Spinal Surgery

I. Basic Overview, Qualifications and Honors

The Department of Spine Surgery of Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Xiamen University belongs to the hospital’s orthopedic system, a National Clinical Key Specialty. It is a National Clinical Key Specialty, a Fujian Provincial Clinical Key Specialty, and a Xiamen Municipal Clinical Key Specialty. It is the only core backbone subspecialty of a National Clinical Key Specialty in orthopedics in southwestern Fujian and ranks among the nominated orthopedic specialties in East China in the Fudan ranking. Its overall development level remains among the nationally advanced and regionally top-tier ranks.

Relying on the hospital’s comprehensive orthopedic system, the department has pursued in-depth development with a clear heritage: the hospital’s Department of Orthopedics was independently established in 1995 and was among the earliest orthopedic specialties in Xiamen to undergo standardized development. After more than 30 years of accumulation and evolution, it initially established its foundation on conventional spinal surgery and spinal trauma treatment, laying a solid foundation for the diagnosis and treatment of spinal diseases in southwestern Fujian while continuously accumulating experience in treating complex spinal injuries and diseases. With the refinement and minimally invasive development of the discipline, Spine Surgery has gradually grown stronger and more specialized within the comprehensive orthopedic system, focusing on cutting-edge areas including spinal degenerative diseases, spinal deformities, spinal tumors, and minimally invasive spinal techniques, and has completed the disciplinary transformation from “traditional open surgery as the main approach” to “minimally invasive and precise diagnosis and treatment as the core, with difficult and critically ill cases as the safety net.” In 2022, relying on the overall strength of the hospital’s orthopedic department, the discipline was successfully approved as a Fujian Provincial Clinical Key Specialty, substantially elevating its level. After Orthopedics as a whole was recognized as a National Clinical Key Specialty, Spine Surgery, as its core subspecialty, has grown into a national-level key specialty spine surgery center integrating medical care, teaching, scientific research, rehabilitation, quality control, and academic leadership, continuously leading the standardized, minimally invasive, and precise high-quality development of spine surgery in southwestern Fujian.

The department’s official platforms are highly ranked and enjoy exceptionally strong professional recognition. It is a pilot construction institution for Enhanced Recovery After Surgery in Orthopedics designated by the National Health Commission, a core member institution of the Fujian Orthopedic Alliance, and one of the first members of the Fujian Rapid Treatment Alliance for Hip Fractures in Older Adults. It undertakes core functions in regional professional quality control and academic leadership and is the responsible institution for the orthopedic spine specialty of the Xiamen Quality Control Center, comprehensively coordinating the management of the quality of spine surgery diagnosis and treatment throughout Xiamen, the formulation of technical standards, standardized training, case supervision, and implementation of industry standards. It occupies core positions in provincial- and municipal-level professional associations, serving as the deputy chair institution of the Fujian Spinal Minimally Invasive Alliance, the deputy chief committee institution of the Xiamen branch of the Orthopedics Committee of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, and the deputy chief committee institution of the Xiamen branch of the Orthopedics Committee of the Association of Chinese Integrative Medicine. It participates extensively in the promotion of spinal minimally invasive techniques, collaboration on difficult cases, and discussions of professional consensus throughout the province. At the same time, relying on the core scientific research and teaching platform of the Institute of Osteoarthropathy of Xiamen University School of Medicine, it has established a complete integrated disciplinary system encompassing clinical care, scientific research, teaching, translation, and rehabilitation, receiving multiple layers of authoritative third-party endorsement from national, provincial, and municipal health authorities, national quality-control platforms, and authoritative academic associations in China.

The department has been deeply engaged in the standardized, precise, and minimally invasive diagnosis and treatment of spinal diseases for decades. It has profound technical expertise, a well-developed subspecialty system, and a mature talent structure. It currently has 45 open beds, performs more than 1,400 operations annually, and has a minimally invasive surgery rate of more than 65%. It handles 13,257 outpatient and emergency visits annually and 1,600 discharges annually, with a total medical and nursing team of 33 people. Its volume of minimally invasive diagnosis and treatment, capability in treating difficult and critically ill cases, and level of standardized diagnosis and treatment rank among the leading levels in southern Fujian. It is the spine surgery specialty in southwestern Fujian with the strongest professional and technical capabilities, the broadest coverage, and the highest public recognition, continuously providing patients in southwestern Fujian and surrounding areas with spine specialty diagnosis and treatment services at an advanced national level.

