The St Peter's Medal is awarded annually by the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) for contributions to the surgical field of

urology Urology (from Greek οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and '' -logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary-tract system and the reproductive org ...

. The medal was designed and produced by sculptor

William Bloye William James Bloye (8 July 1890 – 6 June 1975) was an English sculptor, active in Birmingham either side of World War II. Life Bloye studied, and later, taught at the Birmingham School of Art (his training was interrupted by World War ...

of the

Birmingham School of Art The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Faculty of Arts, Design a ...

and presented to the BAUS in 1948 by

Bernard Joseph Ward Bernard Joseph Ward (19 March 1879 - 30 July 1950), was a British urologist, who contributed to the Société Internationale d'Urologie, was president of the section of urology at the Royal Society of Medicine, and vice-president of the British As ...

, the BAUS's first vice-president. The first medal was awarded in 1949 to J. B. Macalpine who was the first to report bladder cancers associated with the

dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution and ...

industry. St Peter on the medal is identified by a key engraved on the bible that he holds. On the reverse is a

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a round wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher's broom ('' Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cherry laurel ('' Prunus laurocerasus''). It is a ...

within which the recipient's name is engraved, and around the circumference are the names of Edwin Hurry Fenwick,

Peter Freyer Sir Peter Freyer (2 July 1851 – 9 September 1921) was an Irish surgeon with an expertise in genitourinary surgery, best known at first as an Indian Medical Service (IMS) officer, for making popular the procedure for crushing bladder stones ...

and

John Thomson-Walker Sir John William Thomson-Walker, OBE, DL, FRCS (born 6 Aug. 1871, died 5 Oct. 1937, aged 67) was a Scottish surgeon, Hunterian Professor of Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England and a leader in the field of urology. He was knight ...

Origin and history

The St Peter's Medal was designed and produced by sculptor

of the

, for the purpose of being awarded to a person who has made significant contributions to the field of

and is a member of the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles (O ...

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with " republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from th ...

.Celebrating the past present and future of Urology, preliminary program
British Association of Urological Surgeons 2020, 75th annual meeting program. November 2020, p.53. The stamping die for the medal was presented to the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) in 1948 by

, the BAUS's first vice-president and urologist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The first medal was awarded in 1949 to J. B. Macalpine who first reported bladder cancers associated with the

industry. It has subsequently been awarded annually by the BAUS, usually to one recipient, apart from 1951, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2014, when there were two recipients. The medal is engraved with the names of the three teachers who influenced Bernard Ward: Edwin Hurry Fenwick,

and

. On presenting the medal in 1948, Ward stated in his speech that "although they were individually attached to other hospitals, they all came together in one hospital, St. Peter's; and the suggestion therefore was that in order to honour all three of them, we should call it the St. Peter's Medal. The hospital, the first urological hospital in Britain, was named after

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupa ...

, whose name derives from the Latin for rock, ''petrus'', and who was said by Christ to be the foundation upon which the Christian church was to be constructed. St Peter on the medal is identified by the iconography of a key engraved on the bible that he holds. On the reverse of the medal is a

, within which the recipient's name is engraved, and around the wreath are the names of Fenwick, Freyer and Thomson-Walker.

Recipients

In 1951, the medal was presented for the second time, and for the first time to two recipients, when

Ronald Ogier Ward Ronald Ogier Ward (6 March 1886 4 April 1971) was a British urologist, past president of the urology section of the Royal Society of Medicine and the first president of the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS). In 1951, together wit ...

and Terence J. Millin were given the award. In 1959 the medal was awarded to Harold H. Hopkins, a physicist, and in 2006 to

Alison Brading Alison Brading (26 February 1939 - 7 January 2011) was a British scientist who studied the physiology and pharmacology of smooth muscle, particularly in the urinary tract. Education and early life Alison Brading was born in Bexhill-on-Sea and educ ...

, a physiologist. Other recipients have included

Sir Michael Woodruff Sir Michael Francis Addison Woodruff, (3 April 1911 – 10 March 2001) was an English surgeon and scientist principally remembered for his research into organ transplantation. Though born in London, Woodruff spent his youth in Australia, ...

, Richard Turner-Warwick, John Wickham,

Howard Kynaston Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

, Geoffrey Chisholm,

John M. Fitzpatrick John M. Fitzpatrick (15 July 1948 – 14 May 2014) was an Irish urologist, emeritus professor of surgery at the University College Dublin School of Medicine & Medical Science and Head of Research at the Irish Cancer Society. His early childhoo ...

, Roger Kirby and Prokar Dasgupta.

Influence

In 1975 the

International Medical Society of Paraplegia The International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS) was founded in 1961 as the International Medical Society of Paraplegia. It is an International nongovernmental organization, INGO, whose purpose is to study all problems relating to lesions of the spin ...

proposed to offer a similar award based on the BAUS's St Peter's Medal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:St Peter's Medal Awards established in 1948 Urology Medicine awards

Origin and history

Recipients

Influence

See also

References