Report: EAU’s 50th Anniversary comes to an end with History Congress at EAU23
On its first day, EAU23 was joined by another congress operating in its slipstream: the EAU History Office held the 7th International Congress on the History of Urology. The congress boasted the participation of three (former) EAU Secretary Generals, moderating and giving presentations of their own.
Notably in the morning session, Prof. Pat Walsh (Baltimore, USA) told the assembled audience the story of his and Prof. Donker’s discovery of nerve bundles around the prostate that led to the development of the nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy.
Prof. Walsh hailed the serendipity of his initial meeting with Prof. Donker, as he invited the latter, a lonesome stranger, to join him and his wife for dinner when Donker was visiting the United States in 1977. Four years later, Prof. Donker invited Prof. Walsh to visit a windmill museum in Leiden, the Netherlands, but they instead decided to go to Prof. Donker’s lab where he was researching the anatomy of stillborn males. Within hours they had identified the nerve bundles that preserved potency and the surgical technique was developed in the following year.
- You can read Prof. Walsh’s report of his discovery in the congress edition of European Urology Today >
Prof. Walsh’s reputation ensured a very well-attended session on the history of oncological urology that also featured experts like Profs. Ribal, De la Rosette and former Secretary General Prof. Per-Anders Abrahamsson.
Using the past to look at the future
In the afternoon, an eye-catching topic presented by Prof. Piet Hoebeke (Ghent, BE) was titled “#metoo” but covered (a history of) a wide range of gender- and sexuality-related topics that urologists and their patients might deal with. Patients may have different priorities or health concerns based on their gender identity or sexual preferences.
EAU History Office Chairman Prof. Philip Van Kerrebroeck (Antwerp, BE) summed up the day with a wide-ranging philosophical talk that touched on the role of history, and indeed its importance, even at events like EAU23 that focus on the latest breakthroughs and technology. In looking at new developments in healthcare like artificial intelligence, big data or chip implants, previous generations’ hesitance to adopt technological breakthroughs even as basic as the written word can offer a perspective.
At the end of the day, during the official EAU23 Opening Ceremony, the eight-month jubilee celebrations that started with EAU22 in Amsterdam were formally concluded by Prof. Chapple.