Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

The Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University is a key specialty in Liaoning Province and the largest comprehensive, modern respiratory diagnosis and treatment center integrating medical care, education, and research in southern Liaoning. Founded in 1950, it began training master's students in 1986 and was approved as a doctoral-degree-granting site in 2006. In 2008, it was rated a key discipline of Liaoning Province by the Liaoning Provincial Department of Education, and the department was recognized as a respiratory disease training base of Liaoning Province. In 2012, it was rated a clinical pharmacist training base by the Ministry of Health, undertook national continuing education and training programs, and became a provincial continuing education and training base. It comprises three general wards and one respiratory examination department. Through the efforts of several generations, it has become a modern comprehensive specialty in respiratory and critical care medicine with complete disciplinary categories, excellent medical technology, a strong faculty, powerful research capabilities, a well-developed talent structure, and advanced diagnostic and treatment equipment; it is a leader in Northeast China and well known nationwide. The Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine is a key discipline and a key clinical specialty of Liaoning Province.

Six subspecialties have been established: pulmonary vascular disease, respiratory critical care and infection, sleep disorders, airway disease, interstitial lung disease, and respiratory intervention. The specialty comprises three independent wards and a respiratory examination department, with 110 beds actually in operation, including 20 intensive care beds. More than 5,000 inpatients are treated annually, and outpatient visits total 110,000. There are currently 28 establishment-authorized physicians, 3 technicians, 9 chief physicians, 10 associate chief physicians, and 10 attending physicians. There are 14 doctoral students and 16 master's students. The department currently has 1 doctoral supervisor and 8 master's supervisors. It has trained 12 doctoral students and more than 70 master's students, and each year undertakes theoretical and experimental teaching and clinical instruction in internal medicine and diagnostics for Dalian Medical University's 8-year long-cycle program, 5-year program, undergraduate international students, and other majors. As a key discipline of Liaoning Province, the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine has, over the past five years, led 2 General Programs of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, 2 Young Scientists Fund projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, 2 Liaoning Provincial Natural Science Foundation projects, 2 Liaoning Provincial Department of Education science foundation projects, 3 projects under the 13th Five-Year Plan for Liaoning Provincial Education Science, and 2 Dalian Natural Science Foundation projects. It has published more than 60 papers in core journals, including 32 indexed by SCI and 3 high-level papers with an IF >5. It has served as editor-in-chief or co-editor of 12 scholarly works.

As the largest and strongest Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine in southern Liaoning, we continuously enhance the influence of the discipline. It is currently the only PCCM standardized training base for respiratory critical care medicine in southern Liaoning. In 2018, it received the Outstanding Unit award among tertiary Grade A hospitals in the national PCCM standardized-construction assessment. It is also the second national fiberoptic bronchoscopy training base in Northeast China. For many consecutive years, it has been listed in the Northeast China rankings of the Fudan University specialty rankings, and Professor Zhang Zhonghe has repeatedly been included among China's top 100 figures in respiratory medicine. The Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine continuously improves its management and research standards and enjoys a high reputation in China. Its staff hold multiple positions in specialty groups of the Chinese Medical Association and the Chinese Medical Doctor Association: one member of the Respiratory Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, one deputy head of the Pulmonary Embolism Group, one member of the COPD Group, one member of the Respiratory Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, and one youth committee member of the Respiratory Branch. In 2016, it was rated a key specialty of Liaoning Province; in 2008, it was rated a key discipline by Dalian Municipality.

A strong wind reveals the strength of the grass, and adversity reveals the hero. From SARS in 2007, avian influenza in 2005, and H1N1 influenza in 2017 to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, in an era of frequent respiratory infectious diseases, for respiratory physicians, respiratory medicine is not so much a profession as a sacred mission. As the main force in epidemic prevention and control, the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine united as one and fought the epidemic together, making outstanding contributions to epidemic prevention and control—from the fever clinic and expert-group consultations at the beginning of the epidemic, to assembling 10 physicians within 2 hours to support Wuhan, followed immediately by support for Jinzhou and the Sixth Hospital. During the outbreak in Dalian, it was also the department that sent the largest number of personnel to support the Sixth Hospital. Through concrete actions, it fulfilled the oath, “We will not return until the epidemic has retreated,” steadfastly shouldering responsibility at every post and continuing the contemporary glory of the spirit of “great medicine with sincere commitment.” Director Li Yanxia served as leader of the Liaoning medical team’s expert group at Leishenshan Hospital and received the title of “Advanced Individual in COVID-19 Prevention and Control in the National Health System.”

Professor Zhao Guangdong, a respiratory expert who fought on the front line against SARS 17 years ago, immediately donned his armor and assumed responsibility in the Dalian rescue expert group, conducting consultations inside and outside the hospital regardless of day or night. He became a standing committee member of the Liaoning Chronic Respiratory Disease Alliance (GARD), a member of the China Asthma Alliance, and a member of the China COPD Alliance. He participated in research on the national 10th Five-Year Plan pulmonary embolism project and municipal projects. He conducts more than 100 specialty ward rounds annually and participates in more than 20 consultations among tertiary Grade A hospitals. He is a member of expert groups for public health emergencies at the provincial and municipal levels.

The bronchoscopy room was established in 1980 and was among the earliest units in China to perform bronchoscopy examinations. It currently has five Olympus diagnostic and therapeutic electronic bronchoscopes, one portable bronchoscope, one medical thoracoscope, an advanced Olympus endobronchial ultrasound bronchoscope with an ME2 ultrasound system, and two imaging workstations. It diagnoses and treats more than 1,000 patients annually on average, ranking first in Dalian in the volume of diagnostic and treatment procedures.

Fifty years have brought heavy responsibilities and a long journey; fifty years have carried forward the past and opened the future. The Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University has always upheld the hospital motto of “promoting the Way and practicing it earnestly,” followed the hospital’s forward pace, remained true to its original aspiration, and worked hard to become a nationally renowned specialty.