Dr. Ashan Abeywardene, Orthopaedic Surgeon

With a specialisation in Orthopaedics in Sri Lanka (MD Orthopaedics) and completing his (MRCS) in (London) UK, he sub specialised in knee, shoulder and hip disorders in Melbourne, Australia and trained as a surgeon at the Melbourne Orthopaedic Group and the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Since 2016 Dr. Abeywardene has been conducting surgery in orthopaedics through the speciality unit they built at the Durdans Hospital in Colombo with the vast knowledge he has gained and specialised equipment which he uses to treat various bone and nerve related disorders. Dr. Ashan Abeywardene speaks to Lanka Woman on issues related to Bones, Joints and Ligaments.

Words - Indika Madapatha Sellahewa

Doctor Abeywardene, can you please enlighten our readers with a bit about your background, entry into the medical profession and why you chose to specialise in orthopaedics?

I did my medical degree at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka and thereafter I ended up specialising in orthopaedics because I was keen to take up a speciality where I could do much to improve a person’s quality of life besides curing an ailment. “Movement is life and life is movement” this is a dictum that we really think about in orthopaedics and something that has always struck close to my heart. So, although I also had an inclination towards neuro surgery and spinal surgery, where many patients can be either bed ridden or have poor outcomes, I opted for orthopaedics, where everything mostly was about good outcomes. What I really wanted to give my patients was a good outcome, a good quality of life so that they could enjoy life, which really, I feel is the whole point of life. It’s really not about how long you live, but how well you live. To specialise in orthopaedics in Sri Lanka I did my postgraduate degree in orthopaedic surgery (MD Orthopaedics). Thereafter I went to the UK, did my MRCS (London) and went on to sub specialise in knee, shoulder and hip disorders in Melbourne, Australia. I trained at the Melbourne Orthopaedic Group which is a premier orthopaedic centre and at the Alfred Hospital. In the Melbourne Orthopaedic Group I was involved in the treatment of many sportsmen, high profile athletes, and high profile actors and even many high profile people in society who would come there for the best possible treatment available. So I was exposed to this atmosphere, where I was able to provide together with my senior consultants, the best possible treatment in the world, for the clients that came along. It was this specialised treatment that I thought Sri Lanka also needs. I came back to Sri Lanka in 2016 and I brought with me the knowledge and equipment and other things that were necessary to provide this specialised treatment in Sri Lanka. Most of the equipment is housed at Durdans Hospital and through Durdans Hospital we built a speciality unit for orthopaedics.

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