Pathology

The Pathology Department of the Tenth Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University (Dongguan People's Hospital) was founded in 1984. After four decades of development it has become a modern pathology centre integrating clinical pathological diagnosis, scientific research, teaching and training, and regional pathology services. A pathology section at Puji Campus was added in 2008, and in 2011 the department moved as a whole to Honglou Campus in Wanjiang Subdistrict. In 2023 the department formally became the host institution of the Dongguan Clinical Pathological Diagnosis Centre, entering an entirely new stage of development. As a Guangdong Provincial Key Clinical Specialty, a Dongguan Key Medical Clinical Specialty and one of the first national clinical pathology bases for standardised residency training, the department not only undertakes all pathological diagnosis for the hospital, but is also responsible for regional consultation on difficult pathology cases, citywide pathology quality control and the training of specialised personnel. As the institution holding the chair of the Pathology Branch of the Dongguan Medical Association, it continuously promotes joint discipline building and academic exchange.

2. Personnel

The department has built an elite team integrating clinical work, research and teaching, and currently has 77 staff in post. They comprise 33 pathologists (3 Chief Physicians and 7 Associate Chief Physicians); 23 pathology technologists (3 Associate Chief Technologists); 2 postdoctoral researchers in station and 13 trainees in standardised residency training; 1 person with doctoral education and 34 with master's education; and 1 doctoral supervisor and 3 master's supervisors. The team's talent development has achieved notable results, with selection for the Leading Talent category of the Special Support Programme of the Guangdong Provincial Health Commission and for the "Dongguan Famous Doctor" talent recruitment and training programme.

3. Facilities

The department covers a total area of 2,500 square metres, and the Dongguan Clinical Pathological Diagnosis Centre covers a total area of 4,500 square metres. The department has established four major technical platforms:

1. Routine pathology technology platform: equipped with a series of advanced devices including automated tissue processors, a paraffin embedding workstation, a frozen section microtome, an integrated automated H&E staining and coverslipping system and an automated immunohistochemistry instrument.

2. Molecular pathology platform: equipped with fluorescence quantitative PCR instruments, digital PCR instruments and high-throughput sequencers (NGS), and carrying out tumour targeted gene testing, microsatellite instability (MSI) analysis and genetic tumour gene screening across the board.

3. Digital pathology platform: equipped with multi-headed and dual-headed conference microscopes, a real-time microscopic image projection system and an artificial intelligence-assisted cytopathology diagnosis system.

4. Regional collaborative diagnosis platform: relying on a teleconsultation network covering the whole city, digital slide scanners are installed at each collaborating site, and 5G pathology consultation terminals are deployed.

4. Service features

1. Quality management: the department has built a comprehensive quality management system covering rigorous procedures for the entire process, including receipt and verification of pathology specimens, routine and frozen section pathological diagnosis, clinical-pathological communication, cytopathology examination and quality control, pathology technical procedures, archive management, receipt and diagnosis of consultation cases, and in-department discussion of difficult cases. A three-tier diagnostic review and audit mechanism is applied throughout, ensuring the accuracy of pathological diagnosis and medical safety through standardised, systematic management, and reflecting the department's deep management experience and extensive quality control experience.

2. Subspecialty structure: it covers twelve subspecialty systems, including respiratory, breast, bone and soft tissue, female reproductive, lymphohaematopoietic and digestive systems. Each subspecialty operates under a "subspecialty group leader responsibility system", and multidisciplinary team (MDT) diagnosis is carried out for difficult cases.

3. Technological advances: the application of artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis technology has significantly improved the efficiency and accuracy of cervical cytology screening; in recent years the department has successively introduced a number of new technical projects, including time-of-flight mass spectrometry testing, circulating tumour cell (CTC) detection and fluorescence quantitative PCR gene testing.

5. Research and teaching

1. Research projects: the department undertakes 4 national-level projects, 2 provincial-level projects and 8 municipal-level projects.

2. Academic output: it has published more than 10 SCI papers and more than 50 papers in Chinese journals; it holds 3 granted patents and has contributed to 6 academic pathology monographs.

3. Teaching and training: as a national standardised residency training base, it has trained 32 residents in pathology in total (including 13 currently in training); it operates a postdoctoral research station with 2 postdoctoral researchers in station; and it cooperates with universities in training a number of master's students.

Group photograph of the Pathology Department staff