Paediatrics

Department of Pediatrics, Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Xiamen University. I. Basic Overview of the Discipline, Qualifications and Honors. The Department of Pediatrics of Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Xiamen University was founded in 1988 and is a comprehensive clinical department integrating medical care, teaching, scientific research and prevention. The department is currently a National Standardized Training Base for Pediatric Residents, a Postgraduate Training Base in Pediatric Internal Medicine of Xiamen University, an accredited unit of the Standardized Pediatric Asthma Clinic, a National Level-II Epilepsy Center, and a Standardized Training Base for Psychological Therapists of Fujian Province; it is also a member unit of the National Pediatric Bronchiolitis Collaborative Group of the Pediatrics Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, a member unit of the Expert Committee of the China Children's Asthma Action Plan, and a member unit of the Maternal and Child Minimally Invasive Specialty Committee of the China Maternal and Child Health Association. Adhering to the service philosophy of “Everything for the Children”, the department is deeply engaged in the standardized diagnosis and treatment of pediatric internal medicine diseases and has comprehensive capability for the rescue and treatment of children with difficult and critical conditions; it receives children with difficult and severe diseases from all parts of Fujian and accepts referrals and consultations of critically ill children from surrounding medical institutions, showing outstanding regional outreach capacity. The department has 86 approved beds, an annual outpatient and emergency volume of more than 100,000 patient visits, and nearly 5,000 admissions of children (including neonates) per year; it currently has 24 physicians (including re-employed experts) and 40 nursing staff. II. Core Scope of Diagnosis and Treatment. The department has a complete set of subspecialties, covering the professional directions of pediatric respiratory medicine, gastroenterology, neurology, endocrinology, nephrology, cardiovascular medicine, infectious diseases, child behavioral development, pediatric emergency medicine and neonatology. The department offers a pediatric special-needs clinic, an expert clinic, various specialty and single-disease clinics, a general clinic and a pediatric emergency service, and can standardly carry out the diagnosis and treatment of common and frequently occurring diseases of children in all systems, with comprehensive capability for the rescue and treatment of difficult and critical cases; the scope of diagnosis and treatment covers: respiratory system diseases, digestive system diseases, nervous system diseases, endocrine and growth-development diseases, kidney diseases, cardiovascular diseases, various pediatric infectious diseases, various neonatal disorders, and the rescue of pediatric acute and critical conditions. III. Characteristic Subspecialties and Core Technical Advantages. (1) Subspecialty of Pediatric Asthma and Allergic Diseases: relying on the standardized pediatric asthma clinic platform, it provides individualized treatment and long-term chronic disease follow-up for asthma, recurrent wheezing and chronic cough; it standardly carries out inhalation and food allergen desensitization therapy and conducts whole-course management of various allergic diseases, and can simultaneously complete pulmonary function testing and assessment in children of all age groups. (2) Subspecialty of Pediatric Neurology and Behavioral Development: as a National Level-II Epilepsy Center, it carries out precise classification of epilepsy, individualized medication and long-term follow-up management; the scope of neurological diagnosis and treatment also covers facial palsy, myasthenia gravis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, neuroimmune encephalitis and hereditary myopathy, with professional pediatric electroencephalography technical support; it runs a behavioral development screening and intervention clinic, providing early assessment and intervention guidance for problems such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, language developmental delay and global developmental delay. (3) Pediatric Nephrology Subspecialty: it standardly carries out disease assessment, individualized treatment and long-term follow-up management of pediatric kidney diseases such as nephrotic syndrome, purpura nephritis, hematuria, proteinuria and urinary system infection. (4) Subspecialty of Pediatric Endocrinology and Growth Development: it carries out the diagnosis and treatment of short stature, obesity, precocious puberty, abnormal thyroid function and diabetes, bone age determination and growth curve monitoring, provides children with dietary and exercise guidance and individualized intervention plans, and establishes a regular follow-up mechanism. (5) Neonatal Subspecialty: it has comprehensive rescue capability for critically ill neonates and implements refined monitoring, respiratory support and nutritional support for critically ill neonates such as extremely low birth weight preterm infants, neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, severe infection, asphyxia, pulmonary hemorrhage, pulmonary hypertension and congenital heart disease; it has professional technical support such as umbilical vein catheterization, neonatal intracranial ultrasound, neonatal amplitude-integrated electroencephalography, systemic mild hypothermia and neonatal bedside hearing screening; it carries out post-discharge follow-up of high-risk infants to reduce the risk of long-term complications. (6) Subspecialty of Pediatric Inherited Metabolic Diseases: jointly with the hospital's Precision Medicine Center, it carries out screening, genetic testing and early diagnosis of pediatric inherited metabolic diseases such as hepatolenticular degeneration, thalassemia, phenylketonuria, methylmalonic acidemia and glycogen storage syndrome, and formulates long-term individualized follow-up and intervention plans for children. (7) Pediatric Respiratory Intervention Subspecialty: relying on interventional techniques such as bronchoscopy, bronchoalveolar lavage and airway foreign body removal, it diagnoses and treats diseases such as recurrent pneumonia, atelectasis, airway secretion retention and airway foreign bodies; it also carries out precise assessment, individualized treatment and long-term follow-up management of difficult and congenital respiratory system diseases such as primary ciliary dyskinesia, cystic fibrosis, pediatric interstitial lung disease, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, congenital airway malformation and refractory wheezing. (8) Pediatric Gastroenterology Subspecialty: it routinely carries out pediatric gastrointestinal endoscopy examination and treatment, and explores the causes of symptoms such as chronic abdominal pain, diarrhea and hematochezia; it standardly carries out drug therapy, nutritional intervention and long-term follow-up management of pediatric inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease. (9) Appropriate Traditional Chinese Medicine Technology