The St Peter's Medal is awarded annually by the

British Association of Urological Surgeons The British Association of Urological Surgeons is a professional association in the United Kingdom for urology professionals. Its official journal is the BJU International ''BJU International'' (or ''BJUI'', formerly known as the ''British Jou ...

(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 an ...

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 sy ...

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

Edwin Hurry Fenwick Edwin Hurry Fenwick (1856–1944), British urologist, early adopter of cystoscopic and x-ray technologies. It was largely through the efforts of Fenwick that urology was shaped into a specialty in Great Britain, recognized by the Royal Society of ...

, Peter Freyer and John Thomson-Walker.

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, ...

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 the ...

.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

(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:

, Peter Freyer and John Thomson-Walker. 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 Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

, 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 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, a physiologist. Other recipients have included Sir Michael Woodruff, Richard Turner-Warwick, John Wickham, Howard Kynaston, Geoffrey Chisholm, John M. Fitzpatrick,

Roger Kirby Roger Sinclair Kirby FRCS(Urol), FEBU (born November 1950) is a British retired prostate surgeon and professor of urology, researcher, writer on men's health and prostate disease, founding editor of the journal '' Prostate Cancer and Prostat ...

and Prokar Dasgupta.

Influence

In 1975 the International Medical Society of Paraplegia 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