Dear Fellow Anaesthesiologists,
Warm greetings from the Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists (ISA)!

I am truly honoured and humbled to take over as President of this historical and esteemed democratic organisation, with more than 39000 members, especially because at this moment, the organisation has just completed 75 glorious years of ISA.

As I take over the baton from my illustrious predecessors, I believe that the ISA has to grow mainly as a professional and academic body, well-respected on the global front. Its visibility both in the national and international arena has to improve. This does not appear to be difficult if each one of us contributes to it fruitfully at the city, state, and national levels. We need to develop a memorandum of understanding or collaborate with our colleagues from societies of other subjects both in India and abroad to share with them ideas, knowledge, and skills such that the advances in our speciality will dissipate widely across borders. Improvement in communication can serve as a tool in this endeavour. The interaction with other organisations will help improve the image of our profession before the rest of the medical fraternity both on the global and local fronts. Innovations and skill sharing, and goal alignment can strengthen the path of academic and clinical progress. We need to exchange knowledge, coach each other, and teach each other newer skills if we have to become academically stronger. A collaborative and supportive environment is needed for this and it can be provided by the ISA at all levels, city, state, and nation.

Dear colleagues, thank you for your interest, support, and cooperation in ISA activities in the past year. We need it even more in the coming days. Your inputs are always valuable. We all need to volunteer to make this organisation a blessing to our members. We need to have a larger participation of all our anaesthesia colleagues in our organisation. This is critical to building the strength needed for new regional and global opportunities.

Now, is the time to explore new prospects with a broader view and get all the local and international organisations in Anaesthesiology working together. We can do this by surpassing boundaries and barriers. In the coming days, we will encourage participation and contributions from all allied speciality societies and will make efforts to gather them all under the umbrella of ISA. I envisage the setting up of an independent college of the ISA which can impart teaching and training in various aspects to anaesthesiologists and others all over the world.

Death is inevitable, but preventing financial losses for the dependents of the deceased is preventable. The Family Benevolent Fund (FBF) is one such programme of the ISA that helps the dependants of the deceased anaesthesiologist financially. It is my earnest request to all my fellow colleagues to please contribute to the FBF and encourage others also to do the same. In addition to this, all the other programmes of the ISA have to be conducted with more enthusiasm and using innovative methods.

I have succeeded Dr. Venkatagiri KM as President of this organisation. The ISA was a vibrant and active body during his tenure. I congratulate him and appreciate the hard work done by Dr. Naveen Malhotra, the immediate past dynamic Honorary Secretary of ISA National. My team including the Vice President Dr. Mahesh Sinha, the academic and committed Honorary Secretary Dr. Sukhminder Jit Singh Bajwa, treasurer Dr. Manoj Kumar, the Editor-in-Chief Dr. Rakesh Garg, and all the members of the Governing Council is passionate about the activities and progress of the ISA. We will continue with the knowledge, programmes and good traditions passed over to us by our predecessors and will strive hard to sincerely attempt to make the ISA leap to enviable levels from its current glorious position through education, growth, and development programmes.

There is no dearth of manpower. I am certain that willpower and a strong passion to work for the ISA will help my team achieve its goals.

Long Live ISA!
Jai Hind !

Dr. M.V. Bhimeshwar
President ISA National