Services for Children: using appropriate TCM techniques such as pediatric acupoint application, auricular point seed pressure, Chinese herbal compress and Chinese herbal hot-ironing compress, it provides adjuvant treatment for common pediatric conditions such as cough, recurrent respiratory tract infection, anorexia, constipation and weakness with excessive sweating, and promotes children's recovery through a model of coordinated Chinese and Western medicine. (10) Integrated Specialist Nursing Services: it is equipped with multiple types of specialist nursing personnel, including acute and critical care specialist nurses, PICU specialist nurses, neonatal specialist nurses, intravenous therapy specialist nurses, education nurses, research nurses, bronchoscopy nurses and pulmonary function technicians, and standardly implements specialist nursing measures such as intravenous therapy safety control, airway care, nutritional support and refined monitoring of critically ill children, supporting children's recovery through the whole process. IV. Multidisciplinary MDT Comprehensive Diagnosis and Treatment and Whole-Course Management. The department has established a regional MDT consultation mechanism for difficult and critical cases, conducts in-hospital multidisciplinary collaboration for difficult cases in the fields of gastroenterology, endocrinology, nephrology and inherited metabolic diseases, and integrates the technical advantages of all subspecialties to formulate individualized diagnosis and treatment plans for children; at the same time, it undertakes the referral and consultation needs of critically ill children in the southwestern Fujian region, providing continuous and standardized diagnosis, treatment and long-term follow-up management services for children with difficult and severe diseases in the region. V. Talent Team and Expert Strength. The department currently has a well-structured and highly skilled medical and nursing team; the physician team has a complete echelon of senior, intermediate and junior talents, and each subspecialty is led by a backbone expert, including 8 chief physicians (including re-employed experts) and 9 associate chief physicians, 21 holders of a master's degree, and 4 postgraduate supervisors (in the neonatal, endocrine, neurological and respiratory subspecialties); the specialist development of the nursing team has achieved remarkable results, with multiple categories of specialist nurses, bronchoscopy nurses and pulmonary function technicians, forming an integrated medical-nursing specialist service model. Continuously being updated and disclosed. VI. Coordinated Development of Medical Care, Teaching and Research. (1) Medical services: the department is deeply engaged in the standardized diagnosis and treatment of pediatric internal medicine diseases, continuously improves its comprehensive capability for the rescue and treatment of difficult and critical cases, offers outpatient and inpatient diagnosis and treatment services covering all subspecialties, strictly implements diagnosis and treatment standards and nursing quality control requirements, and provides children with full-cycle medical services covering common diseases, frequently occurring diseases and difficult and critical conditions; it keeps the green channel for referral and consultation of critically ill children in the region open and fulfils its duty of regional pediatric medical rescue. (2) Teaching and training: as a National Standardized Training Base for Pediatric Residents, a Postgraduate Training Base in Pediatric Internal Medicine of Xiamen University and a Standardized Training Base for Psychological Therapists of Fujian Province, the department undertakes the teaching and clinical mentoring of clinical and nursing programs of several universities, regularly receives primary-level medical and nursing staff for further training, fulfils its duty of regional teaching support, adheres to the coordinated development of medical care, teaching and research, and builds a high-quality platform for the training of regional pediatric professionals. It receives 12 resident trainees per year and 6 primary-level trainees per year, with a 100% pass rate in the completion examination of further training. (3) Scientific research and innovation: the department conducts clinical and basic research on the difficulties in the diagnosis and treatment of common pediatric diseases and difficult and critical conditions; in the past 10 years it has obtained no fewer than 51 authorized patents and published a total of 85 papers in core journals and SCI journals, and in the past 10 years it has held no fewer than 2 provincial- and municipal-level continuing education programs per year. Continuously being updated and disclosed. VII. Summary of the Department's Core Advantages. First, the subspecialty system is complete, covering 10 professional directions of pediatric internal medicine and offering multiple types of clinics, which can meet the full-range diagnosis and treatment needs of children with common diseases, frequently occurring diseases and difficult and critical conditions; second, the characteristic diagnosis and treatment technologies are rich, and a standardized diagnosis and treatment system has been formed in fields such as the management of asthma and allergic diseases, intervention for epilepsy and behavioral development, neonatal rescue, respiratory and digestive intervention, and the diagnosis and treatment of inherited metabolic diseases, integrating appropriate traditional Chinese medicine techniques and integrated specialist nursing to provide children with diverse diagnosis and treatment options; third, the regional service capacity is outstanding, with comprehensive capability for the rescue and treatment of difficult and critical cases, undertaking the referral and consultation of children from within the province and the surrounding areas of southwestern Fujian, with clear guidance for medical visits, effectively facilitating children's access to medical care; fourth, the academic recognition is high, with academic positions in multiple national industry associations and complete qualifications for the standardized training of residents, postgraduate students and psychological therapists, and a solid foundation for the coordinated development of medical care, teaching and research. VIII. Department Vision. The department always upholds the service philosophy of “Everything for the Children”, continuously deepens the standardized diagnosis and treatment of pediatric internal medicine diseases, constantly improves its capability to treat difficult and critical cases, perfects subspecialty development and the training of talent echelons, deepens the coordinated development of medical care, teaching and research, optimizes the whole-cycle health service process for children, and strives to build a regionally leading base for pediatric internal medicine diagnosis and treatment and for talent training, providing solid medical safeguards for the healthy growth of children at large. Visit location information - Pediatric Emergency: first floor, Building 5 - Pediatric Clinic: fourth floor, Building 7 - Pediatric Ward: second floor, Building 2