Rheumatology and Immunology

The Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of the Second Hospital of Harbin Medical University is a key discipline in Heilongjiang Province. In 2002, it was approved as the Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Rheumatology, and in 2004 it was approved as the Rheumatology Hospital of the Second Hospital of Harbin Medical University. In 2013, it was approved as a National Clinical Key Specialty Construction Project. The Department of Rheumatology and Immunology was founded in 1978 by Professor Zhang Fengshan and was one of the earliest rheumatology specialties established in China. It was formerly the institution where the chairperson of the Rheumatology Professional Committee of the Chinese Association of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine was based, and for a considerable period it led the development of rheumatology in Northeast China.

The Department of Rheumatology of the Second Hospital of Harbin Medical University has always adhered to the principle of establishing the department: ‘Seeking truth and innovation, and carrying medicine through extensive learning’, striving to become a specialized discipline that is leading domestically and advanced internationally. As early as 1982, it compiled the first monograph on rheumatology, Connective Tissue Diseases. The epidemiological survey and research on rheumatic diseases in northern China conducted from 1985~1992 was the largest-scale epidemiological survey in the high-cold northern regions of China and filled a gap in the country. In 1984, it was the first in China to conduct low-dose methotrexate pulse therapy for rheumatoid arthritis. The methylprednisolone pulse combination therapy for severe connective tissue diseases initiated in 1990, the high-dose human gamma globulin pulse therapy for severe lupus encephalopathy initiated in 1991, and the work on leflunomide treatment for lupus nephritis initiated in 2000 were all pioneering research achievements in China and abroad at the time.

In 2003, Basic and Clinical Research on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus received the First Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress from the Ministry of Education of China. In 2010, A Series of Studies on the Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Diagnosis and Treatment of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus received the Second Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress from the Chinese Association of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine. In 1995, it was the first rheumatology department in China to carry out arthroscopic interventional treatment for large-joint diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. In recent years, it has carried out targeted biological treatment for ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic lupus erythematosus; multi-target treatment for severe lupus encephalopathy and lupus nephritis; local interventional treatment with biological agents for refractory inflammatory arthropathies; comprehensive treatment of ankylosing spondylitis combining local joint and systemic administration of tumor necrosis factor antagonists; and early diagnosis of undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy using joint ultrasonography. These innovative technologies all embody the innovative spirit of the Department of Rheumatology of the Second Hospital of Harbin Medical University.

To better develop a specialized rheumatology department, the Second Hospital of Harbin Medical University takes clinical care as its core, gives consideration to research and teaching, maintains a high level of specialized clinical medical technology and service capacity, and improves medical quality. It emphasizes the cultivation of clinically oriented medical professionals and the development of the disciplinary team, and promotes the comprehensive improvement of regional medical service standards through physician training and technological outreach. In medical care, with the improvement of specialty medical quality and medical service capacity as the core, and sound, standardized operating procedures and work management systems as the foundation, it comprehensively improves medical technology, enhances the ability to resolve difficult, complex, and critical diseases, and achieves breakthroughs in key areas, thereby cultivating its own brand, increasing visibility, and enhancing competitiveness.

In teaching, it focuses on cultivating clinically oriented medical professionals and disciplinary teams, relying on the postdoctoral research station, doctoral and master’s degree programs, and other platforms to build talent-training bases. It adopts a pyramid-based talent-training model, strengthens the training of existing personnel and the recruitment of outstanding talent, focuses on cultivating future academic leaders and young scientific and technological backbones, and ensures the talent needs for sustainable disciplinary development. It further optimizes the talent structure and the team of academic leaders, and establishes a highly qualified technical team with high educational attainment, a young age structure, and strong innovation capacity.

In research, it has established a system integrating the department and the research institute, maintains the current 4 stable research directions, and remains internationally advanced and domestically leading in 2～3 research directions. At the same time, it continues to follow the path of combining industry, education, and research, cooperates with high-technology enterprises, carries out university-enterprise cooperation, and promotes the transformation of achievements into clinical practice and national prevention measures and strategies.

The Department of Rheumatology and Immunology currently has 14 physicians and 23 nursing personnel. There are 5 postgraduate supervisors. Among them, 7 physicians hold senior professional titles, 5 hold associate senior professional titles, and 2 hold intermediate professional titles. There are 13 personnel with a master’s degree or higher, accounting for 93% of the total. All nurses have a junior college degree or higher, including 1 nursing staff member with a master’s degree. There is 1 nursing staff member with a senior professional title and 2 with associate senior professional titles. There are 70 open beds, more than 40000 outpatient visits annually, and more than 4000 inpatients annually.

In recent years, the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology has led 6 National Natural Science Foundation projects, 2 subprojects of the National Key Technology R&D Program during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, 3 subprojects of 863 projects, 2 subprojects of the Science and Technology Department of the State Forestry Administration, 1 Scientific Research Start-up Fund for Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars of the Ministry of Education, 1 key project of the Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province, 1 key research project of Heilongjiang Province, 3 projects of the Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province, 2 Youth Fund projects of Heilongjiang Province, 2 China Postdoctoral Science Foundation projects, 3 Heilongjiang Province Postdoctoral Fund projects, 2 Heilongjiang Province Postdoctoral Start-up Fund projects, and multiple key special funds of the Second Hospital of Harbin Medical University.

It has received 1 First Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress from the Ministry of Education of China, 1 Second Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress from the Chinese Association of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, 1 Third Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress from the Heilongjiang Provincial Government, and multiple First and Second Prizes for Scientific and Technological Progress from the Heilongjiang Provincial Health Department. It has been granted 5 patents. Since 1995, it has published more than 20 books, including 10 for which its personnel served as chief editors or deputy chief editors, and has published more than 200 related papers in domestic and international journals.

We take clinical care as our core, give consideration to research and teaching, maintain a high level of specialized clinical medical technology and service capacity, and improve medical quality. We emphasize the cultivation of clinically oriented medical professionals and the development of the disciplinary team, and promote the comprehensive improvement of regional medical service standards through physician training and technological outreach. As a national clinical key specialty in rheumatology, we strive to improve specialty medical quality and medical service capacity, enhance the ability to resolve difficult, complex, and critical diseases, and achieve breakthroughs in key areas. We provide individualized treatment according to each patient’s specific condition, respect, understand, and care for patients, and relieve their pain as much as possible.

Our philosophy is seeking truth and innovation, pragmatism as the foundation, benevolence and virtue as the root, pioneering innovation, striving vigorously, carrying medicine through extensive learning, pursuing excellence, and practicing with sincerity and dedication.