Endocrinology and Metabolism
Overview
The Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism was established in the early 1990s as a modern specialized department integrating medical treatment, teaching, scientific research and disease prevention. It was accredited as a Key Specialty of Wuxi in 2014, became a member unit of the National Standardized Metabolic Disease Management Center (MMC) in 2017, and was certified as a National Certified Unit for Diabetes Health Education and Management. The department is authorized to train master students in internal medicine by Jiangnan University, serves as a national resident training base for internal medicine (endocrinology and metabolic diseases), and a municipal training base for specialized diabetes nurses, taking a leading position among tertiary general hospitals in Wuxi. Equipped with internationally advanced professional facilities, including insulin pumps, continuous glucose monitoring systems, non-mydriatic fundus cameras, sleep breathing monitors, body composition analyzers, German ELCAT Doppler detection systems, digital vibration perception threshold detectors and photon therapeutic instruments. At present, the department has 14 specialized physicians, including 10 senior professional title holders, 3 intermediate title holders and 1 junior title holder. All staff hold bachelor’s degrees or above, among whom 80% have master’s degrees or higher. There are 2 professors/associate professors and master’s supervisors, together with 6 specialized diabetes nurses.
Treatment Scope
Endocrinology and Metabolism comprises endocrine wards, specialist clinics, disease-specific clinics, general outpatient clinics, diabetes education center, nutritional metabolism and weight management center, and National Standardized Metabolic Disease Management Center (MMC). It provides a full range of diagnostic and therapeutic services covering: 1. Diabetes mellitus and its acute and chronic complications 2. Metabolic disorders 3. Thyroid and parathyroid diseases 4. Hypothalamic-pituitary and adrenal diseases 5. Other diseases: osteoporosis, endocrine hypertension, hypoglycemia, gonadal diseases, congenital hereditary endocrine and metabolic diseases, etc.
Technical advantages
Endocrinology and Metabolism is committed to delivering precise, individualized and whole-process medical services to patients, with core advantages as follows:
1. Precise management of diabetes and its complications: Relying on the platform of National Standardized Metabolic Disease Management Center (MMC), it realizes one-stop management of diabetes and its chronic complications.
2. Comprehensive intervention for metabolic diseases: It has set up a featured center for nutritional metabolism and weight management, focusing on scientific weight loss for patients with overweight, obesity and metabolic syndrome.
3. In-depth subspecialty development via multidisciplinary team (MDT) collaboration: It integrates superior resources of urology, nephrology, ophthalmology, neurosurgery and other departments, and has made remarkable achievements in subspecialties including adrenal diseases, diabetic nephropathy, diabetic retinopathy, pituitary diseases, thyroid diseases and osteoporosis.
4. Minimally invasive diagnosis and treatment of thyroid nodules: It routinely performs thyroid fine-needle aspiration biopsy and thyroid nodule ablation.
5. Regular expert outpatient service: Distinguished Chief Expert Professor Zhang Keqin from Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University holds senior specialist clinics on the morning of the second Tuesday every month on a regular basis.
Research achievements
The department always prioritizes scientific research and medical education and has achieved fruitful outcomes:
1. It has won 1 First Prize and 1 Second Prize of Jiangsu Provincial New Technology Introduction Award, as well as 1 Third Prize of Wuxi Science and Technology Progress Award.
2. In recent years, it has undertaken numerous research projects including the Youth Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, research projects of Nanjing Medical University, projects sponsored by Wuxi Science and Technology Bureau, Wuxi Health Commission and soft science projects of Wuxi Association for Science and Technology.
3. Over the past three years, more than 20 academic papers have been published, including 6 SCI-indexed papers, 7 papers in core journals of Chinese Medical Association and 2 papers in other core & statistical source journals. A number of utility model patents have been granted.
4. Faculty members have participated in compiling and publishing 5 academic monographs.
5. Two practitioners have been selected as Wuxi Outstanding Young and Middle-aged Medical Talents, and two young talents have been enrolled in the hospital's Talent Training Program. The department maintains close cooperative ties with Tongji Hospital, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital, Jiangsu Provincial People's Hospital and other renowned institutions. Many key physicians have furthered their professional studies and received research training in Canada, Taiwan region of China, Shanghai, Nanjing and other places.