UCSF Urology Hinman Alumni Society

A Legacy in Urology

Dr. Frank Hinman Sr was born and raised in Oregon, with family roots there after his grandfather traveled by way of the Oregon Trail. Hinman attended Stanford University, majoring in physiology, and attended medical school at Johns Hopkins. After a stint as a general medical practitioner in Spokane, Washington after his internship there, he returned to Hopkins to train under Hugh Hampton Young, and became the first urology resident who ever trained at the Brady Urological Institute which opened in 1915. After finishing residency Hinman came to the Bay Area, becoming the first formally trained urologist in San Francisco, where he worked in a private practice and volunteered as an Assistant Professor at Stanford. Very quickly thereafter he then joined UCSF, being appointed Professor and Chair of the newly established UCSF Urology Division in 1915 – titles he held for 37 years. Hinman was responsible for initiating a research and residency program and trained 51 residents over his career, many of whom became prominent urologists in the field. Having published 131 papers, his research interests were varied and included uretero-intestinal implantation and experimental surgery, urinary antiseptics, testicular tumors, hydronephrosis, urethral valves, GU tuberculosis, and neurogenic bladder from spinal cord injury. Hinman also served in many local and national leadership roles such as the president of the San Francisco County Medical Society in 1927, the San Francisco Academy of Medicine from 1937-1938, and the Association of Genito-Urinary Surgeons in 1937. Hinman had a seminal role in establishing the American Board of Urology, and was well known for his textbook, The Principles and Practice of Urology. For a wonderful full biography, see this publication by Drs. David Bloom and Frank Hinman Jr.