Paediatrics

The Department of Pediatrics of Renji Hospital, Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, is one of the earliest departments established when the hospital was founded, with a long history and profound heritage. Through the joint efforts of several generations of pediatric workers, the discipline has become a Shanghai base for pediatric clinical diagnosis and treatment, scientific research, and talent development. Before 1941, Renji Pediatrics was part of Internal Medicine and was concurrently managed by British physicians; after 1941, it was concurrently managed by Chinese physicians of internal medicine. In 1952, Professor Guo Di, a pioneer of Chinese pediatrics, established Renji Pediatrics. In 1954, Renji Pediatrics was moved in its entirety to Guangci Hospital, where it was merged to establish the Department of Pediatrics of Shanghai Second Medical College. In 1958.4, Renji Hospital rebuilt the Department of Pediatrics (West Hospital), with outpatient services and inpatient wards. In 1992, the East Hospital opened a Department of Pediatrics. In 2012.12, in response to the Shanghai Health Bureau’s “5+3+1” project, Pediatrics at the East Hospital was closed, and the Pediatrics Department of Renji South Hospital was opened in Pujiang Town, Minhang District, with outpatient, emergency, and inpatient services. In 2022, following a structural adjustment of the entire hospital, the West Hospital currently has a pediatric outpatient clinic; South Hospital Pediatrics has pediatric outpatient and emergency services and inpatient wards, with 24 beds in operation. Renji Pediatrics currently comprises two wards, at the West Hospital and South Hospital, with 24 beds in operation, 19 physicians on the official staff, and 21 nurses. There is 1 doctoral supervisor, 1 master’s supervisor, and 7 staff members with senior professional titles. Around 1941, the diagnosis and treatment provided by Renji Pediatrics focused mainly on communicable and infectious diseases, followed by nutritional deficiencies and bone and joint tuberculosis. In the 1950s, community-based regional child healthcare was carried out, and intestinal parasitic diseases in children were eliminated in key areas. In 1959, a specialized outpatient clinic for integrated Chinese and Western medicine in pediatrics was established. From 1963 onward, the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric cardiovascular diseases were developed; from 1970～1977, a total of 100 children under 14 with patent ductus arteriosus were admitted and treated with simple ligation or clamping, and, in collaboration with Cardiothoracic Surgery, interventional treatment of patent ductus arteriosus was also undertaken. During the 20th century 70-80s, relatively comprehensive clinical subspecialties were developed in pediatric cardiology, nephrology, hematology, respiratory medicine, and child healthcare. In 1993, a pediatric rheumatology subspecialty was established; in 1998.8, the Renji Children’s Asthma Prevention and Treatment Center was founded; in 2001, Pediatrics, Respiratory Medicine, Otorhinolaryngology, Dermatology, and Traditional Chinese Medicine jointly established the Renji Allergy Disease Center; in 2004, Pediatrics joined the Renji Rheumatology GROPEC group; and in 2008, together with Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, the Children’s Medical Center Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, and other partner institutions, it jointly established the Children’s Asthma Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. In 2010, Renji Pediatrics became a deputy-leading institution of the National Pediatric Rheumatology Collaboration Group. The fields covered by Pediatrics expanded from the original single focus on infectious diseases to child healthcare, hematology, nephrology, cardiovascular medicine, gastroenterology, integrated Chinese and Western medicine, rheumatology and immunology, allergic diseases, and other subspecialties. Renji Pediatrics currently has pediatric rheumatic and allergic diseases as its distinctive diagnostic and treatment specialties. In 1961, the Renji Pediatrics teaching and research group was established and assumed teaching responsibilities. In 1996/2004, Renji Pediatrics successively became a master’s degree program and a doctoral degree program in pediatrics, and successively trained more than 50 doctoral and master’s graduate students. It currently undertakes teaching for the five-, seven-, and eight-year clinical medicine programs, the preventive medicine program, adult education (night school), and master’s and doctoral graduate students of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. In 2010, Pediatrics became a standardized residency training base. In 2014, Pediatrics became a pediatric rheumatology specialty training base. Since the 20th century 60s, clinical research has been successively carried out in child healthcare, hematology, cardiology, gastroenterology, and other fields. In 1996, the Pediatric Laboratory was established; in 2010, after approval by the Huangpu District CDC, the laboratory became a Level II biosafety laboratory in pediatrics, laying a foundation for clinical teaching and scientific research. More than 30 projects of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Science and Technology, Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau, and others have been completed, and more than 300 papers have been published in domestic and international core journals, including more than 40 SCI papers. The Department of Pediatrics of Renji Hospital will continue to promote comprehensive discipline development, continue to organize its work around the subspecialties of pediatric rheumatic and allergic diseases and important specific diseases, use outstanding young physicians with specialized expertise as a talent advantage, enhance the substance and level of medical services, strengthen scientific research and talent-team development, and lay the foundation for the discipline to reach a nationally first-class level.