Pathology

The Department of Pathology of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University was founded in 1958. It currently has 38 full-time employees, consisting of physicians and technicians. Among the physicians, 42.9% hold doctoral degrees and 52.4% hold master's degrees; among the technicians, 11.8% hold doctoral degrees and 52.9% hold master's degrees. The proportions of physicians with senior-, intermediate-, and junior-level professional titles are 8:9:4.

The Department of Pathology is primarily responsible for the diagnosis of surgical, biopsy, intraoperative frozen-section, and cytology specimens from the hospital, and also provides expert consultations on slides from external hospitals. The department has a well-structured academic talent team comprising senior, middle-aged, and younger professionals, and possesses advanced pathology techniques and diagnostic expertise. It is capable of completing the pathological diagnosis of various difficult cases, with particular expertise in the pathological diagnosis and differential diagnosis of tumors.

In recent years, the Department of Pathology has introduced multiple advanced pieces of equipment from abroad. In addition to routine technical services such as paraffin sectioning, frozen sectioning, rapid paraffin sectioning, liquid-based cytology, and special staining, it also performs more than 200 technologies, including immunohistochemical staining for various tumor markers. It was also the first among pathology departments of general hospitals in Dalian to establish a molecular pathology laboratory, where various molecular pathology testing and diagnostic programs are conducted. The department has repeatedly obtained certificates of satisfactory performance in external quality assessments issued by authoritative institutions in China and abroad, including the Pathology Quality Control and Evaluation Center of the National Health Commission (PQCC), the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS), and the European Molecular Genetics Quality Network (EMQN).

The Department of Pathology has a standardized PCR laboratory and has obtained qualification certification for a PCR laboratory from the Provincial Inspection Center. It exercises strict quality control over molecular testing and has passed multiple quality-control assessments for genetic testing conducted by authoritative international and domestic institutions. It meets the standards for selection as a model laboratory by the Pathology Quality Control and Evaluation Center of the National Health Commission (PQCC).

In July 2015, the department established the first remote pathology diagnosis center in southern Liaoning. In October 2016, it was approved as the Primary-Level Remote Pathology Consultation Center of Liaoning Province. At present, the Department of Pathology has established a remote pathology diagnosis and consultation platform with 12 hospitals inside and outside the province, including hospitals in Nagqu Prefecture, Tibet, and completes more than 5,000 cases of remote difficult-case pathological diagnosis and consultation each year.

The department's overall strength has a clear advantage over its peers in Dalian. It is a key clinical pathology specialty in Liaoning Province, as well as a standardized training base for pathology residents in Liaoning Province and at the national level. It has recruited pathology residents for standardized training and master's students specializing in clinical pathology for many years. The department has 2 doctoral supervisors and 7 master's supervisors, undertakes the training of academically oriented master's and doctoral students, and has trained and graduated more than 50 postgraduate students. It undertakes multiple projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and collaborative research projects at the provincial and municipal levels, and publishes numerous academic papers each year in national and international journals.

The Department of Pathology of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University brings together a group of academic professionals with a strong sense of dedication and an intense spirit of enterprise. The department has a rich academic atmosphere, a rigorous work style, and a high level of pathology technology and diagnostic expertise.