Obesity & Metabolic Surgery Society of India

OSSI is a not for profit, member based body of bariatric and metabolic surgeons in India. As a scientific organization, it brings together other clinical experts such as Anaesthesiologists, Endocrinologists, Psychiatrists, Dieticians, Nurses, Physical Trainers, etc. also within its ambit for the cause of treating morbidly obese patients. OSSI aims to support its members in aspects directly related to their profession, to optimize outcomes of treatments offered to severely obese patients. The association’s activities are focused on skill enhancement, information exchange and knowledge sharing on surgical treatments for obese patients. It helps present new techniques, research, concepts to its members, who are experts in the field. OSSI today organizes member meetings annually to facilitate networking, learning and knowledge sharing amongst its members.

It was in 2002, the idea of forming an association of bariatric surgeons in India that could bring them together on a national platform and serve to integrate their knowledge and experiences for the advancement of bariatric treatments in India was postulated. Obesity & Metabolic Surgery Society of India (OSSI) was formed in September 2002 with Dr Shrihari Dhorepatil as its Founder President.. OSSI joined International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO) in 2003 during the IFSO Congress in Salamanca, Spain, which was attended by a very large delegation of bariatric surgeons from India. Since its inception, OSSI continues to receive guidance from its esteemed past office bearers and members.

OSSI Milestones

The main goal of OSSI is the optimisation of the treatment of severely obese patients and tooday OSSI is known for its continued commitment to teaching and training.

OSSICON - The first annual conference of OSSI, aptly christened "OSSICON" was held in March 2003 in Mumbai. OSSICON since then has become a regular annual national event on OSSI calendar typically happening during the spring season. OSSICON today facilitates a rare confluence of Indias best bariatric talent at one place. In 2012, OSSI also had the honour of organizing IFSO world Congress in Delhi and the prestigious IFSO-APC in 2017.

Guidelines - OSSI has produced a number of guidelines, and statements on morbid obesity and its treatment and is committed to the creation of a system for accreditation of individual surgeons and bariatric centers around the globe. These guidelines and position statements have been published to aid in more standardises practice of safe surgery.

Honours - Dr. Shrihari Dhorepatil was unstated as a honorary IFSO life member since 2014 for his contribution to the field. Dr Pradeep Chowbey, served as IFSO President between 2012-2013. Dr.Muffazal Lakdawala served as IFSO-APC president in 2019-2020. Dr. Manish Khaitan was honoured with IFSO-APC international member-at-large between 2024-26 representing OSSI to the Asia Pacific region.

Registry - In 2017, OSSI initiated the much needed observational multi-centric digital registry that aims to collect structured clinical data of patients through its members to publish original research and to formulate national guidelines. With the aim of educating surgeons and associated specialist on the evidence based surgical practice,

COE - Centre of Excellence in Metabolic nd Bariatric Surgery (COEMBS) is an OSSI initiative since 2018, aimed at Indian national patient safety and quality improvement available to all bariatric surgeons and facilities across the nation. The COEBMS certification is therefore awarded to a facility and its associated surgeons who have successfully completed the designation process, which enables patients to distinguish providers who have met the state-of-the-art requirements with regards to volume, manpower and facility for delivering high-quality perioperative and long-term follow-up care.

FMBS - OSSI is the first around the globe to start Fellowship in Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (FMBS) in 2019 .All those members and non-members including international surgeons who fulfil the guidelines and criteria laid down by the fellowship committee will be eligible to apply for the fellowship program. All certified "Center of Excellence" hospitals will be running one year clinical bariatric fellowship program

CICO - With the need for standardisation of care for the integrated health community, OSSI kickstarted the Certificate in Integrated Care for Obesity (CICO) program since 2022. With an entire learning platform and resource materials available to its members through the Virtual Academy since 2019,Those aspiring to work in the field of obesity or in a bariatric unit, either as part time or full time, will be benefit from the course.

JBS - OSSI boasts as one of the first to take seriousness of obesity surgery to the next level. OSSI launched its own journal of Bariatric Surgery (JBS) since 2022, the latest addition to its services, is a peer-reviewed print + online 3 Issues journal. The journal allows open access to its contents and permits authors to self-archive final accepted version of the articles on any OAI-compliant institutional / subject-based repository.