Gastroenterology

The Department of Gastroenterology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University was established in 1957. Professor Li Zongming, who came to Chongqing from Shanghai First Medical College, served as its director. After the unremitting efforts of several generations, it is now authorized to confer doctoral and master's degrees, and is a National Clinical Pharmacology Base and the Chongqing Digestive Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center. It has been developed into a modern department of gastroenterology integrating clinical care, endoscopic diagnosis and treatment technology, scientific research, teaching, and high-quality nursing. In particular, it has made rapid progress in endoscopic diagnosis and treatment in recent years, reaching an advanced level in China.

The Department of Gastroenterology is currently divided into the Yuanjiagang Main Hospital Campus, the Hutouyan First Branch Campus, and the Yubei Jinshan Campus. Each has specialist outpatient clinics, an endoscopy center, and inpatient wards. The Main Campus currently has 94 beds, approximately 3,200 inpatient admissions annually, 110,000 gastroenterology outpatient visits annually, 32,000 outpatient gastroscopies, and approximately 3,900 gastroscopy-based surgical treatments, ranking among the leading hospitals in western China. In addition to common and frequently occurring digestive diseases, the department specializes in treating patients with acute critical illnesses and difficult-to-diagnose diseases, such as massive gastrointestinal bleeding, acute severe pancreatitis, decompensated cirrhosis, and patients undergoing ESD for early gastrointestinal cancer. In recent years, the department has continuously introduced advanced equipment and technologies. It currently has Fujifilm and PENTAX fan-array and radial-array endoscopic ultrasound systems, an Olympus miniprobe ultrasound system, Fujifilm blue-laser gastroscopes and enteroscopes, Olympus 290 gastroscopes and enteroscopes, and confocal laser endomicroscopy systems. It performs routine gastroscopy and enteroscopy examinations and treatments, including endoscopic hemostasis, dilation, stent implantation, and removal of foreign bodies from the digestive tract, among others. It has also accumulated extensive experience in minimally invasive endoscopic diagnosis and treatment of biliary and pancreatic diseases and digestive tract tumors. It was the first in southwest China to perform ERCP, EUS-guided puncture and drainage of pancreatic abscesses, endoscopic debridement, pancreatic cyst ablation, biliary drainage (EUS-BD), and gastric fundal variceal embolization (EUS-SVD). At the same time, it performs submucosal dissection (ESD), endoscopic submucosal tunnel dissection (ESTD), endoscopic submucosal excavation (ESE), endoscopic full-thickness resection (EFTR), and submucosal tunnel endoscopic resection (STER) for early gastrointestinal cancers and precancerous lesions; endoscopic radial incision (ERI) for esophageal strictures; stent and radiotherapy-stent placement for esophageal cancer, gastrointestinal tumors, and biliopancreatic tumors; EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (EUS-FNA); peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) for achalasia of the cardia; G-POEM for gastroparesis; endoscopic retrograde appendicitis therapy (ERAT); and other Level IV digestive endoscopic procedures. It also possesses capsule endoscopy, capsule gastroscopy, small-bowel endoscopy, and other endoscopic equipment. In addition, it has invested substantial human and material resources in the management of chronic diseases, including IBD, and has established a multidisciplinary team (MDT), maintaining a leading position among hospitals in western China.

The department has a highly accomplished academic team mainly composed of young and middle-aged academic leaders. It has received 8 grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and more than 20 provincial- and ministerial-level research grants, with total funding of RMB 1.97 million; it has won 5 municipal science and technology progress awards and published more than 200 SCI and CSCD papers. It has trained more than 10 doctoral students and more than 120 master's students. The department currently has 28 physicians: 9 with senior professional titles, 6 with associate-senior titles, 10 at intermediate level, and 3 at junior level; 19 hold doctoral degrees and 9 hold master's degrees. Several have undertaken further study in the United States and at The University of Hong Kong. There are currently 50 nurses: 1 with an associate-senior title, 6 at intermediate level, and 43 at junior level; among them are 3 nursing master's graduates, 36 with bachelor's degrees, and 11 with junior-college degrees. The Department of Gastroenterology has an experienced and highly skilled tertiary medical team and a well-trained nursing team capable of providing diagnosis, treatment, and nursing for all types of gastrointestinal diseases. The medical team is technically skilled and scientifically rigorous, and its members serve as deputy chairs, committee members, secretaries, and group leaders in national, provincial, and municipal medical societies and medical associations. In particular, the Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Group serves as the lead unit in multiple societies. The department also emphasizes the development of a talent echelon and has considerable technical and academic influence in its discipline.

The department also has a teaching team combining middle-aged and young teachers, with extensive teaching experience. It undertakes teaching and clinical internship tasks for five-year undergraduate programs, 5+3 graduate programs, and undergraduate nursing programs. The staff diligently study teaching materials, prepare lessons conscientiously, strengthen teaching skills, and improve teaching quality, making explanations clearer, more systematic, easy to understand, and concise. The teachers provide both online and offline instruction and fulfill their duties conscientiously, completing each year with outstanding results the sacred historical mission entrusted to them!

The department has always adhered to the principles of seeking development through innovation and seeking innovation through development. It is building a learning- and innovation-oriented department, emphasizes the development of a talent echelon, and continuously sends medical and nursing personnel elsewhere for observation and study. By extensively introducing new equipment, new technologies, and new talent, it improves clinical diagnosis and treatment and scientific research. By fostering a departmental culture of “harmony, progress, hard work, and dedication,” it provides medical and nursing personnel with a good working and learning environment. Through actively providing high-quality nursing and putting patients at the center, “treating patients as family members and meeting their requirements as much as possible,” it better serves the general patient population.