Medical college and early career


On October 31, 1995, there was a mass evacuation of Tamils from Jaffna to Vanni.  Following the exodus, many people arrived in Vanni and stayed in several displaced camps with very few facilities.  The civilians lacked access to basic supplies and struggled to get food and clothing. Because of the lack of facilities, people suffered with infectious diseases and several health conditions.  As a medical student waiting to enter university, Dr.Varathan helped the people residing in camps for several weeks. He provided them with the food and clothes that he had collected from several villages in Vanni.  He also joined with the mobile medical units to treat the displaced people.

Dr. Varathan, was selected to attend medical school at the University of Jaffna in 1994.  His entrance to the university was delayed due to the war and displacement. He finally commenced his university medical training in 1997 and graduated in 2004.  As a human rights concerned student, he continued to participate in numerous campaigns, raising awareness of mass murders such as the Chemmani massacre.

After he graduated in 2004, he served as a volunteer at the Puthukkudiyiruppu hospital in Mullaitivu.  Following this, he undertook a year of training at the Kurunegala teaching hospital in central Sri Lanka where he was trained in paediatrics and surgery. He further served at the Intensive Care Unit for an additional 6 months where he treated multiple critically ill patients. Such exposure prepared him to later treat patients from within an active war zone. Dr. Varathan was in Mullaitivu when it was impacted by the 2004 Asian Tsunami where he joined other medical personnel to treat those who were admitted into the Puthukudiyiruppu hospital. Due to a shortage of medical staff in LTTE-controlled areas, Dr. Varathan remained in Mullaitivu for around 2 weeks to provide his medical services in such areas. Following the completion of his medical training in 2006, he was appointed as a Medical Officer of Health at Kalmunai which is situated in the Amparai District.


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