Ophthalmology

The Department of Ophthalmology of the Provincial Hospital was founded in the 1940s. After the efforts of several generations and more than 70 years of development, it has now become a modern ophthalmology center integrating ophthalmic medical care, teaching, scientific research, and blindness prevention and treatment. Its discipline is at a first-class level in our province. At present, the department covers all ophthalmic clinical specialties, including cataracts, glaucoma, corneal diseases, fundus diseases, strabismus and pediatric eye diseases, optometry, ocular tumors, ocular trauma, orbital diseases, and ocular plastic surgery, and undertakes consultation, diagnosis, and treatment for various difficult and complex cases throughout Shandong Province. Cataracts, pediatric eye diseases, strabismus and amblyopia, glaucoma, optometry, fundus diseases, and ocular tumors are the department’s traditional areas of strength and are at an advanced level both within the province and nationwide.

At present, the total number of ophthalmology medical and nursing personnel is close to 100, including 35 clinical doctors and 26 staff members with doctoral degrees. Three serve as university clinical doctoral supervisors, and nine as master’s supervisors. The department has two members of the Standing Committee of national academic societies, one executive council member, three committee members, one deputy head of a professional academic group, and three members of professional academic groups; at the provincial level, it has two chairpersons of academic societies, eight deputy chairpersons, and two heads of professional academic groups.

Ophthalmology is a key clinical specialty of Shandong Province; the department is home to the Shandong Provincial Cataract Restoration-of-Sight Technical Guidance Center and the Shandong Provincial Low-Vision Rehabilitation Technical Guidance Center. It is also a national key clinical pharmacology base, a national standardized residency training base, and a clinical skills assessment site for standardized residency training in Shandong Province. It is responsible for the planning of blindness prevention and treatment in Shandong Province, training blindness-prevention personnel, cataract microsurgery training, clinical pharmacology experiments, and the assessment of resident physician training, among other tasks.

The Department of Ophthalmology enrolls more than 10 master’s and doctoral students annually, publishes more than 30 SCI and CSCD papers each year, and in recent years has received 2 National Natural Science Foundation of China Young Scientists Fund projects and more than 30 provincial-level scientific research projects. It has also received multiple awards, including the Third Prize of the Shandong Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award and the Medical Science and Technology Innovation Award of the Shandong Medical Association. The department undertakes theoretical teaching, clinical observation, and internship supervision for optometry students from the Qilu School of Medicine of Shandong University, international students at Shandong University, undergraduate and 5+3 classes at Shandong First Medical University, and optometry specialty colleges at several other institutions.

The Department of Ophthalmology actively carries out public welfare activities and has been responsible for operating the “Restoration of Sight No. 4” mobile surgical vehicle donated by the Asia Foundation for the Prevention of Blindness for more than 20 years. As a public welfare brand, “Restoration of Sight No. 4” has actively participated for many years in cataract sight-restoration poverty-alleviation projects and free medical consultation activities. It has successively undertaken 10 major projects organized by 6 major departments: the “Million Sight Restoration” poverty-alleviation cataract surgery project for poor patients; the “Light of Love” cataract sight-restoration poverty-alleviation activity; the “Journey of Light in Tibet” cataract sight-restoration poverty-alleviation activity; the national concentrated demonstration activity of “Culture, Science and Technology, and Health in Rural Areas”; the “Healthy Shandong Benefits People’s Livelihood, Health Promotion Depends on Action” activity; the “Restoration of Sight No. 4” surgical vehicle project for impoverished cataract patients; the “Light of Angels” cataract sight-restoration surgery activity; the Public Welfare Health Journey to Former Revolutionary Base Areas; the “Implementing the Two Studies and One Action, Improving Party Spirit Cultivation” health-poverty-alleviation free medical consultation activity; and routine sight-restoration poverty-alleviation activities at workstations. Upholding the activity mission of “restoring sight and alleviating poverty,” the surgical vehicle has brought light to 43,739 impoverished cataract patients in more than 100 counties (cities) across 16 prefecture-level cities in our province. Of these, 78% received free surgery and 22% received reduced-fee surgery, saving patients a total of more than RMB 100 million in costs. This has received full recognition and high praise from the Asia Foundation for the Prevention of Blindness. The department has organized experts many times to participate in Journey of Light activities in Tibet, Xinjiang, Gansu, and other western regions.

With the improvement of people’s living standards, the protection and improvement of visual function will become a focus of public concern. The Department of Ophthalmology will take this as an opportunity to implement the new development philosophy, take patients’ needs as its guide, establish itself in the new development stage, build a new development pattern, focus the prevention and treatment of common eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, refractive errors (myopia prevention and control among adolescents), and diabetic retinopathy, promote the extensive application of modern detection methods and computer technology in ophthalmology, and at the same time promote international academic exchange with a more open perspective to achieve high-quality disciplinary development.