II. Core Scope of Diagnosis and Treatment

The department adheres to the principle of putting patients first and upholds the diagnostic and treatment philosophy of “precision, stepwise care, and internationalization.” Benchmarking itself against the diagnostic and treatment standards of national-level key specialties, it has established a stepwise diagnostic and treatment system covering the entire spine, all disease categories, and all age groups. According to the patient’s age, disease severity, type of lesion, and underlying physical condition, it can customize individualized diagnostic and treatment plans ranging from health education, conservative physical therapy, and medication intervention to minimally invasive intervention, endoscopic minimally invasive surgery, complex open corrective surgery, and spinal tumor reconstruction. With “No ‘micro’ left undone, the ‘scope’ has no limits” as its core pursuit of technical excellence, the department adheres to the principles that minimally invasive treatment should be used whenever open surgery is not necessary and that treatment should not be excessive when stepwise treatment is possible. It minimizes patient trauma, shortens the rehabilitation period, and improves long-term outcomes to the greatest extent, striving to provide the general public with precise, safe, efficient, and standardized full-chain spinal health solutions.

The scope of diagnosis and treatment comprehensively covers all types of common, frequently occurring, difficult, and critically severe spinal diseases: cervical disc herniation, cervical spinal canal stenosis, cervical spondylosis, cervical instability, thoracic spine lesions, thoracic spinal canal stenosis, lumbar disc herniation, lumbar spinal canal stenosis, lumbar spondylolisthesis, degenerative spinal lesions, osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures, and spinal fracture-dislocations. It also comprehensively undertakes the diagnosis and treatment of difficult and complex diseases, including adolescent and adult spinal deformities such as scoliosis and kyphosis, benign/malignant spinal tumors, spinal infections, intraspinal space-occupying lesions, postoperative recurrence of spinal conditions, and complex complications.

III. Distinctive Subspecialties and Core Technical Advantages

Relying on the comprehensive advantages of the hospital’s orthopedic platform, a National Clinical Key Specialty, the department works in close coordination and develops synergistically with related subspecialties including orthopedic trauma, joints, sports medicine, bone tumors, and microsurgical reconstruction, forming a collaborative framework of “joint platform development, joint technical research, shared talent, and joint management of critically ill patients.” On this basis, it has developed a distinctive path featuring large-scale minimally invasive technology, benchmark-level difficult techniques, and standardized diagnostic and treatment systems, establishing two core distinctive subspecialty directions. Every breakthrough in the distinctive techniques of Spine Surgery depends on the systematic support of the comprehensive orthopedic specialty in areas including the surgical platform, Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS), perioperative management, and intensive care. The technical system is complete, clinical outcomes are stable, and safety and quality control are standardized, with overall technical capabilities benchmarked against first-class spine surgery centers in China.

(I) Spinal Minimally Invasive Technology System (Regional Benchmark, Leading in the Province)

Relying on the overall technical expertise and extensive application experience accumulated by the comprehensive orthopedic specialty in endoscopy, navigation, and minimally invasive instruments, the department was among the earlier specialties in the province to systematically carry out spinal minimally invasive techniques. After decades of technical evolution and clinical accumulation, it has established a mature minimally invasive technology system covering the entire spine and all surgical procedures. The prevalence, precision, and surgical safety of its minimally invasive diagnosis and treatment rank first in southwestern Fujian.

The department routinely and independently performs various mainstream advanced minimally invasive procedures, including percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD), microendoscopic discectomy (MED), unilateral biportal endoscopy (UBE), minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion, percutaneous endoscopic lumbar interbody fusion, and oblique lumbar interbody fusion (misTLIF, PELIF, OLIF) using multiple spinal endoscopic approaches, as well as percutaneous vertebroplasty / kyphoplasty. It also draws on and jointly promotes these procedures with minimally invasive fixation for orthopedic trauma, minimally invasive arthroscopy, orthopedic robot-assisted procedures, and other minimally invasive procedures within the comprehensive orthopedic specialty, jointly advancing the overall minimally invasive development of orthopedics in southwestern Fujian.

Minimally invasive techniques are widely applied to cervical and lumbar degeneration, spinal canal stenosis, lumbar spondylolisthesis, osteoporotic fractures, mild spinal deformities, and other diseases. They offer advantages including less trauma, less bleeding, less pain, faster recovery, shorter hospital stays, and fewer postoperative complications. They are particularly suitable for high-risk patients of advanced age, with multiple underlying diseases, or unable to tolerate open surgery, benefiting large numbers of patients with spinal diseases in the region.

