Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education Harini Amarasuriya has called for a “new dimension” to Sri Lanka’s medical education aimed at producing more compassionate doctors, as the expert committee tasked with drafting a National Policy on Medical Education held its inaugural meeting.
The committee convened at the Ministry of Education on May 26 with the Prime Minister chairing, Newswire reported. Discussions focused on identifying priority areas for reform and proposing both short-term and sustainable solutions to the current challenges facing medical training in Sri Lanka.
Dr Amarasuriya said policy attention must be directed at curriculum reform, evaluation processes, clinical training, medical research, faculty staffing and infrastructure. She also highlighted the importance of awareness mechanisms for students selecting medical courses, alongside broader reforms in general and higher education “to produce disciplined doctors suited to modern demands.”
The Higher Education Ministry appointed the 15-member committee on May 10, chaired by University of Colombo Vice Chancellor Professor Indika Mahesh Karunathilake. The panel is the first formal mechanism intended to bring state and private medical-education providers under a single curricular and accreditation framework.
The drive comes against a backdrop of repeated disputes within the medical-education sector, from recurring GMOA strikes over training conditions and posting issues to a Court of Appeal challenge over post-internship medical appointments. Reform of medical education is part of a wider Higher Education overhaul that PM Amarasuriya outlined earlier this month.
Source: Newswire.
