Faculty of Medicine Academic Sessions (FMAS) – 2022 was successfully held on the 14th December 2022, at the T.W. Wickramanayake auditorium, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna under the theme “Facing Health Challenges in Economic Scarcity”. The Chief Guest for FMAS 2022 was Senior Professor Sujeewa Amarasena, Vice Chancellor, University of Ruhuna. Keynote Address was delivered on “Health Challenges in Economic Scarcity” by Professor Amala De Silva, Professor in Economics, Department of Economics, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo. FMAS oration titled “Clinical Utility of Bone Turnover Markers in Sri Lanka: The Way Forward” was delivered by Mrs. Hasanga Rathnayake, Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna. Research Publication Awards for the year 2021 were received by 28 academics who published research articles in indexed journals. The awardees were selected by the Board of Study in Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna and was commenced for the first time in the faculty to encourage the staff members to carry out high quality research and disseminate their research findings through publication of research papers in high quality journals.
The inauguration ceremony was followed by the FMAS symposium, postgraduate research presentations, free paper oral and poster sessions in both open and undergraduate categories. FMAS symposium titled “Facing Health Challenges in Economic Scarcity” was delivered under the subthemes of “Resolving family health issues during economic scarcity” by Dr Chithramalee de Silva, Director Maternal and Child Health, Family Health Bureau, Ministry of Health; “Health promotion in building a resilient health system during economic downturn” by Dr Susie Perera, Deputy Director General Public Health Services, Ministry of Health and “Economic scarcity and mental health” by Dr Vajira Dharmawardene, Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka.
There were 35 abstract presentations in the free paper sessions, including both oral and poster presentations. Winners for oral and poster presentations were selected separately for the open category and the undergraduate category. Prof Vasantha Devasiri, Dean, Faculty of Medicine awarded the certificates to the winners of best oral and poster presentations. Dr Eric De Zoysa and Dr Udari Egodage were the Chairperson and the Secretary of FMAS-2022.