(II) Precision Diagnosis and Treatment and Reconstruction Techniques for Difficult Spinal Diseases

Relying on the joint support of the orthopedic subspecialties of bone tumors, microsurgical reconstruction, trauma emergency care, and others, the department has retained and further developed highly challenging spinal surgery techniques on the basis of the comprehensive implementation of minimally invasive techniques. It possesses regionally top-tier backup treatment capabilities for difficult and critically ill cases and can independently perform all types of Grade IV highly difficult spinal surgeries, filling multiple technical gaps in southwestern Fujian.

Core distinctive techniques include three-dimensional precision corrective surgery for severe adolescent and adult scoliosis and kyphosis; reduction and internal fixation of highly difficult upper cervical fracture-dislocations; correction of craniovertebral junction deformities; microsurgical resection of complex spinal tumors and spinal stability reconstruction; multiple revision surgeries after spinal surgery; and comprehensive treatment of severe spinal deformities complicated by neurological injury and paralysis.

The above techniques are often performed in conjunction with comprehensive orthopedic techniques such as comprehensive treatment of orthopedic bone tumors, free-tissue reconstruction in microsurgery, and treatment of multiple injuries in orthopedic trauma. With the support of the integrated surgical platform of the comprehensive orthopedic specialty and multidisciplinary teams, the department achieves closed-loop management throughout the entire process, from tumor resection and stability reconstruction to neurological function restoration and functional rehabilitation. The department can comprehensively accept complex, critically ill, recurrent, and refractory spinal cases referred by hospitals at all levels in southwestern Fujian, with the level of diagnosis and treatment for difficult and critically ill cases reaching advanced national standards.

IV. Multidisciplinary MDT Comprehensive Diagnosis and Treatment and Full-Course Management

Relying on the multidisciplinary platform advantages of a National Clinical Key Specialty, the department has established a standardized, routine, and institutionalized multidisciplinary collaborative diagnosis and treatment mechanism for spinal diseases through MDT. It coordinates the hospital’s advantageous specialties, including Neurology, Neurosurgery, Oncology, Pediatrics, Hematology, Rheumatology and Immunology, Infectious Diseases, Geriatrics, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, Rehabilitation Medicine, and Pain Treatment. For complex interdisciplinary and difficult cases, including spinal tumors; spinal tuberculosis and complex infections; rheumatic and immune-related spinal lesions; complex congenital spinal deformities in children; severe spinal degeneration in older adults combined with multiple systemic underlying diseases; intractable pain after spinal surgery; and rehabilitation for paralysis, it conducts multidisciplinary consultations, joint assessments, and joint development of individualized comprehensive diagnosis and treatment plans. This breaks through the limitations of single-specialty diagnosis and treatment and substantially improves the treatment success rate and long-term rehabilitation outcomes of patients with complex and critically severe conditions.

At the same time, the department has established a full-cycle closed-loop diagnosis and treatment management system of “conservative intervention—minimally invasive treatment—surgical correction—postoperative monitoring—precision rehabilitation—long-term follow-up.” Relying on the ERAS philosophy, it optimizes perioperative management processes and collaborates with rehabilitation and pain specialties to provide systematic services including precise postoperative functional training, refined pain management, posture correction, and recurrence prevention, offering patients continuous, standardized, and long-term spinal health management throughout the entire life cycle.

Spine Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Xiamen University

V. Talent Team and Expert Strength

Relying on the talent cultivation platform of a National Clinical Key Specialty, the department has built a high-level professional and technical team in spine surgery with high educational attainment, strong professional specialization, an optimized professional-title structure, broad academic perspectives, and stable talent succession. It has formed a multilayered talent structure led by discipline leaders, supported by senior experts, backed by young professionals, and empowered by top domestic experts. Its advantages in professionalization, refinement, and advanced expertise are prominent.

Under the leadership of Chief Physician Hu Qiang, the team closely follows the cutting-edge developments in minimally invasive, precise, and intelligent spine surgery in China and abroad, focuses deeply on innovation in spinal minimally invasive techniques and breakthroughs in difficult diseases, and continuously promotes the high-quality coordinated development of clinical care, scientific research, teaching, and rehabilitation.

