Urology

The Department of Urology is a national key clinical specialty under the National Key Clinical Specialty Construction Project, a key discipline of Anhui Province, and a key clinical development discipline of Anhui Province; it is authorized to confer doctoral and master’s degrees in urology and is a postdoctoral research station. It is the chair institution for urology and andrology in Anhui Province, the lead institution of the Anhui Provincial Urology Specialty Quality Control Center and the Anhui Provincial Urology Specialty Alliance, and the lead institution of the Department of Urology at Anhui Medical University; it houses the Anhui Provincial Clinical Medical Research Center for Urinary System Diseases, the Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Urogenital System Diseases, and the Academician Sun Yinghao Workstation, and is the largest urology center in Anhui Province, with the most comprehensive technical capabilities and the highest-caliber talent.

The department was established in 1956 by Professor Chen Bangdian, a renowned Chinese urologist, and was one of the earliest urology specialties established in China. The department has 151 healthcare professionals, including 48 physicians, 4 doctoral supervisors, 9 master’s supervisors, 21 PhD holders, 6 doctoral students, and 27 master’s degree holders; personnel with master’s degrees or higher account for 90%; among them are 9 chief physicians/professors, 14 associate chief physicians, and 13 attending physicians; there are 5 research personnel and technicians; and 98 nurses, including 1 chief nurse, 2 associate chief nurses, and 19 nurses-in-charge. The department includes 5 wards (the Urinary Tract Stone Ward, the Urinary Control and Andrology Ward, the Minimally Invasive and Oncology Ward, the Renal Transplantation Ward, the Comprehensive Ward of the High-Tech Campus, etc.), the Lithotripsy and Urodynamic Testing Center, the Institute of Urology of Anhui Medical University, and the Polycystic Kidney Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Translational Center. It has successively been approved as the Chinese Medical Association Training Base for Urolithiasis at County-Level Hospitals (one of 19 hospitals nationwide), the Chinese Medical Association Laparoscopic Urology Training Base for County-Level Hospitals (one of 18 hospitals nationwide), the China Prostate Cancer Alliance (CPCC) Prostate Biopsy Training and Certification Center (one of 14 hospitals nationwide), and the “Simai Plasma Prostatic Enucleation” Training Center, and undertakes clinical skills training and demonstration teaching for urology specialists from within and outside the province.

The department has 230 beds, approximately 120,000 outpatient visits annually, more than 8000 inpatient admissions annually, more than 6000 operations annually, and a minimally invasive surgery rate of over 90%. The department is equipped with a da Vinci robotic system, 3D and ultra-high-definition laparoscopes, green lasers, holmium lasers, the EMS lithotripsy and stone-clearing system, a plasma cutting system, a microsurgical system, flexible ureteroscopes, and other advanced equipment; it has a urodynamic testing room, an extracorporeal lithotripsy center, a minor operating room, and a specialized clinical examination room; its hardware facilities are all first-class in China. It routinely performs laparoscopic and robot-assisted radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer, radical cystectomy for bladder cancer, partial nephrectomy, transurethral green-laser and plasma enucleation of the prostate, percutaneous nephrolithotomy, flexible ureteroscopic surgery, microsurgical andrology procedures, renal transplantation, and other operations. Difficult cases referred from within and outside the province account for more than 2/3 of inpatients. It has introduced more than 20 new technologies and new projects; its technical level is leading in the province and advanced nationally. The discipline has formed multiple development directions characterized by clinical expertise in minimally invasive urology, prostate diseases, urologic tumors, urolithiasis, renal transplantation, andrology, and the early diagnosis and treatment of polycystic kidney disease.

In recent years, the department has obtained more than 30 projects, including 16 National Natural Science Foundation of China grants (1 key project), the National Key Clinical Specialty Construction Project, subprojects of the National 863 Program, the Ministry of Education Doctoral Program Fund, the Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation, and science and technology research projects; it has received more than RMB 20 million in various funding from national, provincial, and municipal sources; it has published more than 600 academic papers, including more than 100 SCI-indexed papers, published more than 10 monographs, served as chief editor of the “Chinese Expert Consensus on Chronic Prostatitis,” participated in compiling 5 nationally planned textbooks, including Ministry of Health textbooks for undergraduates, graduate students, and residents in standardized training, participated in compiling the “China Prostate Cancer Alliance-Prostate Biopsy Guidelines” and the “Chinese Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Urological Diseases,” and received 2 first prizes in the Anhui Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award, 1 first prize in the Huaxia Medical Science and Technology Award, 1 first prize in the Anhui Medical Science and Technology Award, 1 second prize in the Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award, 2 second prizes and 1 third prize in the Anhui Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award. It has received 1 “Golden Cystoscope Award,” the highest award in the field of minimally invasive urology in China; 1 “Wu Jieping Urology Medical Award,” the highest award in Chinese urology; had 1 person honored as “National Renowned Physician · Outstanding Achievement” at the 2nd National Famous Physician Ceremony; had 1 person awarded Anhui Province’s inaugural Innovation and Excellence Medal; and received many other awards.

In recent years, the department’s ranking among domestic specialties has risen year by year. In the 2016 Fudan University rankings, its specialty reputation was nominated (top 20 nationwide), and it ranked sixth in the East China Hospital Specialty Reputation Rankings; in the 2017 China Hospital Science and Technology Influence Rankings, it ranked 11th nationwide, indicating that the development of urology in clinical practice, research, teaching, and other areas has reached a relatively high level in China.