Critical Care Medicine

The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, in order to break through bottlenecks in critical illness treatment, took the lead in establishing a specialized intensive care unit (ICU) in Southwest China in 1991 under the leadership of Professors Zhang Yiduan and Huang Jijian, the predecessor of the Department of Critical Care Medicine. Since 2003, under the leadership of Department Director Professor Zhou Fachun, it has deepened discipline development and enhanced professional capabilities, and has now developed into a large Department of Critical Care Medicine integrating the Yuanjiagang, Jinshan, and Jingwei campuses (114 beds in total, as of December 2026). It is among the first batch of national clinical key specialties designated by the Health Commission and is the institution authorized to confer Chongqing’s first doctoral degree in critical care medicine; the discipline has received a specialty nomination in the Fudan Rankings for 7 consecutive years and ranked No. 2 in Southwest China; its highest ASTEM ranking was No. 12, and its STEM ranking was No. 14. Development History 1991 Establishment of an intensive care unit (ICU) 1999 The discipline became covered by a clinical doctoral degree 2003 Establishment of the Central ICU 2010 First batch of the Ministry of Health National Clinical Key Specialty Development Project (Critical Care Medicine) 2012 Establishment of the Department of Critical Care Medicine 2013 National (Chongqing) Emergency Medical Rescue Team 2014 Critical Care Medicine (academic degree) master’s degree-awarding site 2015 The former "General Surgery ICU" was merged into the Department of Critical Care Medicine 2016 The Department of Critical Care Medicine at the Jinshan Campus officially began operation 2018 National-level Critical Illness (Internal and Surgical) Specialist Physician Training Base (the only one in Chongqing) 2020 Chongqing Clinical Research Center for Acute and Critical Illness 2020 National-level Standardized Training Base for Critical Care Resident Physicians 2020 Chongqing Joint Graduate Training Base for Clinical Medicine (Critical Care Medicine) 2020 Critical Care Medicine (academic degree) doctoral degree-awarding site 2020 Critical Care Medicine professional doctorate and professional master’s degree-awarding site 2022 Chongqing Standardized Training Base for the Clinical Application of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) Technology 2022 The Department of Critical Care Medicine at the Jingwei Campus officially began operation 2023 Establishment of the Teaching and Research Office of Critical Care Medicine 2023 Chongqing Medical University–Chongqing Daily Big Data Research Institute Joint Graduate Training Base for Critical Care Medicine (municipal-level) 2023 Chongqing Quality Control Center for Critical Care Medicine 2023 Chongqing Municipality (provincial-level) recommended for application as a National Regional Medical Center for Critical Care Medicine 2025 Approved as the Chongqing Innovative Medical Device Application Demonstration Center Scope of Diagnosis and Treatment and Featured Technologies 1. Comprehensive treatment of sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), severe acute pancreatitis, critical obstetric illness, surgical critical illness, and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, among others. 2. Disaster emergency medical rescue support and remote consultation (referral), among others. The department currently has three major subspecialty directions: critical respiratory care, critical infection and immunology, and critical extracorporeal life support. Talent Team The discipline currently has 240 professional medical and nursing personnel, including 44 physicians, 174 nurses, 3 research personnel, and 1 respiratory therapist. Among them are 2 specially appointed part-time national-level talents, 5 physicians with senior professional titles, and 9 with deputy senior professional titles; 3 doctoral supervisors (including 1 part-time doctoral supervisor); and 8 master’s supervisors. It is a team with excellent human resources, a rational talent structure, dedication to its work, unity and devotion, and an innovative and pioneering spirit. The discipline team enjoys a high academic reputation in the field of critical care medicine nationwide. It includes experts such as members of the Standing Committee of the Critical Care Medicine Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, members of the Quality and Safety Control Committee of the Critical Care Physicians Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, executive council members of the Disaster Rescue Branch of the Chinese Medical Rescue Association, national committee members of the Critical Illness Medicine Committee of the Chinese Society of Pathophysiology, members of the Expert Committee of the Critical Care Medicine Quality Control and Evaluation Center of the Ministry of Health, and members of the Medical Emergency Work Expert Group of the National Health Commission. The department currently has 11 provincial- and ministerial-level talent appointments. Equipment and Hardware The ICU, which began operation in 2012, covers approximately 2100 square meters and has 10,000-grade laminar flow; it has gradually developed into a super-large Department of Critical Care Medicine with "one hospital and three campuses," including 71 ICU bed units at the Yuanjiagang Campus (as of 2025), 17 at the Jinshan Campus, and 26 at the Jingwei Campus (as of 2026). The department has advanced rescue and support equipment, including ECMO, multifunctional invasive/noninvasive ventilators, BIS, CRRT, and video laryngoscopes; a