All physicians in the department’s medical team received formal training in spine surgery at key universities in China. The proportion with master’s or doctoral degrees is 100%, and the proportion holding senior professional titles is high. The middle-aged and young backbone members are enterprising and demonstrate outstanding innovation capabilities. The team currently consists of 11 physicians, including 9 with senior professional titles, 2 with doctoral degrees, and 9 with master’s degrees. Two experts have been recognized with provincial- and municipal-level high-level talent honors. Multiple team members hold important positions in national-, provincial-, and municipal-level academic associations, giving the team prominent professional influence and academic leadership.

The department adheres to open education and high-level talent introduction and routinely conducts in-depth cooperation with top domestic disciplines. It flexibly introduces renowned experts from top domestic spine surgery centers, including Peking University Third Hospital, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, and Shanghai Changhai Hospital, who regularly visit the hospital for outpatient consultations, teaching rounds, demonstrations of difficult surgeries, remote consultations, and academic lectures. It conducts substantive joint discipline development and technical assistance, enabling spine surgery diagnosis and treatment in southwestern Fujian to achieve homogeneous alignment with top domestic standards, allowing regional patients to enjoy national-level expert diagnosis and treatment services without leaving Xiamen.

VI. Coordinated Development of Medical Care, Teaching and Research

(I) Medical Services

As the core backbone subspecialty of Orthopedics, a National Clinical Key Specialty, the department features spinal minimally invasive techniques as its core strength and the treatment of difficult and critically ill spinal conditions as its safety-net advantage. It comprehensively implements the standardized diagnosis and treatment model of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS), with diagnostic and treatment standards, surgical quality, and safety control strictly benchmarked against the construction standards for national-level key specialties.

The department has 45 open beds, performs more than 1,400 operations annually, and has a minimally invasive surgery rate of more than 65%. It treats 1,600 discharged patients annually and provides 13,257 outpatient and emergency services annually. Its diagnostic and treatment volume, adoption of minimally invasive techniques, treatment rate for difficult cases, and patient satisfaction have long ranked among the advanced levels in southwestern Fujian. Its diagnostic and treatment scope covers all common and frequently occurring diseases and all types of complex, difficult, and critically severe conditions in the entire field of spine surgery. Its services extend throughout southwestern Fujian and surrounding prefecture-level cities, making it a core base for precise diagnosis and treatment of spinal diseases, backup treatment of difficult cases, and demonstration and promotion of minimally invasive techniques in the region.

(II) Teaching and Training

The department is a key teaching and talent cultivation base of Xiamen University, Fujian Medical University, and Xiamen Medical College; a training site for master’s and doctoral students at Xiamen University; and, relying on the hospital’s postdoctoral station, a platform for cultivating high-level talent. It has long undertaken theoretical teaching, clinical observation, internship supervision, case discussions, teaching rounds, and other educational tasks for multiple institutions of higher education.

The department has established a comprehensive standardized training system for orthopedic and spine surgery residents and a training system for visiting physicians from primary-level institutions. It trains master’s and doctoral students, standardized-training physicians, and backbone physicians from primary-level institutions year-round. It has cumulatively trained 11 graduate students and 300 standardized-training physicians and visiting physicians from primary-level institutions, supplying a large number of high-level professionals to the orthopedic field throughout the province.

The department has created its own high-level academic brands and founded regional landmark academic exchange platforms such as the Zhongshan Spine Forum and the Zhongshan Spinal Minimally Invasive Forum. It routinely hosts national-, provincial-, and municipal-level continuing education programs each year, promoting advanced spinal minimally invasive techniques, new concepts in precision diagnosis and treatment, and new standards for professional standardization throughout the province, continuously driving the improvement of the overall diagnosis and treatment level and discipline development of spine surgery in southwestern Fujian. The department routinely selects backbone medical and nursing staff to undertake further training at top domestic orthopedic centers and participate in national academic conferences, keeping its techniques, concepts, and scientific research perspectives aligned with domestic frontiers.

(III) Scientific Research and Innovation

The department relies deeply on the scientific research platform of the Institute of Osteoarthropathy of Xiamen University School of Medicine and adheres to the core development philosophy of “clinical practice empowering scientific research, and scientific research feeding back into clinical practice.” It conducts systematic scientific research efforts in cutting-edge areas including improvements in spinal minimally invasive techniques, the pathogenesis of difficult spinal diseases, optimization of precision diagnosis and treatment plans, innovation in spinal rehabilitation systems, and applications of intelligent medicine.

