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ABOUT AOMSI
Although it was decided to have the next conference at Bombay in 1971, it was only in 1976 that the Bombay conference eventually materialized. The conference, which was held at the Taj, had Dr Dudhani as the organizing chairman and Dr AP Chitre as the organizing secretary. The scientific lectures were mainly by Indian speakers from the field of oral surgery and medical specialties. At this conference Dr S.S. Khera and Dr A.P. Chitre were elected as the President and secretary of AOSI respectively. The next conference was held at Manipal in 1978 with Dr Bhasker Rao as the organizing secretary. It also marked the advent of foreign speakers. The president of the International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Dr Vanderkwast attended and spoke at the conference, as did Dr Georgie Szabo from Hungary . In 1977 Dr AP Chitre and Dr P L Khurana attended the international conference at Sydney , Australia and AOSI was officially affiliated to the IAOMS. In 1980 the conference was again held in Bombay when Dr AP Chitre became the President of AOMSI. In addition to many speakers from around the country there were also speakers from Netherlands , Germany , Japan and the UK . From 1980 the conference became an unfailing annual affair and has been held in all the important cities of the country. The date of registration of the association is not traceable. The official journal of the association was released apparently in the 1990's. No exact date is available. It continues to be a quarterly publication and is being put up for indexing in the Index Medicus. The association was renamed as the Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of India(AOMSI) since 19..? The association has grown in leaps and bounds in the last decade and at present has nearly 700 life members and 180 annual members. In addition the association also has hundreds of student members. Today the AOMSI, as the official organization of maxillofacial surgeons in India has benchmarked the advances made by the specialty. The Annual conference held every December and the mid-term conference held every June have become important academic and social calendar events for the maxillofacial surgeons of India and abroad. Many of its members are also members of the Asian and International Associations. The AOMSI was host to the Asian conference at Mumbai in December 2002 with Prof J.N. Khanna as the organizing Chairman of the conference. The AOMSI has bid for the International conference and for the first time in its history the International conference will be held at Bangalore in 2007 under the chairmanship of Dr Kishore Nayak. Dr J.N.Khanna became the first Indian President of the Asian Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Mumbai in 2002. Dr Kishore Nayak became the first Indian to become a member of the executive committee of the International association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in 2003. Many of the members of AOMSI attend international conferences and present scientific papers at these events. Today the association is trying to make constructive changes in the curriculum of the AOMSI and offering fellowships to deserving members as a mark of achievement. It is also fighting to secure for its members privileges of the fraternity. In the thirty-five years of its existence the AOMSI has grown into a powerful organization working for the advancement of the profession by creating environments conducive to its growth and development. The above feature was compiled by your secretary with inputs from Dr AP Chitre, Mumbai, Dr Nanda Pai, Mumbai and Dr Kishore Nayak, Bangalore . There is a distinct possibility that several important events and people have been omitted. Important dates could also not be ascertained. There is an apparent paucity of information. Any member wishing to contribute to the history of AOMSI may contact the secretary with details. George Paul.
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