DFM Tutor Mentor Workshops

The first two workshops of the Online Tutor Men-

toring workshop Series 2, were held on 13th February

and 13th March 2011. Unlike the workshops of series 1,

they were more structured with a marking system for

workshop learning outcome assessments.

Prof. Nandani de Silva and Dr. Deepama Sumanasekara

were the resource persons for the 1st workshop while Dr. K

Chadrasekhar and Dr. Percy Motha were the resource per-

sons for the 2nd workshop.

The joint presentations by existing tutors and tutor train-

ees identified changes to be made in lesson contents with the

help of a generic marking guide and lesson review guides that

were provided.

USER SEMINAR - Hinari, PubMed, WHO & Other

Medical websites

A very useful HeLLIS User Seminar on “Electronic Resources

& Internet Searching” organized by the Ministry of Health, was

held at the PGIM

on 11th January

2011. The Director,

PGIM, Vidyajyothi

Professor Rezvi

Sheriff was the

Chief Guest at the

occasion. 45 Pro-

fessionals partici-

pated in this workshop. The objective of the workshop was to

acquaint professionals in the field with easy access to Medical

Websites including HINARI, Pubmed, WHO & Other Medical

websites. Mrs. T. Sritharan, Senior Asst. Librarian-PGIM, Mrs.

Dilhani Munasighe, Asst. Librarian-PGIM & Mrs. Shyamali

Thebuwana, Librarian-WHO Country Office-Sri Lanka were

the Resource Persons. The Workshop was coordinated by

Mrs. T. Sritharan (SAL/PGIM).

PGIM NEWSLETTER

Postgraduate Institute of Medicine University of Colombo

19 Vol 19. January — April 2011

160 , NORRIS CANAL ROAD, COLOMBO-07 TEL: +94 11- 2697758 / 2699266 WEB SITE: www.cmb.ac.lk/pgim

DESIGNED BY: Medical Education Resource Centre

New Year Celebrations at PGIM

On the 1st working day of January 2011, the staff of the PGIM

gathered at the Pinnacle, 4th Floor to celebrate the dawn of

the New year. This event, organized by the PGIM Welfare

Society was graced by the presence of Prof. Rezvi Sheriff,

Director PGIM, who expressed his sincere wishes for

everyone for the new year.

Diploma in Critical Care Medicine - Inauguration

An Inauguration ceremony to welcome the trainees of the 2nd

intake of Diploma in Critical Care Medicine was held on 17th

January 2011 at the PGIM auditorium. DCCM is a one year full-

time course conducted by the PGIM under the purview of the

Board of Study in Anaesthesiology. Prof. Rezvi Sheriff-Director

PGIM welcomed the trainees on behalf of the PGIM.

The resource persons introduced the students to each of the main

disciplines pertaining to critical care. Dr. Aruna Munasinghe

(Secretary, Specialty Board in Critical Care Medicine) spoke

with regards to General medicine while Dr. Shiranie Hapua-

rachchi (Chairperson of the Board of Study in Anaesthesi-

ology spoke with regards to the field of Anaesthesiology.

Dr. Srilal de Silva and Dr. A S K Banagala spoke about

critical care in Paediatrics and Surgery respectively.

Flood relief campaign

The PGIM fulfilling its duties

towards the country, organized a

campaign to collect dry rations to

be distributed to the people in the

areas ravaged from the floods dur-

ing February this year. A collection

center was set up at the PGIM prem-

ises and the PGIM staff as well as the

PG trainees enthusiastically donated

money and dry rations for this endeavor.

On 5th March 2011 the collected items

were handed over to the people in need

at the Base Hospital, Medirigiriya.

Elderly Medicine Workshop

Stakeholders meeting on establishing Geriatric training in Sri

Lanka organized by the Specialty Board in Elderly Medicine in col-

laboration with the WHO was held on the 29th March 2011. The

chief guest at this event was Prof. A B Dey, Director National Insti-

tute of ageing at the All India institute of Medical Sciences. His

presentations was on “Development of Geriatrics Education in

South East Asia”. Dr. Panduala Siribaddana, Secretary of the Spe-

cialty Board in Elderly Medicine presented the proposed Diploma

in Elderly Health training programme planning to be initiated at

the PGIM and a fruitful discussion ensued. Dr. F R Mehta

(WHO representative to Sri Lanka), Prof. Rezvi Sheriff and Dr.

Lalith Wijeratne (Chairperson of the Specialty Board in Elderly

Medicine) also addressed the gathering.

8th Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference

(APMEC) The 8th Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference (APMEC)

was held at the National University of Singapore, from

26th to 30th January 2011. The theme for 8th APMEC was

“Continuum of Medical Education: From Undergraduate

Learning to Professional Practice – Trends, Issues, Priori-

ties, and Strategies (TIPS)”. The conference focus is to

share and learn from the experience and best practices

adopted internationally.

