Dr. Dammika Alahapperuma MBBS, HNDIPCA, MSc, MD started his journey with the Community and Health Research Unit (CaHRU) on May 11th 2023 as an International Research Fellow, from the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Dammika will be on placement with CaHRU for 12 months. As a medical manager, he has special research interests in Accident and Emergency services, Health Care Waste Management services, Healthcare Quality and Safety and Primary Health Care. While working with CaHRU, he would like to focus on UK General practice, Primary Healthcare System, Primary Eye Care system, Pre Hospital Ambulance service, Accident and Emergency services in the UK and their applicability to Sri Lanka. He is also looking forward to learning more about conducting a systematic review under the supervision of Professor Niro Siriwardena.
Career development
Dammika is a Medical Doctor (M.B.B.S.) graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka in 1997. He completed his Master’s Degree (MSc) in Medical Administration at the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine (PGIM), University of Colombo. Dammika obtained his doctoral qualification (MD) in Medical Administration in 2020 from the PGIM, University of Colombo and Higher National Diploma in Public Procurement and Contract Administration (HNDIPPCA) from the Sri Lanka institute of Development of administers ( SLIDA) in the Ministry of Public Administration. He started his career as a Medical Manager (Director) in Base Hospital Elpitiya then, the District Director of Health Services Nuwaraeliya, Director National Eye hospital in Sri Lanka and recently Director of private medical services development in Sri Lanka.
He has several local and international publications in Sri Lanka including the Journal in Medical Administration, International Journal of Recent Research in Commerce Economics and Management (IJRRCEM), and Journal of Health Policy and Management.