Revelion Soetomo Drahaman (Revo)

 Revelion Soetomo Drahaman (Revo)

This appeared in the Royal College 1953 Group Souvenir and was written by Revo himself and kindly sent to me by Nihal (ND) Amarasekera.

Revo 1959

I had my primary education at RPS, which I remember as a very happy period in my life, spending much of my time playing cricket and chess and participating in the annual concerts. I entered Royal College in 1953 joining the English stream, Form 1^S, and my class master was Mr. CP de A Abeysinghe (Cow Pox). I was interested in athletics and won some sprint events while in the lower school at RC. However, I did not do many sports after that.

Having obtained the Form IV to Upper V double promotion, I sat for and passed the SSC (the present GCE O Levels) in 1957. Passing the University Entrance examination in 1960, I was selected for a course in Medicine at Peradeniya but initially had to enter the Faculty of Science in 1961 in Colombo for a six-month course. I was able to get a transfer to do my medical degree in Colombo and qualified as a doctor in 1967. I did my internship in Badulla in 1967/1968 and was then transferred to Ragama. I got married to Gnei Larina, a graduate of the Peradeniya Dental Faculty later that year. We moved to Kandy where I trained under Dr Victor Benjamin. I passed my preliminary examination for the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) and then moved to the General Hospital, Colombo, the present National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL).

Revo 2018

In 1974, we left for London where I completed my postgraduate studies in ENT while being attached to the Whittington Hospital, Highgate, London. While there I obtained the Diploma in Laryngology and Otology (DLO) (London) in 1975. While in England I was able to complete my FRCS examinations and obtain my FRCS (Edinburgh) specializing in Otolaryngology in 1976. We had an enjoyable stay in England during the time we spent there, making several brief visits to the Continent.

I returned to Sri Lanka and worked as an ENT Surgeon at Lady Ridgeway Hospital in Colombo until I was transferred to the NHSL in 1980. I worked there as an ENT Surgeon until I retired in 2002. I also held a part-time appointment in the hospital of the Kuwait Oil Company which involved annual visits to Kuwait for six weeks each time. Most of the time I worked at NHSL, I provided channelled consultation and surgical services in private hospitals as well. The dog-eat-dog nature of private practice (PP) can be gauged by the fact that when I returned from my last visit to Kuwait, many of my patients were surprised to see me as they had been told that I had died and told to channel some other ENT specialist. Before I retired from the Ministry of Health, I became, in 2001, a Volunteer soldier as an ENT Surgeon working at the Army Hospital. I was able to continue in that capacity in the Sri Lankan Army Volunteer Force until 2013. I completed my MS degree after retiring from the Ministry in 2006.

I have been active in the College of ENT Surgeons, taking on its Presidency in 2003. I have also been involved in teaching for the MS examination in ENT conducted by the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine (PGIM), and have held the posts of Secretary and Chairman of its Board of Study in ENT.

I have a son, Akram who like me is an ENT surgeon and he too likes to work with the Army and has enlisted for full-time work as an Army Regular and a daughter, Asnita, who has been a General Practitioner in the UK for a long time, paying us visits from time to time. I have two lovely granddaughters who live close to us in Colombo and we are happy that we are able to spend many enjoyable moments with them in our retirement.