Two researches which were conducted by the Medical

Education Resource Centre were presented at this confer-

ence. Prof. Rezvi Sheriff (Director-PGIM), Dr. Pandula

Siribaddana (Lecturer in Medical Education) and the Pre-

intern Demonstrators at MERC, Dr. Dilinika Wanniachchi

attended this conference, presenting their research.

Nephrology Training Workshop and SLANT Oration

The PGIM in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Associa-

tion of Nephrology and Transplantation (SLANT) or-

ganized a Nephrology workshop, Nephrology Lectur-

es & SLANT Oration on 14th February 2011 at the

PGIM. Professor Robert Schrier was the chief guest.

The first session (PGIM programme) consisted of

speeches delivered by Prof. Rezvi Sheriff (Coordin-

ator of the National Training Programme) and Dr.

Chula Herath (Chairman, Specialty Board in Nephro-

logy) about the Nephrology training programme in

Sri Lanka and subsequently Prof. Robert Schrier

discussed about the Nephrology programme in USA.

The next Session (SLANT programme) was comprised

of two plenary sessions. The first one was by Prof.

Robert Schrier on “Fluid overload in Acute Kidney

Injury, Impact on mortality and morbidity”. The Next

plenary was titled “Challenges in Cadaveric Transplanta-

tion in Sri Lanka” and was conducted by Prof.Mandika

Wijeratne, the President of SLANT.

The SLANT oration was

held afterwards. The Orator

was Prof. Robert Schrier

and the oration was on

“Aldosterone : Oedematous

states, Hypertension, chronic

kidney disease and metabolic

syndrome”

PGIM NewsLetter Page 2

Research Methodology Workshop

The Medical Education Resource Centre organized the 5th “5

day Course on Research Methodology” which was held from

the 21st of March to the 25th of March 2011. Like the previous

workshops held in 2009 and 2010 this was aimed at develop-

ing research skills in PG trainees as well as guiding them

more towards research. This course had 40 participants from

various specialties. The workshop included a series of

lectures delivered by professionals in the field of re-

search, group work and hands on activities. The partici-

pants found the practical sessions very useful as they also

were provided with the opportunity to discuss the proble-

ms they faced . The feedback of the participants were

extremely encouraging. The next workshop is planned

to be held in July 2011.

PGIM NewsLetter Page 3

PGIM Celebrates its 30th Anniversary

The Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, which is the sole post-graduate Medical and

Dental degree awarding Institute in Sri Lanka, is commemorating its 30th Anniversary in

2011. Since its humble beginnings in 1981, the PGIM has grown from strength to

strength and now stands proudly as one of the best Medical Postgraduate Institutes of the

region. The 30th Anniversary Celebrations which was held from 27th –29th April com-

prised of an Alumni Day, an Inauguration Ceremony and two days of Academic ses-

sions.

The 30th Anniversary Celebrations began with a

multi-religious ceremony organized by the welfare

society of the PGIM

Prof. Rezvi Sheriff (Director), Prof. Jayantha Jay-

awardana (Deputy Director) and Dr. Pandula Siri-

baddana lighting the traditional oil lamp to inau-

gurate the Alumni day

The Alumni Day which was held on the 27th April 2011 was mainly devoted to plenary sessions, symposia

and guest lectures presented by the PGIM Alumni which included consultants trained at the PGIM whom

are currently residing in Sri Lanka or abroad.

“Life cycle approach to Health” - the first sympo-

sium. Dr. Anoma Jayathilake, Dr. Susie Perera and

Dr. Udayangani Ramadasa were the speakers and

it was chaired by Prof. Saroj Jayasinghe

Plenary on Critical Care conducted with the in-

volvement of Prof. John Botha (Director of Inten-

sive Care, Clinical Dean and Director of Research

for Peninsula Health in Melbourne) and Dr. J. Di-

vatia (Professor and Head of Department of Anaes-

thesiology, Critical Care and Pain, Tata Memorial

Hospital, Mumbai) added an international flavour

to the event

The main highlight of the day was the Interactive Session -

“Matching postgraduate training with the health require-

ments of Sri Lanka”. Contributors for this include Dr. T.

R.C. Ruberu (Secretary, Ministry of Health), Prof. Rezvi

Sheriff (Diretor, PGIM), Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama

(Representative of GMOA), Mrs. Jezima Ismail

(Representing the public)

PGIM NewsLetter Page 4

The Academic Sessions was inaugurated on the eve of 27th April 2011 at the HNB towers auditorium. The

theme for the Academic Sessions was “Human Resource Development in Health”. The Inauguration cere-

mony was followed up by a fellowship dinner.

The Chief Guest was Prof. Monte

Cassim (Vice Chancellor-Strategic

and International Initiatives of Rit-

sumeikan Asia Pacific University).

The Guests of Honour were Prof. R.

C. Deka (Director, All India Insti-

tute of Medical Sciences) and Dr. N.

Selvakumaran (Representing Vice

Chancellor, University of Colombo)

The Academic procession enters….

Led by the staff of PGIM, followed

by the members of various Boards of

Study and the Board of Management

of PGIM

Prof. Monte Cassim’s address was

the main highlight of the Inaugura-

tion ceremony

The Head Table….

