The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Colombo is the second oldest Medical School in South Asia and the forerunner of university education in Sri Lanka. Established in 1870 as the Ceylon Medical College, its status was elevated to the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ceylon by 1942. Until 1995, the MBBS course was on traditional lines. Subsequently, it widened its horizons to spearhead the new medical curriculum that provides a more student-centered learning environment. One of the key features of this curriculum was an Undergraduate Electives Programme.

The Colombo Medical Faculty was the first medical school in Sri Lanka to have introduced an Electives Programme in its undergraduate curriculum. It was done in recognition of medicine as a highly complex and diverse field leading to varied needs and interests of medical students.

With the Global Health initiative and the university objective of developing strategic international links with centres of academic excellence, the Colombo Medical Faculty has extended the Electives Programme to overseas undergraduates in medical and allied health sciences.


We invite you to experience the Sri Lankan perspective of health in an atmosphere of academic excellence and international goodwill.