Organized teaching in western medicine did not exist in Sri Lanka till the Colombo Medical School was established in 1870. In 1868, the Governor appointed Dr. James Loos, the Colonial Surgeon in the Northern Province to conduct an enquiry into the spreading cholera and parangi (yaws) in the area. In his report, he recommended the establishment of a medical school to train " an efficient class of medical practitioners who will displace the present class of ignorant quacks". The Principle Civil Medical Officer, Dr. W P Charsley, agitated for the cause, and as a result, the new medical school was declared open on the June 1st, 1870 by the Govenor of Ceylon, Sir, Hercules Robinson. The school had an annual budget of 500 sterling pounds, 25 students and a staff of one Principal, three lecturers and one peon. Dr. Loos was the first Principal of the school.

       The school acquired the status of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ceylon in 1942. When the Faculty of Medicine in Peradeniya, Kandy was started in 1962, the Colombo Medical School was affiliated to the University of Colombo as its Faculty of Medicine.

History