1. Membership: ISSH henceforth offers only Annual membership.
2. Categories of Membership & eligibility There are four categories in which membership is offered.
   • Member identified as IN
   • Associate Member identified as ASM
   • Honorary Member identified as HON
   • International Member identified as INT

   a. Member

   A registered medical practitioner with a post graduate degree in Hand Surgery or a post graduate degree in any of General Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery or, Plastic Surgery with sufficient evidence of proficiency in Hand Surgery, can apply for membership. The applicant should be Indian Citizen ordinarily residing in India.

   b. Associate member

   A registered medical practitioner who is training to be a Hand Surgeon can apply for Associate membership. Such a member upon completion of training can apply for conversion to be a member at no extra cost, except some administrative fees, by submitting proof of completion of training.

   Registered medical practitioners other than those who are not trained as Hand Surgeons, who have interest in the Surgery of the Hand and paramedical practitioners with interest in the rehabilitation of the hand can apply to be associate members. However, they cannot convert to be a member.

   All applicants of associate membership should be Indian Citizens ordinarily residing in India.

   c. Honorary Member

   Distinguished Hand Surgeons or persons who in the opinion of the council have helped or have the power to help achieve the aims and objectives of the society are invited by the President ISSH to join the ISSH as Honorary members.

   They may be of any nationality and need not ordinarily be residing in India.

   d. International Members

   Practitioners of Hand Surgery, registered in any country outside India and who are not citizens of India, are eligible to apply for International membership of ISSH.

3. Membership Application

   Eligible persons can apply for membership through online application available on our website. Completed application for membership, proposed by one of the current ISSH members of good standing and supported by another ISSH member of good standing, should be sent to the Secretary, ISSH for consideration by the Council through email at secretary@issh.org.

   • Once we receive the application, the eligibility is screened by the Secretary and later approved by the EC.
   • Provisional membership number will be provided in 10 working days if eligible and you will able to access all ISSH membership benefits with this provisional membership.
   • The permanent membership is provided after the ratification at the subsequent GBM after which the voting rights are provided.
   • At any stage of this process, if the application is not eligible for membership, the applicant will be refunded the entire amount and the application rejected.

4. Membership Fees

   Every application for membership should be accompanied by membership application fee, except HON Members who do not pay any society dues.

5. Rights and responsibilities of a member

   • All the members are expected to participate in the academic events conducted by ISSH.
   • All the members are expected to pay their due to the ISSH within stipulated time.
   • All the members will have access to the members area of the website and the academic material contained therein.
   • All the members are entitled to receive periodic communication from the Executive Council about important events and decisions taking place within the ISSH.
   • IN members are entitled to receive audited statement of accounts of the ISSH Trust.
   • IN members are eligible to attend the general body meetings and vote from the next year after their membership is ratified.
   • IN members only are eligible to contest elections for the Executive council.
   • IN members are eligible to apply for Fellowships offered by the ISSH and fellowships offered by other associations for the members of the ISSH.
   • IN Members are eligible to apply for organizing ISSH events and ISSH endorsed events.
   • All the above points also apply to existing life members whose names are on the register of members before February 2023.

6. Membership register

   A register of all the members of ISSH shall be maintained in a digital format by the Secretary. The same shall be adequately backed up.

   The register shall be updated at the beginning of every year on 1^st January.

   The register will identify members by a six character Membership ID as follows:

   • Member IN1234
   • Associate Member ASM123
   • Honorary Member HON123
   • International Member INT123

   Names of deceased members shall be retained in the master list of the members along with their membership numbers, however their communication details shall be removed from the register.

   There shall be no reallocation of the membership ID on any account.

   A searchable database of the members will be available to all the members, however the entire database will not be shared with anyone without an official communication with the President, ISSH through the Secretary, ISSH.

Annual Membership subscription

Pursuant to the new constitution passed by the Annual general body meeting at Jaipur ISSHCON 2022, it is decided that starting from February 2023, the ISSH will move to Annual Membership. Those ISSH members with Life Membership will hold on to be Life Members and there will not be any change in their membership pattern or commitments.

People who are joining ISSH from February 2023 will take up annual membership subscription. This change has been brought out to make the society more dynamic and provide substantial value additions to the membership.

1. Membership

   ISSH henceforth offers only Annual membership.

2. Categories of Membership & membership fee

   There are four categories in which membership is offered from February 2023 onwards

   Categories	ISSH Member	Identified as	Joining fee	Annual membership
   a.	Member	IN	7500 INR	2500 INR
   b.	Associate member	ASM	7500 INR	2500 INR
   c.	International member	INT	100 USD	50 USD
   d.	Honorary member	HON	No fee	No fee

   The annual membership will be calculated on Pro rata basis depending on when a person applies for the membership. For example: In the year 2023, the membership fee from February 2023 will be calculated on a pro rata basis with sequential reduction in the fee each month. This will facilitate migration / renewal of new ratified members at a fixed time from 1st January onwards payable in advance.

   The joining fee & the annual fee is subject to revision by the executive councils of the future and subsequent approval of the general body.

   A member whose subscription is overdue by 12 months, in spite of frequent reminders will cease to be a member of the Society, An application forwarded with payments of arrears after the consent of Council will be required for reinstatement.

   If a member does not pay for 3 consecutive years, the membership will lapse. To enrol back into membership, the person will need to submit fresh application as per the rules including all fees to be paid by a new member as determined by the society from time to time.