comprehensive central monitoring system, invasive and noninvasive hemodynamic monitors, microcirculation and blood oxygen monitoring equipment, and rapid blood gas and biochemical analyzers; complete series of monitoring and treatment equipment, including syringe pumps, infusion pumps, infusion management systems, temperature-control blankets, fiberoptic bronchoscopes, and multifunctional ultrasound equipment; and also advanced pendant bed units, multifunctional electric monitoring beds, mobile DR radiography machines, endoscope cleaning equipment, and other first-class ICU functional auxiliary equipment. It is also equipped with an ICU clinical decision support system (ICCA) compatible with the hospital information system. Academic Achievements 2005 Member institution of the First Critical Care Medicine Branch of the Chinese Medical Association 2008 Standing Committee member institution of the Second Critical Care Medicine Branch of the Chinese Medical Association 2009 Chair institution of the Critical Care Medicine Professional Committee of the Chongqing Medical Association 2009 Founded the "Two Rivers Critical Care Medicine Forum" 2013 Chongqing Critical Care Medicine Specialist Nursing Training Base 2017 Led the establishment of the Chongqing Critical Care Medicine Alliance (93 alliance institutions) 2018 National-level "Critical Illness Medicine Specialist Physician Training Base" 2019 Chair institution of the Critical Care Medicine Professional Committee of the Chongqing Society of Physiological Sciences 2020 National-level "Standardized Training Base for Critical Care Resident Physicians" 2022 Founded the "Bashu Critical Care Medicine Research Forum" 2023 Chair institution of the Professional Committee of Extracorporeal Life Support of the Chongqing Medical Doctor Association Highlights and Honors The regional leadership and outreach role of the critical illness treatment platform are highly significant, and it has achieved outstanding results in the treatment of various critical illnesses and in emergency support; it is among the first batch of national clinical key specialties of the Ministry of Health. It has a complete education and training system, including "bachelor’s–master’s–doctoral," "standardized resident training–specialist training," and a postdoctoral mobile station. It has trained a large number of outstanding critical care medical and nursing personnel for the Three Gorges Reservoir area, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Guangxi, Hainan, Xinjiang, and other regions, and is an advanced critical care talent training base in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River as well as an important critical care nursing training center in Southwest China. It has successively received the following honors: Advanced Individual in Earthquake Relief in the Education System (1 person); honorary title of Model of Teacher Ethics Who Moved China During Earthquake Relief (1 person); Chongqing Advanced Individual in Earthquake Relief (1 person); National Outstanding Communist Party Member (1 person); National Advanced Individual in the Fight Against COVID-19 (1 person); Chinese Physician Award (1 person); National March 8 Red-Banner Holder in the Fight Against COVID-19 (1 person); Chongqing Outstanding Communist Party Member (1 person); Chongqing Advanced Individuals in the Fight Against COVID-19 (2 people); and Chongqing May 1 Labor Medal (3 people). Carrying Forward the Spirit of Westward Migration, Building a Highland for Educating Talent In 2013 and 2022, the first principal contributors received 2 third prizes for Chongqing Municipal Teaching Achievements 2021 Approved as one of the first batch of Chongqing "Double Leader" Teacher Party Branch Secretary Studios 2021 Qian E Teaching Master of Chongqing Medical University 2022 Received the third prize at the 2nd National College and University Teachers’ Teaching Innovation Competition and the first prize in Chongqing 2024 Approved as the second batch of Ministry of Education "Double Leader" Teacher Party Branch Secretary Studios 2024 First Annual Outstanding Famous Physician Award of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University 2024 Third National Simulation Innovation Application Competition: national third prize and Chongqing first prize in the graduate group 2024 Approved for the "Strong Country Journey" Special Action for "Double Leader" Teacher Party Branch Secretaries in Higher Education Institutions by the General Office of the Ministry of Education Clinical Leadership for the Region, Innovation Empowers the Discipline The discipline has obtained 9 National Natural Science Foundation projects and more than 50 provincial- and ministerial-level projects, published more than 130 SCI papers, applied for 6 invention patents and more than 30 utility model patents 2020 "Molecular Mechanism by Which Deubiquitinase USP Regulates Mesenchymal Cell Differentiation" received the second prize of the Chongqing Science and Technology Award (Natural Science category) (fourth principal contributor) 2023 "A New Mechanism of Renal Injury Caused by Autophagic Flux Disorders and Lipid–Glucose Metabolic Disturbance" received the third prize of the Chongqing Science and Technology Award (Natural Science category) (third principal contributor) 2024 "Study and Application of the Mechanisms Underlying the Occurrence of Organ Dysfunction in Sepsis and Treatment Strategies" received the second prize of the Chongqing Science and Technology Award (Science and Technology Progress category) (first principal contributor) 2024 Approved as the "Sepsis Diagnosis and Treatment Center" of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University.