Asia Pacific Arthroplasty Society Incorporated (APAS)
A small group of twenty orthopaedic arthroplasty surgeons from the Asia-Pacific region met on the Gold Coast of Queensland, in Australia, in 1997 to discuss the need for a scientific body to foster and represent the academic and professional needs of the region. The Asia Pacific Arthroplasty Society Incorporated ā APAS – was born out of that meeting with Wui K Chung the founding chairman. Ray Randle was elected the 1st President of the society and Chit Ranawat honored the society by accepting to be the Patron of the society.
The aims of the society are to:
- foster social and scientific exchange
- provide a platform for Asian surgeons to present their surgical experience
- encourage exchange scholarship
The 1st Annual Scientific Meeting was held in New Delhi in 1998. Not less than 600 delegates attended that meeting. Since then there have been 13 hugely successful Annual Meetings held in Shanghai, Beijing, Xian, New Delhi, Mumbai, Seoul, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.
Our past Presidents include Ray Randle, Ashok Rajgopal, Jim Sullivan, Yoo Myung-chui, Wang Yan, Arun Mullaji and most recently Rami Sorial. Our current President is Parag Sancheti and Vice President Cao Li.
The Delta Foundation, although a separate entity, was created as an additional educational arm of the society. Its educational format includes short 2-3 day seminars, to provide practical instruction on surgical technique and the science of arthroplasty surgery. These seminars have been conducted in numerous cities across Asia, pivoted on live surgical demonstrations with moderators and open forum case discussions.