It currently undertakes 8 national- and provincial-level scientific research projects in progress. Over the past 5 years, it has cumulatively published 12 SCI papers and 15 papers in domestic core journals, publishing multiple high-level research achievements each year on average. It has cumulatively received multiple provincial- and municipal-level science and technology progress awards and obtained multiple national utility model invention patents. It continuously uses scientific research innovation to drive the iteration of clinical techniques, upgrading of diagnosis and treatment quality, and enhancement of disciplinary development, achieving deep integration and coordinated development of clinical care, teaching, and scientific research.

VII. Summary of the Department’s Core Advantages

1. **Top-tier platform qualifications, with abundant authoritative third-party endorsement**: The department belongs to the orthopedic system of a National Clinical Key Specialty and also possesses clinical key specialty qualifications at both the Fujian provincial and Xiamen municipal levels. It is the only core backbone subspecialty of a National Clinical Key Specialty in orthopedics in southwestern Fujian. It is a pilot construction institution for Enhanced Recovery After Surgery in Orthopedics designated by the National Health Commission, a core member institution of the Fujian Orthopedic Alliance, and one of the first members of the Fujian Rapid Treatment Alliance for Hip Fractures in Older Adults. It undertakes the leading function for quality control of the orthopedic spine specialty in Xiamen and is the deputy chair institution of the Fujian Spinal Minimally Invasive Alliance, the deputy chief committee institution of the Xiamen branch of the Orthopedics Committee of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, and the deputy chief committee institution of the Xiamen branch of the Orthopedics Committee of the Association of Chinese Integrative Medicine. Its comprehensive disciplinary strength ranks among the nominated orthopedic specialties in East China in the Fudan ranking. It has received multiple authoritative endorsements from national, provincial, and municipal health authorities, national quality-control platforms, and authoritative academic associations in China. Its multilayered official recognition, professional credibility, and regional leadership rank first in the region.

2. **Profound diagnostic and treatment experience, with minimally invasive specialties leading the region**: The hospital’s Orthopedics department on which it relies was independently established in 1995 and was among the earliest orthopedic specialties in Xiamen to undergo standardized development. After more than 30 years of accumulation and evolution, it has laid a solid foundation for the diagnosis and treatment of spinal diseases in southwestern Fujian. The department currently has 45 open beds, performs more than 1,400 operations annually, and has a minimally invasive surgery rate of more than 65%. It offers comprehensive coverage of minimally invasive procedures and independently performs all difficult and critically severe spinal surgeries. The quality and safety of diagnosis and treatment and the penetration rate of minimally invasive techniques remain at advanced levels in southwestern Fujian, while the volume of minimally invasive diagnosis and treatment, capability in treating difficult and critically ill cases, and level of standardized diagnosis and treatment rank among the leading levels in southern Fujian.

3. **A comprehensive technical system with stepwise coverage of all disease categories**: The department has established a mature and complete spinal minimally invasive technology system covering the entire spine and all surgical procedures. It also possesses top-tier capabilities in tackling difficult cases, including correction of severe spinal deformities, highly difficult upper cervical spine surgery, microsurgical resection and reconstruction of spinal tumors, and complex revision surgery. It adheres to the diagnostic and treatment philosophy of “precision, stepwise care, and internationalization” and the principle that minimally invasive treatment should be used whenever open surgery is not necessary and treatment should not be excessive when stepwise treatment is possible. It can provide individualized diagnostic and treatment plans across the full spectrum, ranging from health education, conservative physical therapy, medication intervention, minimally invasive intervention, and endoscopic minimally invasive surgery to highly difficult open reconstruction, covering the diagnostic and treatment needs of all age groups and all spinal diseases.

4. **High-quality talent structure with deep empowerment from top resources**: The department has built a highly educated professional team in which all members hold master’s or doctoral degrees, with a high proportion of personnel holding senior professional titles and a rationally connected talent structure, led in development by Chief Physician Hu Qiang. It has maintained long-term flexible cooperation with experts from top domestic spine surgery centers, including Peking University Third Hospital, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Shanghai Changhai Hospital, and Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital. It routinely conducts high-level technical cooperation, joint academic development, and expert outpatient consultations and surgeries, enabling regional patients to conveniently access national-level diagnosis and treatment services. Its talent strength and technical perspective are synchronized with first-class domestic standards.

