Sri Lankan born Dr. Alan De Costa awarded Order of Australia Medal for his work in medicine

Sri Lankan born Dr. Alan De Costa was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for his work in medicine recently.

Dr. Alan de Costa was educated at St. Joseph’s College Colombo. He captained the First Eleven Cricket team in 1966 and also played tennis, being the Junior National Champion and Public Schools Champion in 1964 and 1965. 

He studied at the Medical School in The Royal College of Surgeon’s Dublin, Ireland where he graduated Dux of the Year in 1973. He completed surgical training in Ireland, England and Australia and was appointed as one of the foundation surgeons of the new Mt. Druitt Hospital in Sydney. While in Sydney he organised regular overseas posting for young Sri Lankan surgeons at Westmead hospital in Sydney, which helped train many Sri Lankan surgeons over many years.

In the year 2000, Dr. de Costa moved to Cairns, Queensland as a surgeon in private practice and as a Visiting Medical Officer in Cairns Public Hospital. In 2010 he was appointed Associate Professor of Surgery at James Cook University (JCU) in Cairns. 

In this role Dr. Alan de Costa has delivered the undergraduate curriculum in Surgery in JCU Cairns. This has included a rotation of eight medical students a year to Colombo South Teaching Hospital and the University of Sri Jayawardenapura funded under ‘The New Colombo Plan’ by the Australian Commonwealth Government. 

He founded and established ‘The Anatomy of Surgical Exposure Course’ as a unique contribution to post-graduate surgical education in JCU Cairns. Several Sri Lankan surgeons have travelled to Cairns, Australia since its inception to assist with this program.

Dr. de Costa continues a busy surgical practice, increasingly replaced by academic interests. He is an author and co-author of several peer-reviewed scientific journals and is actively involved with teaching and research.

He visits Sri Lanka frequently. He has a lifelong interest in the jungles and wildlife of Sri Lanka, and is an avid follower of Sri Lankan Cricket, an often anguished preoccupation. He can be contacted on [email protected]/.