John Saalfeld 1938-2025
The Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand has been informed of the death Dr John Saalfeld.
The following obituary was prepared by Dr Graham Coombes.
John Saalfeld graduated from medical school at Sydney University in 1962, and after doing general and urological training here, spent Fellowship time training in UCLA. He practised successfully as a consultant in urology, consulting at Manly and St Leonards, and operating between Manly Hospital, the old and new Mater Hospital, Royal North Shore Hospital and North Shore Private Hospital. He served a year as the Chairman of the NSW Section of the then Urological Society of Australasia, running a successful Scientific meeting that year at Port Stephens.
John was a caring and thoughtful clinician, generous with his time to patients, teaching medical and nursing staff, and especially urologic trainees. I became his registrar in 1996 at Royal North Shore. Following his usual operating day at RNS, like clockwork he would do his post operative ward rounds the following morning at 8 a.m., and then off to his rooms at 9, and as a registrar or resident, one would always be sure to know the condition of the patient, and the results of the latest lab results to tell him, as we would certainly be asked. I was honoured to do some periods as a locum for him at St Leonards after my own Fellowship year.
His surgical technique was elegant, complications were rare, and he particularly gave thought to various ways a patient may or may not need a certain treatment, and the alternatives, taking a holistic view. John was probably the first in NSW to do the new brachytherapy seed radiation implant for prostate cancer during the1990s.
John took many of us trainees under his wing, professionally and socially, and an invitation to Kirribilli for lunch or dinner, or a beach day at Palm Beach was kindly extended to many of us. I was very interested to hear of the deep long-term bonds with urologists across Australia and New Zealand.
John’s commitment to Nina, and his children Edward, Rebecca and Sahara was always evident both during his career, and after retirement. In addition to being a colleague, he was also my patient since 2001, again an honour for a colleague to do so, and I was always pleased to be updated about the family.
Post retirement he coped with several significant medical issues with stoicism and persistence, indeed the final brief illness was so unexpected, given what he had been through.
So in conclusion, we have lost a surgical colleague, a family man, a sailor, a good man, proud of his Jewish heritage. May his memory be a blessing.
USANZ thanks Dr Graham Coombes for writing this obituary.