5. **Mature integration of medical care, teaching, and research, with strong regional reach**: The department has a master’s and doctoral training site at Xiamen University and a high-level talent cultivation system based on the hospital’s postdoctoral station. It has established comprehensive standardized resident training and primary-level physician further-training mechanisms, as well as its own high-level academic brands, the “Zhongshan Spine Forum” and the “Zhongshan Spinal Minimally Invasive Forum,” along with multilevel continuing education programs. Relying on the scientific research platform of the Institute of Osteoarthropathy of Xiamen University School of Medicine, it conducts cutting-edge research. It currently has 8 national- and provincial-level projects in progress, has cumulatively received multiple provincial and municipal science and technology progress awards and national utility model invention patents, and continuously leads the standardized, minimally invasive, and precise high-quality development of spine surgery in southwestern Fujian.

6. **Comprehensive patient services with attentive full-cycle management**: The department fully implements the requirements set out by the National Health Commission in the “Implementation Plan for the Thematic Campaign to Improve the Medical Care Experience and Enhance the Patient Experience (2023—2025),” continuously improving the patient experience throughout the entire healthcare process of “before consultation—outpatient care—inpatient care—after consultation.” It conscientiously practices the hospital’s service philosophy of “patients first” and service purpose of “putting the people and life first,” integrating humanistic care throughout the entire process of diagnosis and treatment.

In terms of service processes, it adheres to the principle of “patient-centered” care, establishes individualized “one person, one plan” service records, and opens specialty outpatient clinics and green channels for consultation on difficult cases involving cervical spondylosis, lumbar disc herniation, spinal minimally invasive treatment, spinal deformities, osteoporotic fractures, and other conditions. It implements appointment-based diagnosis and treatment and convenient guidance, reduces intermediate steps such as queuing for registration, payment, and report collection, and strives to achieve “one visit, a clear plan.” It establishes a standardized closed-loop service covering the four stages of before the visit, during the visit, after surgery, and after discharge, providing full-life-cycle health management of “conservative intervention—minimally invasive treatment—surgical correction—postoperative monitoring—precision rehabilitation—long-term follow-up.”

In terms of service content, it carries out a high-quality nursing service initiative themed “strengthen the foundation, improve quality, and promote development.” It collaborates with rehabilitation and pain specialties to provide precise postoperative functional training, refined pain management, and individualized rehabilitation guidance, and relies on the ERAS philosophy to optimize perioperative management. It establishes standardized doctor-patient communication systems, including admission education, preoperative discussions, postoperative question answering, and discharge guidance; improves mechanisms for medical social work and volunteer services, health consultation, and follow-up hotlines; responds to patient needs in a timely manner; and strengthens humanistic medical care.

In terms of service support, it deepens the development of smart healthcare and promotes convenient services such as online appointments, intelligent guidance, and online follow-up. It explores convenient payment models such as “receive diagnosis and treatment first, pay later” and “one visit, one payment.” It continuously conducts patient satisfaction assessments, collects opinions, and implements closed-loop service improvement management. With a high minimally invasive surgery rate, short hospital stays, and rapid rehabilitation, patient satisfaction has long ranked among the advanced levels in southwestern Fujian. It truly achieves the “threefold improvement” of “safety of diagnosis and treatment, treatment efficacy, and patient experience,” striving to make medical care more worry-free for patients, diagnosis and treatment more reassuring, and rehabilitation more comfortable.

VIII. Department Vision

The department will remain true to its original aspiration and mission of “making the world public and benefiting society.” Based on its positioning as a high-level platform of a National Clinical Key Specialty, it will continue to pursue in-depth development in the field of minimally invasive and precise diagnosis and treatment of spinal diseases and continuously improve its precise, stepwise, and internationalized diagnostic and treatment service system. In the future, it will continue to strengthen shortcomings in the development of high-level scientific research achievements, intelligent diagnosis and treatment, and the cultivation and recruitment of high-level talent; further strengthen its minimally invasive specialty, refine its capabilities in tackling difficult and critically ill cases, expand its regional academic reach, and improve full-cycle patient health management; continuously consolidate its leading position in spine surgery in southwestern Fujian; and make every effort to build a nationally top-tier spine surgery specialty characterized by excellent technical expertise, leading scientific research, high-quality teaching, first-class services, and regional benchmark status, continuously safeguarding the spinal health of the people of southwestern Fujian.