Message From President

First of all, I express my sincere gratitude to all the members of ASSN for having trust in me by unanimously electing to the position of the President. And I pledge to assure you all to put best of my effort for further progress of our association.  

I have witnessed gradual evolution of spine surgery in Nepal over the past 15 years. There was a time, during my residency, when unstable Thoraco-lumbar fractures used to be treated only with body cast. Today we are in the position where complex spinal conditions can also be successfully treated having outcome in par with the best centers in the world. Being able to put pedicle screws in Thoraco-Lumbar spine or being able to treat spine trauma only does not define spine surgeon. Spine surgery is vast, encompassing wide range of clinical conditions like trauma, tumors, infections, degenerative, deformities etc. Surgical techniques like MISS or endoscopic spine surgeries are developing. Therefore, there are ample of opportunities for the upcoming spine surgeons to develop super-specialty in one of these subsets and pursue their professional career. And our focus will be to continue developing spine services in the country.

I have a vision with clarity. There are challenges but the goals are not unattainable. 

This is exciting to know that younger generations are developing interest in spine surgery. ASSN will play a pivotal role in transferring knowledge and skills to the spine enthusiasts in such a way that they all will develop safe surgical practice for the benefit of the patients. Special standard courses for the surgeons, residents and physiotherapists will be developed. We need to improvise our conventional academic activities into interactive and evidence based patterns which will also help to develop presentation / communication skills more efficiently. These programs will be conducted more frequently. We will be inclusive and will actively involve participation from outside the valley as well. I would appreciate your suggestions in these regards. 

Liaison with national and international organization and skill exchange programs will be explored and young surgeons will be encouraged to participate based upon their merit criteria.

Finally, ASSN is our professional organization. Keeping the positions in executive committee aside, we all need to contribute in its development.

Thank you.

Dr. Dipak Shrestha
President