Cardiology

The Department of Cardiology of the Affiliated Provincial Hospital of Shandong First Medical University (Shandong Provincial Hospital) was established in 1958. From its establishment to the present, it has continuously served as the center for the diagnosis and treatment, scientific research, and teaching of cardiovascular diseases in Shandong Province. It has maintained a leading and flagship position in the field of cardiovascular medicine in Shandong Province and has played a leading and guiding role in the development of the cardiovascular disease specialty and discipline construction throughout the province.

At present, the department is a National Key Clinical Specialty and a Shandong Provincial Clinical Key Specialty. It is one of the first training bases for the diagnosis and treatment of coronary heart disease, arrhythmias, and congenital heart disease certified by the National Health Commission. In 2010 and 2012, the department was designated by the Chinese Medical Doctor Association as a National Clinical Skills Training Base and a Specialist Physician Training Base, respectively. In October 2017, following review by the Shandong Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Shandong Provincial Health Commission, the Department of Cardiology was approved for the National Capacity Enhancement Project for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Difficult and Complex Diseases. In June 2019, the heart failure subspecialty took the lead in establishing the “Shandong Heart Failure Center Alliance” and the “Shandong Heart Failure Big Data Science and Technology Innovation Alliance”; in December 2019, it was awarded the “Demonstration Base for Heart Failure Centers” by the Chinese Cardiovascular Health Alliance. In December 2019, the hypertension subspecialty was designated by the Chinese Heart Alliance as a construction unit for hypertension control centers. The cardiac rehabilitation subspecialty passed certification as a Cardiac Rehabilitation Center by the Chinese Cardiovascular Health Alliance in 2020. In 2022, the heart failure subspecialty took the lead in establishing the “Shandong ATTR-CA Diagnosis and Treatment Alliance.” The department currently serves as the chairing institution of the Cardiovascular Intervention Branch of the Shandong Medical Association, the Multidisciplinary Joint Committee on Heart Failure of the Shandong Medical Association, the Arrhythmia and Pacing Branch of the Shandong Medical Association, the Cardiovascular Disease Branch of the Shandong Rehabilitation Medicine Association, the Cardiac Disease Intervention Branch of the Shandong Association of Integrative Medicine, and the Shandong Heart Failure Center Alliance.

The department currently has 146 open beds, including 18 coronary care beds. It has 57 physicians, including 23 chief physicians, 17 deputy chief physicians, 2 associate research fellows, 8 attending physicians, and 9 resident physicians; 45 hold doctoral degrees and 4 hold master’s degrees. Among them are 1 Taishan Scholar, 3 Young Taishan Scholars, 1 Qilu Leading Talent in Health and Wellness, and 1 Young and Middle-Aged Expert with Outstanding Contributions of Shandong Province. The department currently routinely performs various complex coronary intervention procedures, complex arrhythmia intervention procedures, interventional procedures for heart valve diseases, and interventional procedures for pulmonary vascular diseases.

The department was among the earliest master’s degree programs (1977) and doctoral degree programs (1993) announced by the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, and has long undertaken teaching tasks for Shandong University and Shandong First Medical University. Students trained by the Department of Cardiology have become key cardiology professionals in more than one hundred hospitals nationwide. Since 2010, the department has participated in or undertaken more than 70 projects, including National 863 scientific and technological research projects, National Natural Science Foundation projects, and Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation projects, and has published more than 120 SCI papers on cardiovascular research.

In recent years, the department has actively implemented the requirements of the Central Committee, the Shandong Provincial Party Committee, the provincial government, and the Party Leadership Group of the Provincial Health Commission concerning health-related poverty alleviation, medical assistance, and other work. It has vigorously carried out medical assistance work, including poverty alleviation cooperation between Shandong and Chongqing, as well as assistance to Africa, Tibet, Xinjiang, and Qinghai, earning an excellent reputation and widespread acclaim.