My Dear Dr. Lalit Verma, Dr. Namrata Sharma, Dr. Sanjay Chaudhary, Respected Senior Surgeons and friends,
It is with utmost humility, I herewith take over the responsibility of the president of Delhi Ophthalmological Society. Our society has grown over the last decade to become the topmost state ophthalmolocal society of the country. We are today the strongest in every sphere be it academic, membership, financial strength or friendly and cohesive relationship amongst the members. To be a part of this society is an honour in itself of which I am proud.

Delhi is a cosmopolitan state and has a huge population. From the days of Moghuls Delhi has been a city of migrants and has always held the status of star city. Every ruler has made Delhi as their capital and given it a colour of their own so much so that it is now the rainbow of customs, religions and practices with each colour mixing and in fact intermingling into the other without any demarcating lines or boundaries. The city-state has progressed tremendously and has become financial, IT and health services hub besides being the political power center of the country.

Ophthalmology has changed tremendously over the last two decades and has become one of the most technologically advanced branch of medicine. This has translated into ophthalmology becoming most machine oriented stream as well as making it a conglomerate of multiple super-specialities in itself. Barring a few premier institutions , advanced training is not available and currently a postgraduate degree is practically incomplete unless a fellowship of another 2 – 3 years is done thereafter. DOST is a wonderful step in direction of supplemental teaching for postgraduates. DOS has number of senior members of national and international repute who can impart practical training worth more than a fellowship. I wish we should look into the possibility of such programmes under the aegis of DOS.

DOS is already looking into making a guidelines for cataract surgery. A standard consent form for different procedures along with guidelines for the surgeons will not only make the eye care services more uniform but also take care of majority of consumer litigations. We are fortunate to have born into a country with the karma philosophy. Most of us as well as our patients have a strong belief in karma theory and any mishap is blamed on the karma and litigation rate is pretty low. I am sure this is not going to last like that forever and western trends will take over. A two pronged strategy should be evolved. DOS should have an interactive session with legal experts as well as the insurance companies so as to keep its members abreast of the consumer issues and how best to address them.

Most of DOS members are so busy in their professional activities that they have little time for recreation. A good trend of DOS picnic was started last year. This not only recharges your batteries but also improves the feeling of fellowship. Another issue raised by our busy schedule is our inability to invest our earnings to generate decent returns safely. Today Wealth management has become a specialized field and all banks like SBI, Yes Bank, HDFC and ICICI are offering these services free. An interactive talk by one of the head of investment banking and sharing different product will definitely help our members in this sphere.

DOS has number of members with funds to spare. I wish to invite all of them to come forward and put these funds either to institute awards in specific fields or to start fellowships for the junior members and postgraduate students so that they can present their work in various national and international meetings.

God has given all of us a wonderful life and knowledge to heal. Last year the world sight day was celebrated as a free eye checkup day by us. I wish we are able to do this more frequently for the underprivileged specially the students of blind school under the aegis of DOS.

I wish all of you to appreciate the hard work done by my predecessor Dr.Lalit Verma and The Secretary Dr.Namrata Sharma. They have taken our society to a level which is nearly impossible for other state societies to reach. Due to their untiring efforts, today we have an academic program where everyone feels honoured to become a faculty in our meetings and our outside members eagerly wait for our twice a year academic and trade feast. They have created fantastic relations with the trade and have their full support in wet labs, booth lectures and other activities. We also have top class teachers as foreign faculty.

Last but not the least, the trade members have supported the DOS and are becoming the backbone of our society .I have been in touch with them to extend financial support to the post graduate students and have received the favourable response.
I take this opportunity to congratulate Dr. Sharad Lakhotia on his winning the elections for the Vice President of our society. I am sure we will have his ideas and support to make our society achieve greater heights.

I acknowledge that my wife Dr Raka Bharti, my daughters Dr Neha and Hina have given me their whole hearted support in all my ventures sacrificing their time and activities. I have had the support of my associates Dr. Dharitri Samantaray, Dr. Salim Zafar Asaad, Dr. Deven Tuli, Dr. Manish Kumar besides lots of other friends and well wishers as also the staff members of Bharti Eye Foundation. I am ever indebted to them.

Thank you friends.
Long Live DOS
JAI HIND

Dr. S. Bharti
President, DOS