[Establishment of a university urological clinic in Germany using Ulm as an example: background]

The University of Ulm was founded in 1967. Except for the Department of Urology all other specialities of the existing municipal hospital joined the University Medical Center. At that time, the department of urology was-with > 250 beds-the world's largest urology department. There is conflicting historical data, but based on new information the first chairperson took office in July 1984. Initially the Department of Urology was a section of the Surgical Center, but it quickly attained the status of an independent University Urology Clinic. The clinic was a well-known transurethral resection of the prostate (TUR-P) center (Hösel, Marquardt), which evolved to include, among other things, an extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) center and most notably an oncologic surgery, pioneering the development of the ileal neobladder (INB). The term "neobladder" was coined in Ulm. Large annual live surgeries and operative teaching seminars, and more than 100 visiting professors in Ulm popularized the INB technique and enhanced the clinic's reputation. Significant structural improvements included expanded operating capacity, which was facilitated by 4 operating rooms exclusively for the use of Department of Urology and a dedicated urology intensive care unit jointly managed by anesthesiologists and urologists. The staff of the department increased significantly with external reinforcement by senior physicians from other institutes, and ultimately 4 chairmen of renowned departments (Berlin, Charité, Munich, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Gainsville, Florida, USA, and Bangkok, Thailand) emerged from Ulm as well as numerous heads of national urology departments (e.g., in Karlsruhe, Kassel, and Wiesbaden).