Prominent Zadar urologist Tomislav Sorić passes away
Associate Professor Tomislav Sorić, MD, PhD (56) was the long-time head of the Urology Department at Zadar General Hospital and a key figure in the development of laparoscopic surgery in Croatia.
Associate Professor Tomislav Sorić, MD, PhD (56) was the long-time head of the Urology Department at Zadar General Hospital and a key figure in the development of laparoscopic surgery in Croatia.
On Monday afternoon, a lifeless body of a man was discovered in the waters near the island of Iž. Unofficially, it has been learned that the man is Associate Professor Tomislav Sorić, MD, PhD, aged 56, who for many years headed the Urology Department at Zadar General Hospital and was regarded as one of the most respected physicians in Zadar.
Tomislav Sorić was born in Zadar on February 21, 1970. He graduated from the University of Zagreb School of Medicine in 1995 and passed the state exam two years later. He began his specialization in urology in 1998 at Zadar General Hospital and passed his specialist exam in 2003. His specialty was urology, with additional training in urological oncology.
He defended his master's thesis on the treatment of kidney stones in 2006 at the Zagreb School of Medicine, and earned his doctorate on the clinical significance of prostate stones in 2012 at the Osijek School of Medicine. Since 2009, he had been involved in teaching at the Nursing Studies program in Zadar, and later became an associate professor at the Department of Health Studies at the University of Zadar.
He took over as head of the Urology Department in 2014, following the retirement of Dr. Klaudio Grdović, and held that position for more than 12 years. Dr. Sorić was deeply committed to the development of laparoscopic and other minimally invasive urological surgeries in Zadar. It was at this department, on October 8, 2003, that the first laparoscopic radical prostatectomy in all of Croatia was performed.
Over time, the department became a leading center for urological laparoscopy and hosted educational workshops for physicians from many Croatian hospitals. According to data presented by Dr. Sorić in February of this year, the Zadar Urology Department cared for nearly 20,000 patients annually and performed approximately 1,000 surgical procedures.
"The medical profession is not just a job, but a life's calling that creates lasting relationships with patients," Dr. Sorić emphasized in his last major interview with Zadarski list.
His aspiration was to elevate the department to the level of a clinical department, further develop scientific activities, and introduce robot-assisted surgery in the future. The news of his death has shocked the public in Zadar and the many patients he helped throughout his long career.
