The Endocrinology Department of the Second Hospital of Shandong University has become an academic leading unit in endocrine and metabolic diseases of Shandong Province through unremitting efforts of generations. It is also a key provincial clinical specialty titled with Youth Civilization of Shandong Province. In 2011, it was awarded the Nursing Service Model Ward of Shandong Province, and designated as the First Batch of Training Base of Diabetes Specialist Nurses in Shandong Province. In 2015, it was certified as the "Care-giving Angel" Base of Endocrinology and Metabolism Physician Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association and National "Diabetes Health Education Management Certification Unit"; in 2017, it was granted with the title of Chinese Center for Continuing Medical Education in Glucose Management for Inpatients with Diabetes by Chinese Medical Doctor Association and "National Demonstration Unit for Diabetes Health Education and Management", and was designated as "China Diabetes Network Screening and Prevention Project Screening and Prevention Center" by the Chinese Society of Microcirculation. Over the years, the Department has harvested a lot in clinical and basic research on endocrine and metabolic diseases, and made outstanding contributions to promoting the development of endocrine and metabolic diseases in Shandong Province.
At present, the Department has 63 beds available, and set up Famous Expert Outpatient, Expert Outpatient, Bone Metabolism and Menopause One-day Outpatient, Gestational Diabetes and Thyroid Disease One-day Outpatient, and other subspecialty outpatients. The Chronic Endocrine and Metabolic Disease Management Center and the Standardized Metabolic Disease Management Center are established together with a chronic disease management platform. The Department actively participates in the activities of the Gene and Immunotherapy Center and offers supports to education and scientific research. In such a process, a department development framework has been established integrating medical treatment, education, scientific research, prevention and healthcare and sustainably developed with main strengths in subspecialty.
[Training of Medical Members]
The Endocrinology Department of the Second Hospital of Shandong University is a promising, active and progressive team consisting of 7 professors and chief physicians, 3 associate professors and associate chief physicians, 1 associate chief superintendent nurse, 3 attending doctors, 2 nurses in charge, 8 resident doctors, 20 nurses and 4 technicians, of whom, 1 is a doctoral supervisor, 5 are master supervisors and 12 have a doctoral degree. Many of them serve in different academic organizations as the director of Shandong Society of Geriatrics Committee of Endocrinology, Endocrinology Branch of Research Hospital Association of Shandong Province, vice director of Endocrinology Branch of Shandong Provincial Medical Association, Endocrinology Doctor Branch of Shandong Medical Doctor Association, Shandong Medical Doctor Association Branch of Bone Metabolism, Regeneration Branch of Shandong Provincial Medical Association, Diabetes Branch of Shandong Nursing Association, member of Branch of Endocrinology and Metabolism Doctor of Chinese Medical Doctor Association, standing committee member of Integrative Medicine and Sports Special Committee of China Medical Women’s Association, member of Special Committee of Diabetes, Metabolic Osteopathology Group of Endocrinology Branch of Chinese Medical Association, Insulin Resistance Group of Diabetes Branch of Chinese Medical Association, and China Association of Chinese Medicine Diabetes Branch. The endocrinology team is reasonably organized with young members in the prime of their life. The team is young and vigorous, of reasonable echelon and excellent level, and the team is rapidly developing and making fruitful achievements through the sincere collaboration and monolithic solidarity of all members.
