Critical Care Medicine

The Department of Critical Care Medicine of the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University was formally established as an independent secondary discipline in April 2001, on the basis of the Central ICU established in 1997 within the Department of Respiratory Medicine of the First Hospital of Dalian Medical University. After more than 10 years of development, it has become a clinical department integrating medical care, teaching, scientific research, training, and management, with a domestically leading level and outreach to the Bohai Rim region. It currently has 19 beds and a total area of approximately 1,500 m2. The department currently has 67 staff members, including 4 professors (chief physicians), 3 associate professors (deputy chief physicians), 5 attending physicians, 3 resident physicians, 45 nurses, and 7 other staff members. Its main areas of focus are multiple trauma, severe sepsis and septic shock, acute pulmonary embolism, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, among others. It also undertakes the rescue and consultation of critically ill patients in the Bohai Rim region, as well as the training of relevant professional personnel.

Clinical work: In July 2012, our department was awarded the title of National Key Clinical Specialty by the former Ministry of Health. In November 2013, the Dalian Municipal Health Bureau officially approved the establishment of the Dalian Critical Care Medicine Center by our department. Relying on the advantageous resources of the Department of Critical Care Medicine of the First Hospital of Dalian Medical University in personnel, scientific research, and clinical care, the Dalian Critical Care Medicine Center has formed a comprehensive treatment system in a “2+1” format consisting of the “Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Diagnosis and Treatment Center” + the “Organ Function Support Center” + the “Basic Research Center for Critical Care Medicine,” incorporating clinical subspecialties and a national sharing network for critical care medicine. Supported by a powerful clinical information system and numerous advanced technologies, including mechanical ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), high-frequency oscillatory ventilation, blood purification technology, intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation, bedside Doppler ultrasonography, and pulse indicator continuous cardiac output monitoring (PiCCO), the center strives to achieve substantial improvements in the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of critical illnesses that seriously endanger public health, and a significant reduction in mortality. At present, our department ranks among the national leaders in the success rate of rescuing critically ill patients. On this basis, it strives to explore an advanced critical care diagnosis and treatment pathway with distinctive characteristics of its own, so that the development of critical care medicine in this region can reach and maintain a domestically leading level in terms of medical characteristics, equipment, scale, and modern management. It also aims to train a group of young and middle-aged academic leaders with strong overall qualities and high professional competence, in order to meet the requirements of domestic and international competition and undertaking major projects, and gradually achieve the overall development objective of aligning with critical care medicine in developed countries in Europe and America.

Teaching: Since beginning to enroll master's students in critical care medicine in 2001, the department has held regular monthly graduate salons and has trained more than 20 graduate students in critical care medicine. Among them, Zhong Yuan received the title of National Outstanding Graduate of the Class of 2013; Gu Chaofeng and Li Jun received the 2013 Dalian Medical University Innovation Scholarship; and Li Queque and Chen Zhen received the 2014 Dalian Medical University Innovation Scholarship. Most of the graduates have gone on to serve as department directors in local institutions. Beginning in the spring of 2005, the course Critical Care Medicine was offered to undergraduates at Dalian Medical University, with approximately 40 teaching hours each year. All teaching was undertaken by professors and associate professors from the Department of Critical Care Medicine of the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University who possess solid theoretical foundations and extensive experience. The department has accumulated rich teaching experience and systematic clinical teaching plans. In December 2009, it successfully passed the review for the standardized training base for resident physicians specializing in critical care medicine under the Ministry of Health. On November 15, 2011, Dalian Medical University approved the establishment of the Teaching and Research Section of Critical Care Medicine of the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University. In the same year, it obtained qualification for a doctoral/master's degree program in critical care medicine in the application for secondary disciplines outside the independent-setting catalog organized by the Ministry of Education. Beginning in March 2011, it also undertook the teaching of critical care medicine for international students.

Scientific research: On October 13, 2011, Dalian Medical University approved the establishment of the “Institute of Critical Care Medicine of Dalian Medical University,” organized by the Department of Critical Care Medicine of the First Hospital of Dalian Medical University. It has now established major research directions centered on severe sepsis, a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) density-sensing system, and surveillance of MRSA-resistant organisms, particularly the development of an MRSA surveillance network. At the same time, steady progress has also been made in research directions including the establishment of a risk-factor evaluation system for the prognosis of critically ill patients; the mechanisms and intervention of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome after cardiopulmonary resuscitation; the mechanisms and intervention of cardiovascular-system dysfunction in critical illness; the pathogenesis and intervention of acute respiratory distress syndrome; signal-transduction mechanisms in pulmonary fibrosis; mechanisms of hemodynamic changes in septic shock; the relationship between the vitamin D system and sepsis-associated acute kidney injury; intervention and prognosis of coagulation dysfunction in sepsis; assessment and appropriate intervention for analgesia, sedation, and delirium in the ICU; and mechanisms of toxicant-induced organ injury. Since the construction of the key specialty began, 8 SIC papers have been published, and one Third Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress of Dalian City has been awarded.

Training: Since being approved as a National Key Clinical Specialty by the former Ministry of Health, the Department of Critical Care Medicine of the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University has actively fulfilled its role as the Dalian Critical Care Medicine Center and has extended its influence throughout the Bohai Rim region. Relevant hospitals have successively sent key members of their disciplines to our department for advanced study and training, which has greatly promoted the development of critical care medicine specialties in these regions. In addition, our department has hosted, for 7 consecutive years, the annual meetings of the Critical Care Medicine Branch of the Dalian Medical Association and the Critical Care Physicians Branch of the Dalian Medical Doctors Association, as well as national continuing medical education programs. Well-known experts from China and abroad have been invited to give lectures. This has not only expanded the influence of our department and improved its academic level, but has also enabled medical and nursing personnel from surrounding primary-level institutions to learn the latest disciplinary developments locally.

Management: As a member institution of the Dalian Critical Care Medicine (ICU) Quality Control Center, our department is also responsible for organizing and supervising quality control in critical care medicine (ICU) throughout the city. Each year, it regularly convenes the member institutions of the quality control center for an annual quality-control meeting and, from time to time, organizes committee members to conduct quality-control inspections at various critical care medicine departments (ICUs), thereby playing a leading role and making a positive contribution to improving the quality-control level of critical care medicine (ICU) throughout the city. At the same time, it has established a WeChat platform to conduct extensive academic exchange and interaction through modern communication methods, continuously improving its academic level.