Dear Colleagues and Friends,
We are now less than a year away from the APFSSH /APFSHT congress to be held in Mumbai next September. This meeting is the premier event on our educational calendar where surgeons and therapists meet to learn, exchange ideas and solve problems so that we may improve the care of our patients. Our Federation is constantly growing with two new member societies joining this year. The APFSSH is expanding its role in education throughout our region with our Travelling Fellowship, Visiting Professorship programs and recently established an Advanced Training Program.
The theme for this year's conference is "Progress with Purpose" Progress can be defined as "development towards an improved or more advanced condition" and Purpose can be defined as "the end for which something is done." Certainly expanding our knowledge in the treatment of hand conditions and increasing the number of hand surgery societies in our Federation would satisfy the definition of progress and the purpose of this progress is, in the end, to improve our knowledge and skills for the benefit of our patients. We must be careful to evaluate surgical developments such as new implants and new techniques that may seem initially to demonstrate progress, however we must be careful that this progress is accompanied with the purpose of improving care for our patients. The purpose of these developments must be well defined and the outcomes of any new prostheses and surgical procedures must be rigorously tested. For this reason major educational events such as the APFSSH congress in Mumbai provide a mechanism for us to learn of new developments, to discuss and question their purpose and outcomes through presentations and the very important follow-up discussions. Only then can we see progress with purpose in hand surgery.
I look forward to welcoming you all to Mumbai, to learn, to renew friendships and make new friends.
Anthony Berger
President APFSSH