Dear Friends,

Greetings from the President of ARIS. It is said that you live only once. We spend this duration of time in reflection and assessment of all the learnings we received. There were some important lessons learned from our mentors, teachers, and seniors. It is difficult to imagine the rough path they walked, lighting the way, knocking down walls, and opening doors, so that life might be a bit smoother for those of us coming behind them. They defended, with fierce determination, the identity of the speech and hearing professional. Today, I ask you to remember them with pride and reverence. We are here today because of them and are grateful to them for protecting our professional identity, nurturing the profession, and creating a platform from which we could confidently look into the future.

As a president of the Indian Association of Gastrointestinal Endosurgeons (IAGES) and Assam State Chapter-Association of Surgeons of India, my desire was to learn different ways to make our field grow in a way to help society and reduces the cost of healthcare around us. This dream became a bit closer to the goal last year when we started ARIS in April 2022. With ARIS, we all had a goal in our mind that is to make our fellow surgeons get trained with advanced robotic surgery and other surgical innovations, to make it popular across the globe and to make it attainable to every member of society as it has several advantages over standard surgical approaches, including rapid recovery, lower rate of postoperative infection, decreased pain, better postoperative immune function, and cosmetic results.

Sushruta, in his Sushruta Samhita, has said, “A great surgeon is one who possesses courage and presence of mind, a hand free from perspiration, tremor less grip of sharp and good instruments and who carries his operations to the success and advantage of his patient who has entrusted his life to the surgeon.” The age-old teachings of Sushruta still hold true albeit for the fact that the hands of the surgeon are slowly being replaced by the tremor-less grip of the robotic arms.

We have also recently launched the first journal dedicated to upcoming innovations from ARIS as we hardly have any journal dedicated to clinical Robotics and upcoming Innovations in Southeast Asia and probably only one or two in world literature. We have kept the Journal Open for access with no processing fee so that full text can be retrieved by anyone with interest on the robotics field, and also authors from developing countries can share their vast experience without paying any fees.

We have made exemplary progress in the field of healthcare technology. By embracing these advancements, we can enhance patient care, improve outcomes, and contribute to the global healthcare ecosystem. Let us embark on this journey together, leveraging our collective expertise, and shaping a better future where healthcare knows no boundaries.

In an endeavor to take Robotic surgery to the masses and to the remotest corner of the country and the globe, ARIS initiated the ¬first international course last year (2022) and that was hugely accepted by surgeons all over the world. More than 80 people got trained under ARIS.

As ARIS has a strong regional representation with international members representing Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the USA, we would like to continue harnessing new ideas with technology in different ways. It is my hope that we build on the foundations laid, and exploit the energy of the increasing members, to make ARIS an organization that is useful for professionals and responsive to the needs of society. Let us use this opportunity to re-dedicate ourselves to work towards our common future.

Let me reiterate once again that it is a privilege to serve as President of this society. Along with the founding members, the executive council members, and other members of the association, we will attempt to move the association and our goal forward for this upcoming year and years to come.