About us
About Urology Society of Pune
The roots of Urology in the city of Pune can be traced back to the year 1967, when a young dynamic surgeon, Dr. Shivadeo Bapat, arrived on the scene and used for the first time a still Endocamera to shoot and display the endoscopic pictures of the interior of the lower urinary tract for the first time in the country. The full credit of the foundation of the Urology Society of the city solely goes to Dr S. S. Bapat, who at his age of 35 years took an important call to dedicate his life to the field of research and practice of Urology in the year 1971.
However the foundation of the Urology Society in the city of Pune took place in as late as 1979. The city of Pune had no formally qualified Urologist until a Roger Barnes trained young man, Dr. Ninan entered the scene in the year 1979 and an informal discussion group was formed. Dr. Bapat has essentially been a self trained Urologist who founded a group of surgeons principally practising modern Urology in the year 1981. The group then consisted of Dr. Bapat, Dr. Ninan and a British trained Urologist Dr. Deepak Kirpekar. Dr. Sharad Kankalia, an AIIMS trained Urologist and a Mumbai trained young man Dr. Suresh Patankar had already joined the group along with Dr. Anil Thakar and Dr. Kolhatkar. They had exclusive informal meetings, which took place at the Consulting rooms and at individual Urologist’s home by turn.
Subsequently a fleet of younger British trained Urologists joined in at this stage. They were Dr Dinanath Thakar, Dr Shirish Yande and Dr Sanjay Kulkarni. By this time Portable Urology was prolifically popularised by Dr. Kirpekar in around the city. The other new entrants followed suit and portable Urology became a hallmark of the city.The renewed enthusiasm with the entrance of younger blood now triggered the need of a better organisation of this informal group. This movement made Dr. Shirish Yande as the first official Secretary of Pune Urology Group in the year 1988.Dr. Bapat led theflagship in the capacity of the President.
The society meetings took place in the more organised fashion. The group met on the evenings of the fourth Friday every month. These meetings were hosted by individual Urologists at their homes. The protocol was simple! They usually started with some beverages followed by a sumptuous dinner and the scientific discussion always followed the dinner and would go on until midnight. This was an extremely cohesive activity, which soon acquired popularity in the region as an enviable Urology Society of Pune. This further lead us to have meetings away from the city, Sangli and Khandala to name a fewThen came another challenge! The bid for hosting the annual conference of the USI for the year 1992. One of the most important transitions was then seen. This informal Urology group was then registered as Urology Society Pune (USP) in October 1992. The 26th Annual Conference took place under the stewardship of Dr.S.S Bapat, the organising secretary being Dr Yande. The members of the society did an excellent job in organising this Conference, which went down as one of the best organised annual meetings during that period.
As with other societies the USP also had its share of misgivings. The 1992 conference had fallout of poorly managed accounts and this led to a brief period of displeasure among the members. Although the settling of the accounts took as many as six years, the society stood strong with its members loyal and committed to the cause of the society.
Subsequently USP organised some of the most spectacular annual events like UROFEST, which attracted not only the Urologists of the region, but also general surgeons of the local areas. The momentum of the Urofests however drifted away with time. To its credit, the Society has organised several operative workshops under its own banner in the past three decades.
The society swelled to a larger number thanks to the emergence of postgraduate training institutions in the form of MCH and DNB. The society swelled swiftly with many newer generations joining up the group in succession after the year 2000. This made a significant change in the sense that the meetings took place in larger Hotel premises. However the spirit of academic profile remained strong with the emergence of more aggressive secretaries like Dr. Amol Talaulikar, Dr Bhalchandra Kashyapi and Dr. Ketan Vartak. The momentum translated into USP organising another USI conference at Balewadi Sports Complex in the year 2013.
The USP today boasts some 45 fully trained Urologists with four postgraduate teaching organisations. It conducts academic meetings on fourth Friday of every month and boasts a robust series of spiritual discussions every month. The members of the USP has contributed substantially to the National Society (USI) and the regional Society (WZ USI) not only in academics but also in rendering positions of Presidents and Secretaries to these Societies over a period. The members like Dr. Sanjay Kulkarni has brought the city of Pune on the world map “Reconstructive Urology” in the recent times.
USP monthly meetings still hold a tremendous charm and offer an enviable platform for three generations of Urologists to discuss their academic problems. It certainly holds a promise to host and share many more Academic events in the future.
Long live Urology of the city and long live the USP!