BIOS at 25: The Silver Jubilee

Sunil Garg and Rajesh Nanda

Sunil Garg is a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at the James Paget University Hospital, Great Yarmouth. He is the BIOS President 2023-25.

Rajesh Nanda is a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at University Hospitals of North Tees and Hartlepool and Honorary Professor at Teesside University. He is the Treasurer for BIOS (2024-2026) and is a member of BOA Education and Careers Committee.

Jawaharlal Nehru’s Independence speech at the stroke of midnight 77 years ago ushered in the birth of two great nations. Nehru spoke of the tryst with destiny made by colonised people, redeemed as they won freedom from the British Empire. At the end of the twentieth century, Britons voted the NHS as one of their greatest ever achievements. This monumental institution has ensured that the United Kingdom and South Asia have remained linked.

Particularly in its early years, doctors from the Indian Subcontinent formed the backbone of the NHS and as the NHS celebrates its 76th birthday, the specialism of trauma and orthopaedics continues to be enriched by the Indian contribution. With this background, the formation of an association of orthopaedic surgeons of Indian origin in the UK was a logical step.

Birth of a Society

In the early summer of 1999, exciting things were happening around the UK including a Cricket World Cup. As the South African and the Indian teams were locked in a group match at Hove, a handful of enthusiastic British orthopaedic surgeons of Indian origin, led by Bisal Muddu assembled in nearby Eastbourne to sow the seeds of the Indian Orthopaedic Society UK (IOS-UK). Bisal became the founder-president and his colleague Babu

Peravali, the founder secretary, invited likeminded colleagues from across the UK for the inaugural meeting, hosted by Ravi Koka.

The society has grown steadily and now celebrates its silver jubilee with over 600 life members, representing all surgical grades. The Society celebrates its core Indian connection but is equally proud to be essentially a body of British surgeons who happen to be of Indian origin. With this in mind, a unanimous decision was taken by the Society at its AGM in Liverpool 2015 to change its name from ‘Indian Orthopaedic Society of United Kingdom’ to ‘British Indian Orthopaedic Society (BIOS)’ and adopted the motto ‘Excellence through Education’

BIOS has made giant strides on many fronts fulfilling its stated goals but remains primarily an educational and cultural body, promoting and nurturing orthopaedic ties between the UK and India. This is an organisation that aims to be inclusive, not exclusive.

The Society as a BOA affiliated society continues its close association with both the BOA and the IOA with a presidential exchange at BIOS, BOA and IOA meetings. The bridge underpinned by BIOS linking Indian and British orthopaedics is built on strong foundations, nurturing the science and art of orthopaedics across the two continents.

Indian Summer

The ‘Indian Summer’ concept was the brainchild of Bisal Muddu and the inaugural event took place as a part of the 2004 Annual BOA Congress in Manchester. A delectable combination of invited lectures from eminent Indian Orthopods, a spicy Indian Dinner and even spicier Bollywood themed entertainment enthralled the delegates. The second event was held in 2009 garnering equally enthusiastic reviews for both the quality of the science and the artistry of the Indian themed entertainment. It is now a triennial event and firmly established in the BOA Congress calendar.

A reciprocal event in India mirroring the UK Indian Summer became a reality at the Chennai IOACON in 2013, under the name, ‘British Autumn’ where senior British orthopods gave a series of lectures to an appreciative audience.

BIOS educational activities

BIOS draws on the vast expertise of its members in areas of mentoring, education, training and leadership and via its membership organises many educational sessions throughout each year. Increasingly, this content has been delivered online. Over the last few years BIOS has organised regular virtual sessions covering the breadth of orthopaedics both for trainees as well as established surgeons. BIOS has organised and presented not only the annual BOABIOS session at Congress but also a similar annual IOA-BIOS session. It has also had the opportunity of its members presenting invited guest lectures at various regional state meetings in India.

BIOS funds a place on the BOA Future Leaders Programme and this year started a CESR support and mentorship programme for our SAS colleagues.

Indo British travelling fellowships

This flagship educational programme from BIOS has arranged a number of opportunities for young Indian orthopaedic surgeons to visit UK in an observer capacity for 2-3 week fellowships with the aim of providing exposure to British T&O concepts. Fellows end the fellowship by attending the annual conference of BIOS or the BOA.

BIOS also sponsors trainees from BOTA and its wider members to visit centres of excellence in India for a similar period and attend the IOA Congress attended by approximately 5,000 orthopaedic surgeons from India and abroad. Over the years, several orthopaedic trainees and Consultants from the UK have visited state of the art arthroplasty, sports and trauma centres in India and exchanged ideas.

The 25th Annual British Indian Orthopaedic Society Conference

Our Silver Jubilee meeting was held in Newcastle 5th – 6th July 2024, organised by Professor Rajesh Nanda and his team. The theme of the conference was ‘Utilising the Wisdom of Experience’. The conference showcased the achievements and contributions of the Indian orthopaedic surgeon with speakers including past and present members of the BOA presidential line: Professor Joe Dias, Ananda Nanu, Mark Bowditch and Professor Amar Rangan as well as Vikas Khanduja President-elect of SICOT and researcher Professor Hemant Pandit. Dr Ram Chaddha, President of the IOA gave an insightful talk, ‘My Ten Mistakes – Journey of a Spine Surgeon’. There were also lectures by Professor Mike Reed on AI in Orthopaedics and Professor Paul Banaszkiewicz on Resilience in Orthopaedics: Dealing with Setbacks. The invited guest lecture was delivered by retired general surgeon, author and equality advocate, David Sellu, who spoke on Experience of a GMC Investigation.

In a special session, the contributions of the society’s past presidents were highlighted and acknowledged with thanks for their outstanding leadership and service.

For the first time, in collaboration with BOMSA, BIOS organised a parallel session for medical students, incorporating lectures and workshops on plastering and suturing skills, application of an Ex-Fix and basic AO principles.

There were also several free paper sessions (abstracts published in BJJ), posters and an exciting JAM session (Just a minute) that was well received by all. Visiting fellows from India presented their reports and their learnings from the NHS. CESR and medico-legal revalidation were other popular sessions.

BIOS continues to develop its educational activities both within the UK and in India. It will continue to be the bridge between our two organisations, BOA and IOA, helping to forge better relations and improve the exchange of ideas that is beneficial to our patients. We take this opportunity to invite JTO readers to attend the BOA-BIOS session at Congress on Wednesday 18th September.