Nawaloka Hospital is one of the few private hospitals in Sri Lanka which was established in 1985. With advanced medical technologies and the world-class healthcare system, it is one of the most reputable hospitals in the country. Since I want to pursue medicine in college, I wanted to intern at a hospital so I get some experience before college. Luckily, one of my friends helped me get an internship at Nawaloka, and I am really grateful to her.

I interned at Nawaloka for about two weeks during the summer, and I had a chance to shadow several doctors. In the beginning, I had an opportunity to examine some patients with Dr. Arjuna De Silva, one of the best doctors in Sri Lanka who currently works as a gastroenterologist . In the first couple of days, he examined patients who were having problems with their digestive system. He went through a step by step process of what problem the patient had, what are the symptoms, and what can be done to treat the problem. In the next couple of weeks, I shadowed Dr. Sharma, who works as an anesthesiologist. While working with him, I had a chance to observe many types of surgeries: coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG), hemorrhoidectomy, and laser lithotripsy. I always made sure that I asked him what surgery I would observe the next day so I could read about it before the surgery(LO2). While shadowing him, I had a chance to learn some essential things such as how a a ventilator works, reading a heart rate monitor, and what the different types of anesthetics are and when they are used (LO1 & LO5). Besides working with Dr. Sharma, I also met one of the doctors in the emergency room who explained the procedure of diagnosing a patient. I had also interned at Nawaloka during the December break last year, and I shadowed a surgeon. I am really grateful that I got this opportunity, because I have decided that I want to study medicine. At this stage I am not exactly sure what area of medicine I will go into, so I am just trying to explore as many areas as possible. By shadowing some doctors at the hospital, I gained insight to what it will be like in the future.