Kashmir emerges as hub of advanced hepato-pancreaticobiliary surgeries

Srinagar, Oct 25: Kashmir has made tremendous strides in the Hepatopancreatic biliary Surgeries, becoming a beacon of excellence in this field. The J&K Chapter of Association of surgeons of India (JAKASI) today hosted a colloquium Carpe Diem, attended by over 100 delegates, all experts in their respective fields of medicine and surgery.

Prof Mushtaq Chalkoo gave an emotive start to the event and narrated the 'the untold story of smiles and tears' that the surgeons and his teachers have gone through to reach the peak, where he said, the surgery sector in Kashmir was today. "It is simple hard work that perches one at the top," he said. He praised Prof Muneer Khan, his other seniors and Prof Omar Javed Shah, ex-Director SKIMS for aiming high and striving to reach the highest of standards in surgeries.

Prof Iqbal Saleem, President JAKASI said that the program aimed at exposing the youngsters to expertise which is not part of their everyday learning. He hoped that during his tenure as president JAKASI would take the association to newer heights.

Dr Omar Javed Shah spoke about spending time at GMC Srinagar mentoring surgeons in various Hepatopancreatic biliary procedures. He spoke about his teachers and how he learnt from them, and how they allowed him to develop and fine-tune his surgical procedures. He spoke about the senior surgeons from whom he has learnt, 'challenging themselves'. He spoke about his mentor who accepted and adopted his surgical shunt and named it Umer Shunt. "SKIMS became a high volume portal hypertension center in entire India, and never lost the patient, my last patient being a 16 year old girl," he said. He urged surgeons to work in teams and have dreams, and follow the dreams with hard work. He described the struggles in developing the simplified technique of performing splenorenal shunt called Omar's technique.

Prof Showkat A Zargar and Prof MS Khuroo appreciated the work being done by the younger generation of surgeons and wished them success.

The Hepatopancreatic biliary Surgery Colloquium Carpe Diem was organised as an evening discourse in Srinagar on 25th October 2024. The colloquium was

attended by Prof MS Khuroo, Prof SA Zargar, Prof GQ Peer, Prof OJ Shah, Prof Nazir A Salroo and Dr Nissar A Wani. Prof Mushtaq Chalkoo, the organizing secretary of this program, welcomed the delegates and emphasised on the leaps and bounds that have been done in this field in our UT. Prof Iqbal Saleem Mir,

President JAKASI presented the presidential address and stressed the need of organizing such programs in every nook and corner of the UT.

The speakers included Dr Nazir A Wani, Prof Mushtaq Chalkoo, Dr Sanjay Goja, Prof

Iqbal Saleem Mir and Prof OJ Shah. Prof P Jagannath (Ex President IHPBA) send a video

message applauding the role of organisers for taking up these challenging tasks. Deliberations took place on vascular resections in HPB surgery, OCH and emergency laparoscopy in ruptured hydatid. Other notable delegates who interacted were Prof Ajaz Rather, Prof Abdul Rashid Ganaie, Prof Mubashir Shah and Dr Zaffar Saleem Khanday. The audience included surgeons from both the central as well as peripheral hospitals of the UT. Dr Khurshid A Ganaie (Joint Organizing Secretary) proposed the vote of thanks.