About ESOT
With
the beginning of 1995 G.C. the consensus that was made among all Orthopedic
Surgeons was to be organized under the Surgical Society of Ethiopia (SSE) which
was believed as it should be serve as umbrella organization for all surgical
specialties until such time that each surgical specialty associations
established. Thereafter SSE would be transformed to "College of
Surgeons" and will mainly focus on accreditation, certification, standardization
etc. of the profession. (Now it is high time to establish the “College of
Surgeons” of the country due to the current flourishing of Surgical Trainings
at the different Universities in order to assess, standardize, accredit, etc.
of their activities.)
Subsequently as the department of orthopedic surgery started
to produce graduates and also with arrival of specialists graduated abroad the
number of orthopedic surgeons started to grow up. In 2003 an interested group
met in the Tikur Anbessa hospital surgical department conference hall for a
brain storming discussion on how to establish a society. At the end of the
meeting a steering committee was formed with the main task to draft the
constitution and to accomplish the legalization process.
In May, 2003 the first meeting was conducted at Semien Hotel.
The drafted constitution, the name- Ethiopian Society of Orthopedics and
Traumatology (ESOT) -and the Emblem of the society were approved and executive
members were elected.
On the 2nd of January 2004 the society has been officially
registered by the Ministry of Justice and following in 2004 in the presence of
officials from the Ministry of Health, delegates from sister societies and
associations and other invited guests from inside and out-side of the country
an inaugural ceremony was held at the Ghion Hotel. There has been also a guest
lecture as well as scientific paper presentations. After the second annual
meeting and scientific conference which was held at Global Hotel Thursday 30th
March 2006 with a preconference workshop on Club feet organized by the Society,
Cure International and World Orthopedics Concern, during the subsequent years
due to unforeseen circumstances (internal and external) the activity has
tremendously declined.
In 2008 extra-ordinary meeting was called and new executive
committee was elected which led the society to the resurgence of its activity.
There after to date there were regular annual meetings and scientific
conferences with panel discussions on important and timely issues and Workshops.
Starting 2010 the society has gone further to start publishing a Scientific
Journal of its own and has created its web-site.
The 2012 AGM and Scientific Conference have been colorfully
celebrated at Hilton Hotel in the presence of His Excellency Ato Amin Abdulkadir
Minister of Culture and Tourism with the theme "Medical Tourism &
Sport Injuries". At this conference members has been honored with a
recognition awards for their contribution to the profession at different
categories. The first Operative AO course for all Orthopedic Surgeons in
Ethiopia & their Nurses was successfully conducted in Dec. 2012 in
Churchill Hotel. Both surgeons and residents benefited a lot. ESOT is growing
tremendously. Therefore, to uphold this noble endeavor, it is the duty of every
member to actively engage our self to the fulfillment of the vision, mission
and goals of the society.