The history of evidence based surgery runs as back as 600 years BCE. “Sushruta Samhita”, one of the oldest surgical text books known to the world was authored by “Sushruta” of Ayurveda, where various procedures done by him during ancient times were explained. Thereafter he was considered as the founding father of Surgery. According to the literature we must have inherited these Ayurveda surgical techniques from India with the arrival of Buddhism and evidence for this was found at Alahana Piriwena in Polonnaruwa where archeologists have excavated many surgical instruments. Subsequently with the European invasion of Ceylon and lately by the British rule, surgical evolution grasped more westernized direction. Therefore, today we practice further modernized evidence based surgery with cutting edge technological advancements. The ethics in surgical practice, professionalism, surgical research and continuous surgical education have developed to a stage where it was never before.

The undergraduate surgical training program of Faculty of Medicine, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka is designed to prepare medical students for the internship and subsequently to practice in the discipline of surgery as a skillful doctor. There medical students are expected to acquire adequate knowledge, skills, communication expertise and basic diagnostic abilities enabling the formulation of a plan of management for their patients.