The Board of Study in Medical Administration (hereinafter referred to as the Board) will conduct a training programme in Medical Administration leading to the degree MD (Medical Administration).

Administration and Management of healthcare institutions, divisions and directorates have been carried out by Medical Officers (MO), since the inception of the healthcare delivery system in Sri Lanka. The need for specially trained MOs in administration and management was identified and the College of Medical Administrators was established in 1992 with one of its main objectives to “Promote postgraduate studies in the field of Medical Administration and Health System Management”. This was in order to have specialist medical administrators with the necessary knowledge, attitudes & skills in administration to take up the posts in medical administration in the health sector organization, especially the Ministry of Health and to make the health system in Sri Lanka efficient and effective.

Medical Administrators have the responsibility to improve the healthcare provision in a sustainable manner in the general and health-specific administration of Ministry of Health, Provincial & Regional directorates and tertiary and secondary hospitals. Scope of Medical Administration includes health planning and implementation, human resource management, health economics, etc in addition to general administrative functions.

The cadre for Medical Administrators has been identified by Medical Services Minutes of 2014, and includes Deputy Director General grades, Senior Administrative Grade and Deputy administrative grade posts. Total number of posts in the ministry of health has been identified as 301 as at 2014.

MSc Medical Administration is a one year and three months training programme covering the basics of medical administration and health system management. Those who intend to follow the MD in Medical Administration programme must obtain this MSc as a pre-requisite. The postgraduate training programme in Medical Administration leads to the MD degree in Medical Administration which is at SLQF level 12.

At the end of the training programme the trainee should be capable of:

1. Leading a multi-disciplinary team of health care providers to achieve organizational objectives in the relevant healthcare institution;
2. Developing short, medium and long-term plans for the health sector;
3. Optimally managing the available resources and mobilizing additional resources for provision of cost-effective health care;
4. Enhancing human resource management and development
5. Implementing, monitoring and evaluating the work of the health sector;
6. Engaging in or initiating health systems research for improvement of the health care and introducing and sustaining innovative approaches;
7. Ensuring the safety and quality of the healthcare services;
8. Maintaining ethical standards in the health sector;
9. Ensuring community mobilization and inter-sectoral collaboration through effective coordination
10. Ensuring responsiveness in health care services;

The candidate should have: The MSc Degree in Medical Administration conducted by the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine (University of Colombo) not more than 10 years prior to application to register for the MD Medical Administration Part I training programme.

Please refer to the relevant prospectus for the most up to date information. The prospectus of a particular programme contains official information pertaining to a programme approved by the Board of Management, University Senate and the University Grants Commission