Dr. N. Selvakumaran, Prof. R. C.

Deka, Prof. Monte Cassim, Prof.

Rezvi Sheriff and Prof. Saman

Gunathilake (Co-chairpersons of

the Organising Committee)

The audience ……

Hall full of Academics,

Consultants and Invitees

The cultural show by the students of

the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Uni-

versity of Sri Jayewardenepura en-

hanced this glamorous event further

with a scintillating medley of songs

keeping the audience spellbound

Day 1 of the Academic sSessions saw a line up of a variety of symposia, plenary and guest lectures which

involved many eminent local and international speakers.

Prof Ramesh C. Deka spoke on

“Research and Innovation in Medi-

cine: Challenges and opportuni-

ties”

Dr. (Lt Col) Pawan Kumar Gupta,

Director – Clinical Research at

“Stempeutics”, India speaking at the

Medical research entrepreneurship

symposium

“The burden of NCDs in Sri Lanka

– the role of PGIM” was a keenly

attended symposium

PGIM NewsLetter Page 5

Toxico-vigilance in Sri Lanka: Suc-

cesses and challenges by Prof. An-

drew Dawson, Director of Clinical

Toxicology, Royal Prince Alfred

Hospital, Sydney and senior staff

specialist at the NSW Poisons Infor-

mation Centre

Symposium on Postgraduate Sur-

gical Education in Sri Lanka -

future trends and challenges

One of the main attractions of the

day was the Neurology Quiz con-

ducted by Dr. J. B. Peiris, former

Director of PGIM

The Academic sessions comprised

of discussions on new research ini-

tiatives. The guest lecture by Dr.

Dhammika Manike on “The role of

Cyanobacterial toxins in the patho-

genesis of chronic kidney disease”

was a prime example

Plenary on Community Mental

health was conducted by Dr.

Raveen Hanwella

Prof. Anoja Fernando speaking on

“Ethics in clinical research”

Dr. Raja Salgado, Consultant Geri-

atrician currently working in Syd-

ney, Australia, delivered a lecture

on “Normal Ageing, Sexuality, and

Successful Ageing”

The sessions were well partici-

pated and the audience ranged

from post graduate trainees to spe-

cialists in various fields of medi-

cine

The Sessions concluded with an

interactive session titled “Re-

visiting Assessments”

Day 2 of the Academic sessions (29th April) featured another host of superb discussions and lectures on

various important topics.

The PGIM wishes to thank Members of Board of Management, Boards of Study and Specialty Boards, who

contributed in numerous ways specially by being active members of the organizing committees of the Aca-

demic Sessions. Also a big Thank You goes out to all the resource persons, panellists and the participants for

making this event a success. An event of this magnitude would not have been possible without the generosity of

the sponsors. A special Thank You is in due to the National Science Foundation, World Health Organization

and the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation and all the other sponsors. Our gratitude goes out to the staff of the

PGIM, who worked tirelessly to make this event a resounding success.

PGIM NewsLetter

DISCLAIMER

While every effort is taken to ensure that the information provided in this newsletter is correct & accurate, the Editors

wish to inform the reader that neither they nor the publisher is responsible for any inaccuracy or lack of correctness in

the information provided. The Editors also wish to inform the readers that this is not an official document which creates

any rights or obligation, legal or otherwise, binding the PGIM. Any one who wishes to act on the basis of information

provided in this newsletter is advised hereby to contact the relevant authority for obtaining binding official information.

Inside the 19th issue

New Year Celebrations at PGIM

Diploma in Critical Care Medicine - Inauguration

USER SEMINAR - Hinari, PubMed, WHO & Other Medical websites

DFM Tutor Mentor Workshops

Nephrology Training Workshop and SLANT Oration

Research Methodology Workshop

Elderly Medicine Workshop

8th Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference (APMEC)

Flood relief campaign

30th Anniversary celebrations of the PGIM

Write to us…..

The Editors invite letters to the Editor. Letters

with useful suggestions will be featured. Anony-

mous and inappropriate correspondence will be

ignored.

Medical Education Resource Centre

Postgraduate Institute of Medicine

University of Colombo

No.160

Norris Canal Road

Colombo 07

Return To: TO:

Vol 19. January—April 2011

Feedback……… Please write to:

What would you like to

read in future editions of

our PGIM Newsletter?

Send your comments and

suggestions to:

Coordinator-In-charge

Medical Education Resource

Centre (MERC)

Tel : 0112689266,

0112697758 Ext-62

email:

merc.pgim@yahoo.com

Page 6

PGIM NEWSLETTER

Write to us…..

Letters with useful suggestions will be featured. Anonymous and inappropriate correspon-

dence will be ignored.

EDITOR IN CHIEF:

Professor Rezvi Sheriff

EDITORIAL STAFF:

Dr. Pandula Siribaddana

Dr. Chatura Wijesundara

Dr. Dilan Samarappuli

Dr. Pamod Amarakoon

Dr. Rifat Jamaldeen

Dr. Yuwani Attanayake