LAUSR

Dear Friends, Wish you all a very happy, peaceful, and prosperous 2017. I am thankful to all the members for electing me as the President of ASI 2017. I took charge as the 75th President of the Association of Surgeons of India at the 76th Annual Conference of the Association at Mysuru. I promise to abide by my duties as per the ASI Constitution and fulfill all my responsibilities to strengthen ASI and take academics and other activities to newer heights as per expectation of the members. Being a surgeon is a very tough job. It is the most physically and psychologically demanding profession in the world, but it carries many rewards too, both professionally and financially. There will be strong demands for surgeons in the next 5 to 10 years. Salaries will continue to rise. But a surgeon has to be a good team leader to be successful professionally. The difference between God and a surgeon is that nobody wants an appointment with God. The desperate demand for good surgeons has always ensured that they are among the most powerful people in the society. “Sushruta Samhita” (Sushruta’s compendium), which describes the ancient tradition of surgery in Indian medicine, is considered as one of the most brilliant gems in Indian medical literature. This treatise contains detailed descriptions of teachings and practice of the great ancient surgeon Sushruta which has considerable surgical knowledge of relevance even today. We are no stranger to the work of people such as Joseph Lister (1827– 1912), the Englishman who brought a revolution in the practice of surgery, his advocacy of the use of carbolic acid (phenol) as an antiseptic, and was dubbed the “Father of Modern Surgery” as a result. Ever since humans have first learned to make and handle tools, they have employed their talents to develop surgical techniques, each time more sophisticated than the last; however, until the industrial revolution, surgeons were incapable of overcoming the three principal obstacles which had plagued the medical profession from its infancy—bleeding, pain, and infection. Advances in these fields have transformed surgery from * Shiva K. Misra [email protected]; http://www.drshivakmisra.com