Destiny of a Village Vedarala's Nephew

 DESTINY OF A VILLAGE VEDARALA’S NEPHEW.

By Appu Sumathipala 

At the end of five arduous years in the Colombo Medical Faculty, my Final year exam results were mediocre and were not to my expectations. ”Gods” were not on my side, perhaps, as I did not perform vows nor feared” GOD”! 

I opted for Ratnapura as my first choice for internship, although I could have stayed in Colombo. The beginning of my happy days dawned. After finishing the Intern period at Ratnapura, I was posted as MO OPD Anuradhapura. As time passed, the thought of doing higher exams appeared in my mind. I went to see Prof Raj, then DHS with the hope of getting a transfer to a station closer to Colombo. He was a bit sarcastic and promised nothing in the end. 

At the end of two and a half years and the arrival of coming-vacancies lists, I applied for one in Matara as it gave the appearance of being a MO post. The post given to me, however, turned out to be MO PU, Kaburupitiya. I was really upset and wanted to hit back hard at the Head Office and I wrote a letter of protest addressed to Prof Raj stating that I was a grade two Medical Officer and I should not be posted as MO PU. 

In the end, what I got was the post of DMO at Deniyaya. When I reported for duty, I found out that I was to replace Dr Dharmasekera (Ex-Anatomy demo). 

Life as a DMO was not rosy and was full of thorns such as the JVP Insurrection, a drunkard Apothecary-who consumed methylated spirit (stolen from the drug stores) like nectar. In addition, there were false petitions alleging that I accepted money and that I was a JVP supporter. The rumours had already spread like wildfire as far as Colombo. I heard about it when I attended High Courts in Kurunegala as a witness to a murder case, where I met Dr WDL Fernando. He offered me a lift back to Colombo in his Benz and related the story he heard, which I strongly denied. 

As things were getting worse following the aftermath of the Insurrection, I decided to drop in at the Head Office and interview the Permanent Secretary .He was an ex-GP and a friend of Mr Felix Dias Bandaranaike. He was kind-hearted and listened to my story. I was offered a transfer out of Deniyaya and the only two places vacant were Rakwana and Deraniyagala. I opted for Rakwana as it was the next DMO station to Deniyaya. I was sent to report on the situation in Deniyaya to Mr Dissanayake (Sriani’s Dad), who was the coordinating Officer. He was a kind-hearted Officer, who refused to take part in the failed Coup, where his own brother CC Dissanayake was involved. 

When I had finished about two years in Rakwana, a message arrived at the SHS Office Ratnapura requesting me to be released for MOH Training. I never asked for it, but knew that it was my imminent destiny. The SHS, initially, did not want to release me but within days another telegram arrived insisting on my release with immediate effect. When I reported for training at Nagoda, I was about a couple of days behind and had to do some catch-up work. At the end of the training, I was posted to Hambantota. 

A good friend of mine, two years senior, heard about my transfer and tried his best to get me in his place at Ambalangoda. He was finishing his term of office and planned to meet the local MP, Mr LC de Silva. He promised to do his best but failed as Ambalangoda was reserved for a Minister’s favourite. The Minister of Health was Mrs Siva Obeysekera. Hambantota at that time was a small town administered by a Town Council and there were no houses for rent. 

With the greatest difficulty, a house was found 28 miles away in Tangalle. I had to commute 6 days of the week by public transport and the work was tedious as paying and supervising anti-Malaria workers were a part of my duties. Handling of money is a risky job and one day I failed to lock the safe and my clerk had entered the office room and had stolen around Rs 500.00. I had to replace the money immediately as there was a risk of me being accused as the person responsible during a surprise audit check. That clerk was an alcohol addict and had French leave on several occasions, as a result of his drunkard state. 

At the end of two and a half years, the Anti-VD Campaign Superintendent paid a visit and asked me whether I was willing to start a part-time clinic in Hambantota. I was pleased to accept the offer and had a few days of training in Colombo. That opened the door for me to join the Campaign and come to Colombo. 

After a couple of months work in the clinic, I sensed that some of the doctors were not happy with my devotion to patients in need. I presumed that they were tired of the monotony of work and the fact that none of them had the MRCP. With DPH and MPH, they were only considered as Part-Specialists. Dr Ratnatunge had his MRCP and he was the only one in the Speciality to hold that Diploma. It was a dead-end and I was getting frustrated and decided to resign and migrate to the UK. Going anywhere else was hindered by the lack of ECFMG. 

Getting my resignation was a nightmare as a quota system was in force at the time. The minimum requirement was five years’ service. I had almost 10 yrs service and the letter of release was issued sometime in January 1977. At that time I was a Part-time GP for Dr Ranjith Attapattu at Tangalle. He was busy with politics and wanted a helping hand to one partner already in place. My clinical attachment was to begin in April 1977. 

I landed in London on 1^st April 1977 and to my surprise, the friend who was supposed to meet me was missing. I started to panic and had no coins to dial him. A fellow traveller came to my rescue and used his own coins to contact my friend. But as his telephone was out of order I tried the other friend. I was lucky as he answered my call but his car was in the garage. He promised to see me as soon as the car was ready. I had only £5.00 in hand and there was no way of getting to Sheffield for my attachment. As promised, my friend turned up a couple of hours later and took me home. The next day, my first friend was available on the phone and I travelled by train and met him at his quarters. He was a batchmate and was helpful in lending me pocket money to survive until I received the allowance from the hospital, during the period of attachment. 

Finding a hospital job was not easy without experience in the UK and this applied to a lot of foreign doctors unless they have come on Fellowships. 

I had experience in VD and this made it easier to get jobs. But that did not help in the pursuit of General Medical jobs. I also obtained training in Dermatology and Family Planning, which helped me to earn a decent living. 

Working as a locum GP helped me to gain the necessary requirements to be registered as a GP (Primary Care Physician). 

I thoroughly enjoyed the work which involved providing Dermatology Services to a local GP during the Fund holding era. As a part of a GP’s work, I was entrusted with minor surgical procedures, such as excision of “lumps and bumps” and administering intra-articular injections. 

After retirement, I enjoy gardening, doing long walks and reading books. During winter my gardening and the usual walks became restricted. 

I do hope that this saga is not going to be boring for our readers