Hyderabad, Dec 16 : Bhutan Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering said on Wednesday that he is a surgeon first and forever and that politics is only a passing phase in his life.
“Surgeons operate with a knife and I have the advantage of operating with the pen as a politician and with a knife as a surgeon. I am a surgeon first and forever. Politics is only a passing phase in my life,” he said in his virtual address at the 80th Annual Conference of the Association of Surgeons of India (ASI).
He said that it is important to be good human beings first and later a good surgeon and it is important to adhere to the Hippocratic oath.
Tshering spoke about Gross National Happiness (GNH), which is a philosophy that has been the guiding force for Bhutan and aims for collective happiness and wellbeing of a population. He urged the surgical fraternity to serve selflessly for the greater good of humanity.
He complimented ASI Oresident Dr. P. Raghu Ram for his outstanding leadership.
Earlier, in his presidential address, the ASI President said that in the 82-year-long history of the association, it was for the first time that the Prime Minister of a country graced an important ASI ceremony as the chief guest.
He said that the Prime Minister of Bhutan is an epitome of simplicity, who is transforming Bhutan and he would hopefully serve as an inspiration to close to well over 6,000 surgeons participating in the three-day conference.
Three eminent surgeons from India – Prof C.R. Ballal from Mangalore, Prof. D.D. Patel from Ahmedabad and Prof Tehemton Udwadia from Mumbai were conferred the ASI lifetime achievement awards for 2020 in recognition of their invaluable and tireless contribution to the ASI over many decades.
Prof Patricia Numann from the US, Prof Tony Sparnon from Australia, Prof Iain Anderson from the UK, Prof Jayaindra Fernando from Sri Lanka, Prof Takao Ohki from Japan and Prof Jose Antonio Salud from the Philippines were the six world renowned surgeons conferred with Honorary Fellowship of ASI during the convocation ceremony.
A total of 57 surgeons from all across India were conferred FAIS (Fellowship of ASI).
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from IANS service.