Gastrointestinal Surgery

The Department of General Surgery of the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University was founded in 1957. After more than half a century of development, it has grown into a strong comprehensive specialty integrating medical care, nursing, education, and scientific research. In the last century, it became one of the first national disciplines authorized to confer master’s degrees. In 2004, it became a key discipline of Shanxi Medical University and was designated by the Shanxi Provincial Education Commission as a key discipline for provincial development. In 2006, it became a discipline authorized to confer doctoral degrees. In 2009, it obtained the certificate for a Ministry of Health of the People’s Republic of China endoscopy professional technical training base. In 2013, it was designated as a project institution in the National Clinical Key Specialty Construction Project, marking the discipline’s entry into the ranks of advanced national specialties. On November 17, 2020, Gastrointestinal Surgery became an independent department separate from the organizational structure of General Surgery. It is one of the first national demonstration wards for nutritional support of oncology patients and one of the first ERAS wards in the province. It is the Shanxi Provincial Clinical Research Center for Digestive System Diseases.

Gastrointestinal Surgery currently has a total of 56 medical and nursing staff members, including 24 physicians, among whom 2 are retired physicians re-employed by the department; 1 is a doctoral supervisor, 2 are master’s supervisors, and 1 is an expert receiving a special allowance from the State Council. There are 10 staff members with senior professional titles, 7 with intermediate titles, and 7 with junior titles. The department has 1 staff member with a doctoral degree and 18 with master’s degrees, with an average age of 38 years. There are 32 nurses, including 1 with a senior professional title, 13 with intermediate titles, and 18 with junior titles. Two nurses hold master’s degrees, and the average age is 34.63 years. One person serves as a member of the Standing Committee of a national first-level academic society, and 2 serve as chairpersons of second-level academic societies in Shanxi Province. One person’s surgical video has been included in the Chinese Medical Association’s One Hundred Surgeons, One Hundred Excellent Surgical Videos. There is 1 domestic visiting scholar and 1 director of a national endoscopy training base. There is 1 Sanjin Talent—Leading Talent, 1 Sanjin Talent—Outstanding Young Talent, 1 Shanxi Provincial Medical Science and Technology Young Talent, and 1 Shanxi Provincial University 131 Leading Talent.

Gastrointestinal Surgery currently has strong technical capabilities, high professional standards, and a strong awareness of teamwork. It can provide surgical or nonsurgical treatment for all gastrointestinal diseases requiring such treatment. It has particularly notable advantages in the laparoscopic treatment of abdominal diseases and has routinely performed more than ten types of laparoscopic operations, including laparoscopic radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer, laparoscopic radical resection for colorectal cancer, laparoscopic resection of gastrointestinal stromal tumors, laparoscopic resection of duodenal stromal tumors, and laparoscopic repair of gastrointestinal perforation. In addition, Gastrointestinal Surgery can perform da Vinci robotic surgery. This technology remains a leading technology in North China, is at an advanced level nationally, and the department is currently the only provincial-level hospital in Shanxi Province capable of performing it. Laparoscopic resection of duodenal stromal tumors was the first of its kind in China. The department also performs standardized laparoscopic D2 radical gastrectomy, with the highest number of treated cases in the province. At the same time, combined minimally invasive surgery using digestive endoscopy and laparoscopy, anus-preserving radical surgery for ultra-low rectal cancer, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, and laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery have also become increasingly well established. The department was also among the first in the province to implement ERAS technology, standardized perioperative nutritional therapy for oncology patients, implantable arm-access infusion devices, and other new initiatives and technologies. In basic research, it has received 1 second prize and 1 third prize for Scientific and Technological Progress in Shanxi Province, undertaken 8 provincial- or ministerial-level projects and 2 hospital-level projects, and received a total of RMB 610,000 in research funding. The projects titled “A Comparative Study of Different Anastomotic Methods for Advanced Distal Gastric Cancer During Total Laparoscopic D2 Radical Surgery” and “Clinical Efficacy Analysis of Laparoscopic Mediastinal Lymph Node Dissection in the Treatment of Sievert Type II Adenocarcinoma of the Esophagogastric Junction” were included in the Key Research and Development Program of Shanxi Province. Over the past 5 years, 42 SCI-indexed and national-level papers have been published.