Laboratory Medicine

The Department of Laboratory Medicine of Union Hospital is a comprehensive discipline integrating medical care, teaching, and scientific research. It is among the first group of National Key Clinical Specialties, among the first Ministry of Health training bases for laboratory medicine specialist physicians, a key discipline of Hubei Province, and the institution of the chair of the Hubei Society of Laboratory Medicine. Its overall strength ranks first in Hubei Province (2015 Fudan Rankings), and it is at the forefront nationally. The department comprises a 24-hour emergency rapid-testing unit, a clinical laboratory, a clinical biochemistry laboratory, a clinical immunology laboratory, a clinical microbiology laboratory, a clinical gene-amplification laboratory, and a molecular genetics laboratory. It is equipped with world-class testing equipment and currently offers more than 420 testing items. Its overall testing capabilities and standards have obtained accreditation under ISO 15189 for medical laboratories from the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS). The department was the first in China to establish a one-stop 24-hour emergency rapid-testing service, providing fast and accurate test results, and has received such honorary titles as Hubei Province’s “Service Window Most Satisfactory to the Public,” Hubei Province’s “Youth Civilization Unit,” and others.

The department has a strong foundation. As of July 2016, it had 95 permanent employees, including 6 with senior professional titles and 36 with intermediate professional titles; 8 doctoral degree holders, 21 master’s degree holders, and 58 bachelor’s degree holders. The department is the affiliated institution of the Department of Medical Laboratory Science at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. “Medical Laboratory Science” is a Hubei provincial-level flagship program. The department operates an integrated teaching and management model in which the academic department and the discipline are combined. Each year, it admits outstanding students from across China. The program lasts four years; in the more than ten years since the department was established, the graduate employment rate has reached 100%.

Based on its excellent technical team and advanced equipment, the department actively conducts clinical research while completing its clinical work. Over the past five years, it has undertaken more than 20 projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Ministry of Education’s Doctoral Program Foundation, the Hubei Provincial Natural Science Foundation, and provincial science and technology research projects. It has won first and second prizes in the Science and Technology Progress Awards of Hubei Province and Wuhan Municipality, respectively, and has published more than 250 academic papers in specialized journals, including more than 80 papers indexed by SCI. It has served as chief editor of more than 10 national planning textbooks for higher medical and pharmaceutical institutions, deputy chief editor of 2, and contributed to multiple monographs. It enjoys a high reputation in the laboratory medicine community throughout Hubei Province and across China.

The department implements strict internal quality control for every testing item and actively participates in external quality assessment. It has participated in multiple quality-assessment programs organized by the National Center for Clinical Laboratories of the National Health and Family Planning Commission and the Hubei Provincial Center for Clinical Laboratories. Some testing items have also participated in external quality assessment programs in the Asia-Pacific region and worldwide, and all have achieved excellent results.