OUR HISTORY

Surgical society of Dehradun is Dr. Ram Murti Sharma's brainchild. The society started in 1970 with Lt. Gen. T. R. Pahwa as its founder president and Dr. Sharma as its honorary secretary. It started as a monthly study group, meeting once a month in the afternoon and ending with a cup of tea. Subscription used to be Rupees Two per month. The several years we used to meet at the Gyan Lok Library at Rajpur Road, run by late Shri Padam Kumar Jain and later at this Kalhan Nursing Home.

General Pahwa remained its President for several years. He was a great stickler about punctuality. We always started the meeting sharp at 3.30 p.m., no matter what. The attendance used to be very good too. Surgeons from Military Hospital Dehradun and Community Hospital Mussoorie were very active participants in the clinical meetings. An army truck bringing patients from M. H. for demonstration in the meeting was a common feature. For several years during 1972-80 we used to have one meeting at Mussoorie during May, courtesy Dr. Cyril Dutt and later Dr. Virgin of Community Hospital Mussoorie. Members used to look forward to the outing with enthusiasm and attended in sizable numbers.

The society had the honor of several surgeons of national repute addressing its monthly meetings, like Prof. U. V. Shahi of Patna, Dr. S. P. Shrivastava of Agra, Prof. Mrs. Sneh Bhargava of AIIMS, New Delhi, Prof. Devki Kutty, Prof. P. Upadhyaya (now Society's President) when he was professor and head of Department of Pediatric Surgery at the AIIMS, New Delhi. Late Dr. Bhagwal Saran Upadhyaya, a well known scholar author, Archeologist and later High Commissioner to Mauritius addressed the society.

Around 1976 a symposium was held by the society on "Surgery of Prostate" under the president ship of late Brigadier A. K. Moitre.

We had a grand celebration of our 100th meeting in December 1978.

Gradually there was reduction in enthusiasm of the members and there was thinning of attendance significantly. There used to be a debate even about officially closing the society.

During last two years again under the President ship of Prof. Upadhyaya, Society's fortunes are looking up. There are regular meetings again with main thrust on academics and stimulating the members for continuous quest for knowledge. Current symposium being held on a grand scale with live demonstrations is proof of the vibrant society of our recent members. We are also having a monthly newsletter of which Dr. Rakesh Kalra is the editor.

(The above is  a copy of the article written  for the Souvenir published by the Surgical Society of Dehradun on the 15th of November 1997, on the occasion of Endosurgery'97 symposium-cum-live demonstrations.)