The first meeting of the Continuing Orthopaedic Education (COE) was held in 1983 in Patna. Professor B. Mukhopadhaya, who started this course along with some of his close friends and senior colleagues, was very aware that in India, once a doctor had completed his Orthopaedic post-graduation, there was very little opportunity to further his education. Courses in India were infrequent, there was no internet at the time, libraries containing important journals were restricted to a few medical institutions, and it was very expensive to travel abroad to attend courses and update one's knowledge.

During his travels to the United States and other countries, he recognized the importance of Orthopaedic surgeons remaining updated with recent developments in the field and observed that many opportunities existed abroad for continuing education.

The fundamental objective of the course was to select a specific topic and discuss it comprehensively so that doctors attending the programme would gain meaningful knowledge. Over the subsequent years, many senior Orthopaedic surgeons from across India became actively involved in this annual event. Dr. Sailendra Bhattacharya from Kolkata, Professor Verghese Chacko from Manipal, Professor P. K. Sethi from Jaipur, Professor A. K. Das from Kolkata, Professor K. Siram from Chennai, and Professor Kathju from Jaipur all contributed significantly to the annual courses, which were hosted in different cities every year.

The courses gradually became extremely popular, and many surgeons considered the COE an annual academic event that they would never miss.

Many of these legendary teachers, including Professor B. Mukhopadhaya, are unfortunately no longer with us today.

Professor D. K. Taneja became actively associated with the course from its second year and further expanded its scope by introducing dedicated courses for DNB students and Operation Theatre (OT) Technicians, which have become increasingly popular and continue to be conducted regularly.