It is a privilege to be elected as the 8th President of the Colombo Medical School Alumni Association (CoMSAA) and I thank the membership for bestowing this singular honor on me. My council and I, along with the support of the membership, undertake to fulfill the objectives of CoMSAA and to take it to even greater heights during 2019.
The outgoing president, Prof. Jennifer Perera, deserves a special thank-you for her able leadership in guiding CoMSAA through the many activities during her tenure – such as continuing the financial assistance for the needy students and other student development projects.
I am indeed fortunate to have a dedicated, competent and accomplished team as my council and I am confident that together we will be able to achieve the goals and objectives of the Association during this year.
Our Alma Mater, the Colombo Medical School, will celebrate 150 years of existence in the year 2020. CoMSAA intends to be involved in many of its celebratory activities. As in the past, the CoMSAA lecture, the 3rd in the series, will be held on 29th of March at the Faculty and we do hope that many of our members would attend it. The much awaited CoMSAA reunion, including the academic programme, will be held on 7th and 8th September and I urge all members to actively participate in this annual get together. Further, we hope to continue holding the ‘peduru party’ with the participation of Alumni members and medical students too. Please do join us for an entertaining evening of song and fellowship and bring your family members as well to enjoy this evening. We will soon inform you the details, including the date, of this event. We will also continue holding the “Inter Batch General Knowledge Competition”. The calendar of events for 2019, encompassing these details, will be forwarded to all the members via email, very soon, and again, I do hope you will reserve the dates.
I would like to extend my deep appreciation to the members of CoMSAA for the solidarity, support, and commitment given over the years that have ensured the successful continuation of our Association. The contributions from the members towards student development projects in the past are gratefully acknowledged and I hope they will be even greater this year.
It is my sincere wish that all the members, including those who are overseas, participate more effectively in the activities that have been planned for this year as it is the members who are our greatest asset.
I wish you all a peaceful, healthy and a happy 2019!
Iyanthi Abeyewickreme
President
