The 49th Annual Conference of Indian Society of Aerospace Medicine (ISAM) was held at Air Force Auditorium, Subroto Park, New Delhi from 13 to 15 Nov 2009. Air Chief Marshal PV Naik PVSM VSM ADC Chief of the Air Staff, Indian Air Force, and the Patron of the Society inaugurated the conference on 13 Nov 09. Several dignitaries, both from the operational and medical streams, were in attendance. The inaugural ceremony was a dignified affair starting with an audiovisual presentation on the Society. Air Cmde Harish Malik welcomed the guests and delegates; Air Marshal P Madhusoodanan AVSM VSM PHS, President of the Society outlined the focus of the conference and its relevance for aviation safety. The Chief Guest stressed that the theme of the Conference Military and Civil Aviation - Current Challenges' is appropriate for the IAF and other aviation communities. He urged the medical fraternity to look into the problems of long duration flight and pilot workload in advanced aircraft.

The annual Air Marshal Subroto Mukherjee oration was delivered by Dr SNA Zaidi, Director General of Civil Aviation on Challenges and opportunities in Civil Aviation Sector. While observing that the economic recession had affected the Indian Aviation industry as well, he outlined a charter for the industry in the decade to come and optimistically discussed the path to be taken. Medals and trophies for standing first in the MD (Aerospace Medicine) examination, and in the Primary Aviation Medicine Courses 2008 were awarded by the Chief Guest to Sqn Ldr Manav Sharma and Flt Lt Aradhana Aneja, respectively.

Another highlight of the conference was the AVM Srinagesh Memorial Oration which was rendered by Dr Ashok Seth, a renowned cardiologist from Escorts Heart Institute, on 'Coronary intervention Is the interventionalist a threat to the cardiac surgeon'. He enthralled the audience with his treatise on the topic emanating from decades of experience and pioneering work. A guest lecture by Dr S Acharya, a renowned gastroenterologist, on 'Healthy Liver Elixir of Life' was one of the enlightening talks on the subject and benefited all.

The first two days of the Conference saw dedicated theme based symposia and scientific sessions on Aeromedical issues of High Altitude Operations in IAF, Operational Aerospace Medicine, Military Aerospace Medicine, Civil Aviation Medicine, Aeronautical Decision Making, Human Factors & Accident Prevention and Aeromedical challenges in clinical practice. There were a total of 37 presentations made, besides the posters by the 20 delegates.

The Society Dinner was held on the evening of 13 Nov 2009 in the sprawling lawns of the Air Force Auditorium. It was preceded by a cultural evening having a dance and music presentation entitled 'Drums of India' which enthralled the audience. The narrative was crisp, the drums resounding and the dance performances were of a class in itself as was evident by the appreciation of the applauding audience. The evening's ambience was idyllic, mood relaxed and full of camaraderie where delegates and invitees met and exchanged views and opinions, besides carrying back pleasant memories of an evening well spent.

The ISAM General Body Meeting was held in the afternoon of 14 Nov 2009. The Society elected one Fellow, Gp Capt CK Ranjan VSM. There were eight Associate Fellows also elected, including AVM N Rattan VSM, AVM B Keshav Rao AVSM, Air Cmde PS Sodhi, Gp Capt P Kharbanda VSM, Surg Capt PR Nair, Gp Capt SC Banerjea, Gp Capt S Mankar, Dr Punita Masrani and Surg Cdr SG Swamy. The President also presented the best paper awards to the winners. This included Maj P Biswal, Sqn Ldr YS Dahiya and Dr Biswajit Sinha in the institute, field and poster categories, respectively.

ISAM Fellows Night was held in the lawns of Akash Mess on 14 Nov 2009. It was an evening of Fellows interacting with each other in a relaxed atmosphere with lovely music and the right ambience.

There was an exchange of mementoes with representatives of friendly foreign countries during the conference. There was CME on Medicine, Surgery and allied specialities on the third day pari-passu with a workshop on civil aviation medicine for the benefit of the Class II Medical examiners. The topics were aimed at the Primary Health Care Provider, Family Physicians and Class II medical examiners. This was followed by 50th Senior Medical Officers (SMOs) conference.

The change in venue from Bangalore to Delhi was fraught with its share of moments of anxiety, but the teamwork and coordination made it a success like never before. The curtains may have come down on the 49th Annual Conference of ISAM, but the meticulous planning, dedicated hard work and the lessons learnt in organizing such a mega event shall definitely stay in the memories for all who were part of the Organizing Committee. And with the decision of alternating Bangalore and New Delhi as venue for the forthcoming ISAM Conferences, the conduct of the present conference one was truly a benchmark for the others to emulate.