World-Class Sri Lankans – By Dr Harold Gunatillake
Hello everyone,
While browsing Facebook, I stumbled upon an old description of me titled “World-Class Sri Lankans.” I thought sharing it with the 40,000 or more Sri Lankans I communicate bi-weekly through various channels was fitting, so I wanted to share it with you all.
A professor of surgery, he developed a unique and successful surgical technique for operative procedures in abdominoplasty.
This technique was named the “Gunatillake technique of abdominoplasty” after Sri Lankan Dr. Harold Gunatillake invented
it.
Since then, he has been able to describe the procedure at conferences in Paris, Rome, Florida, Los Angeles, Japan, Peru, and
Bangkok.
Recognised as the first surgeon to start liposuction in Australia in 1981, Dr Gunatillake pioneered cosmetic surgery, a relatively new field branching off from plastic surgery in Australia. In May 2022, #SriLankan Dr. Harold Gunatillake received an ‘Order of Australia’ Medal for medicine and community services to Sri Lankan people in Australia.
Even in 1969, when the young Gunatillake returned to Sri Lanka with his fellowship degree as Senior registrar at Queen Mary’s Hospital Orthopaedics in London, he dreamed of returning and serving his people.
Harold Gunatillake aspired to be a top surgeon. After returning from the UK, he served as a Resident Surgeon in the accident
service in Colombo. This was followed by a short period as a locum Surgeon in Kandy before he was transferred to Badulla
Provincial Hospital as a General Surgeon in 1970. 1971, the insurrection began, and he attended to the injured patients.
This was a difficult period for everyone, especially in the medical field, as hospitals ran short of disposable items. As life became more complex, he reluctantly decided to leave the country. He moved to Singapore and was immediately appointed Senior Surgical Registrar in the main General Hospital. As senior registrars, surgeons get a monthly date to perform minor
surgery under local anaesthesia on outdoor patients. On one of his days on that duty, there was a shortage of ‘trolley boys’ – young boys coming from Malaysia to earn some pocket money. As there were very few trolley boys on duty, Harold Gunethillake walked to the outpatient department, placed the patient on the trolley, wheeled him to the operating theatre and wheeled him back after the minor surgery to the OPD and wished him good luck .
The next day, this was highlighted in the Straits Times newspaper with the story that an Indian trolley boy had operated on a
Chinese patient! By ’75, Harold was settled in Australia, where he did exceptionally well. He was sought after at Sutherland Hospital, Fairfield Heights and Sydney Hospital.
Today, he is a member of the Academy of Medicine in Singapore and the Australian Association of Cosmetic Surgery. He is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (UK), a Corresponding Fellow of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, a member of the International Societies of Cosmetic Surgery, a Fellow of the International College of Surgery(US) and the Australian diplomat for the International Society of Plastic, Aesthetic & Reconstructive Surgery. Board Member of the International Society of Aesthetic Surgery and Member of the American Academy of Aesthetic & Restorative Surgery.
Despite his retirement, Professor Harold Gunatillake still helps out in Sri Lanka despite all his international success.
