cooray's lectures. The pin drop silence when some wise guy sent a marble rolling down step by step to the pit of the Pathology auditorium, whence Path Cooray ruled the entire row of students incriminated by the number of bumps made by the marble, out of his class.
Prof Ranasinghe shaking hands with the poor guy before declaring him/her repeated! etc & etc.
Enjoying the high tea served after each of Dr Anthonis's surgery sessions.
Swyrie & I energizing ourselves from the milk bar (at the entrance to the boys' parking area) before our carrom match against Padmini Goonawardena & partner.
Dr Deva Adittiya giving me the lens removed from a patient's eye to be used as an engagement ring. He was a big bully of girls & so I was too afraid to accept his invitation for lunch at the end of the eye appointment. The guys however had enjoyed a wonderful lunch.
Swyrie & I being accosted by the Manager of Bake House opposite the Eye Hospital for pushing away the table cloth when we went there for a break.
Being enthralled by Drs. Weinman & Ratnavel who made Neurology seem so easy! Of course the guys would breathe down the necks of us "timid" gals so as to get vantage places in front of the class.
Memories are made of these!
This blog (created in March 2011 by Lucky) is about new entrants to the Colombo Medical Faculty of the University of Ceylon (as it was then known) in June 1962. There were a total of 166 in the batch (included 11 from Peradeniya). Please address all communications to: colmedgrads1962@gmail.com. Header image: Courtesy Prof. Rohan Jayasekara, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo (2011 - 2014). Please use the search bar using a keyword to access what interests you
Thanks for those memories Priya. The anatomy dissecting room experiences are memorable. I recall Patchaya walking in one day, early in our days, and we all stood beside our "bodies" quiet and respectful. He surveyed the scene and pretended not to see at all a light bulb hanging from the tall ceiling on a flex, gently swaying in a wide sweep, with a string attached to it and to the penis of a cadaver at the other end, and the sad remnant was "standing up" intermittently. I also recall not just pieces of liver but other more delicate objects being introduced surreptitiously to handbags!
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