From the rural jungle in Sri Lanka to Melbourne

From Rural Sri Lanka to Inaugural Ted Munsat award : The journey of neurologist Tissa Wijeratne, MD

Born and raised in what I describe as ‘the jungle,’ my life started in one of the remotest parts of Sri Lanka: a village called “Kirioruwa- Bandarawela” in the central mountainous area. Electricity, hot water, television, and telephone were all miles away from us at the time.

I fondly recall days spent under the shade of a tree, reading in the rice fields surrounding my family home- the place where sky and earth met, almost kissing each other daily. The mountains were covered with a layer of lush tea bushes. Our home was on the top of one of these mountains.

As a young boy, I would spend hours reading my favourite magazine, the” Mihira,” the Children’s weekly”.

Fast forward several decades, and I am now the director of stroke services, neuroscience research unit, director of academic affairs, director of international affairs at a leading public health service and a leading academic institution in Melbourne, Australia. I have just been appointed as the chair, Department of Neurology, Western Health, Australia to promote better brain health through my leadership.

I have become the first ever Sri Lankan born neurologist to lead an academic department of neurology in Australia.

I was always dreaming, reading madly, thinking … trying to discover new things that others hadn’t, with a view to make life better for my fellow men and women.

I fell in love with the idea of Medicine when I realized that the potential to change human life for the better was immeasurable.

I got in to medical school at University of Peradeniya in 1987 as a merit student.  This was purely an accident. I had no idea that I could end up in medical school while I truly loved biology as a high school student. I preferred to do biology stream as I truly enjoyed learning about biology and chemistry. In the end I did very well and secured a ticket to get in to the medical school. The day before I departed to the University the whole village  visited  my parents with whatever the treasure they could carry.  “We are very proud of you son. Be a good doctor and come back to the village. We will need you one day, they said.

I still recall my father’s deep voice while he was walking to the railway station which did take nearly eight hours to get in to the University premises from Bandarawela.

“I am very proud of you. I have no doubt you will go all the way… It is very important for you to remember your roots…. Whatever you become, every time you come home, you are one of us, one of them (he pointed me to a fellow villager who was working along a farm yard).  You should always be very humble….” he told me.