[Clinical Medicine and Specialty Feature]
As a key clinical specialty in Shandong Province, the Endocrinology Department has been one of the pioneers in diagnosis and treatment of diabetes, thyroid disease, bone metabolism diseases, hypophysis and adrenal gland diseases, and specialized in handling stubborn diseases, rare diseases, and various acute, high-risk and severe diseases related to metabolism. The Department has abundant clinical experience with diabetic ketoacidosis, hyperosmolar hyperglycemia syndrome, hyperthyroidism crisis, hyperthyroidism with a variety of serious complications, adrenal crisis and hypophysis crisis, and diagnosed and treated various complicated and difficult diseases, including hypophysoma, PSIS, diabetes insipidus, SIADH, lymphocytic hypophysitis, germinoma, nanism, Cushing’s syndrome, ectopic ACTH syndrome; Syndromes of Resistance to Thyroid Hormone (SRTH), hyperparathyroidism, parathyroid carcinoma, tertiary hyperparathyroidism; congenital adrenal cortical hyperplasia, primary aldosteronism, pheochromocytoma; Turner’s syndrome, hermaphrodism, Klinefelter’s syndrome, sexual precocity, delayed puberty; low phosphorus osteomalacia, Mccune-Albright Syndrome, lactation osteoporotic fracture, rhachitis, osteopsathyrosis, renal osteodystrophy; Mitochondrial diabetes, MODY and other diabetes of special types, Insulin resistance syndrome; Gentleman’s syndrome, Bartter’s syndrome, multiple endocrine neoplasia, Multiple endocrine autoimmune syndrome, haematoporphyrin, etc. as well as the world’s first hereditary hemochromatosis with HAMP gene mutation. The main specialty characteristics are introduced as follows:
An integrated diabetes management system is established: as an implementer of early diabetes risk evaluation and complication screening, the Endocrinology Department is currently equipped with Non-Mydriatic retinal camera, sensory threshold tester, Neuromuscular electrical detector, Doppler flow imaging for extremities, electrogastrograph cardiac autonomic nerve detector, neurovascular therapeutic apparatus, etc. to assist doctors in systematically screening, diagnosing and treating many chronic complications of diabetes in a comprehensive and standard manner. The Department also owns a treatment room of diabetic foot equipped with advanced diabetes ultrasonic debridement apparatus and actively cooperates with Hand and Foot Surgery, Plastic Surgery and Peripheral Angiology Surgery in integrated diagnosis and treatment of diabetic foot. As a part of the enhanced diabetes treatment regimen, dynamic blood glucose monitoring is combined with the insulin pump (dual “C”) so that patients’ blood glucose level can be controlled and stabilized to ensure their safety. So far, the Department relies on the Roche Inform II Blood Glucose Analyzer, an online blood glucose testing system specially designed for hospitals and certified by USAFDA and ISO15197 to achieve the real-time synchronous management of blood glucose data at high precision. The health education of diabetic patients plays a critical role in the diabetes management. Therefore, the Department establishes an education clinic of diabetes as the first example of the whole province, in which, nurses majoring in diabetes education, dieticians and physicians from the Endocrinology Department guide patients in terms of diets, sports, diagnosis, treatment and self-management; all inpatients with diabetes are subject to health education in groups on every afternoon of Tuesday and Thursday; since 2005, the Department has been organizing the Diabetes Health Education Club as an effective means to share knowledge of diabetes prevention and treatment on every second Saturday of each month, to improve diabetic patients’ awareness on prevention and treatment, to slow down the progress and reduce the incidence of diabetes complications, and to safeguard diabetic patients. The activity has achieved good social benefits. In 2017, the Department was awarded as the “Nationwide Model of Diabetes Health Education and Management”. Meanwhile, the Department has organized and carried out diabetes specialty nurse training as the provincial diabetes specialty nurse training base. In addition, the Department has established a phased diabetes management system, which ranked the top 10 in the “Nationwide Hospitals’ Challenge Competition of Action Plan to Improve Medical Service” by cooperation with the Information Center.
Diagnosis and treatment characteristics of endocrine diseases: the recent years see a rapid growing trend of the incidence of thyroid disease, in particular, thyroid carcinoma, which makes it extremely important to distinguish between malignant and benign thyroid nodules. By B-ultrasound guided FNAC and joint cytologic examination with the Pathology Department, the Department manages to improve the hospital’s level of identification and standard diagnosis and treatment of benign and malignant thyroid nodules. Also the Department is developing fast in terms of bone metabolism diseases with the help of the world’s state-of-the-art bone densitometer, i.e., the HOLOGIC dual energy X-ray BMD tester, which can accurately evaluate the health status of bones in our body, measure and analyze the bone mass, muscle and fat content in each part; the Department also has made great achievements in the diagnosis and treatment of primary and secondary osteoporosis, muscle attenuation syndrome, etc. Furthermore, since 2013, the Department has carried out free diagnosis of growth retardation in winter and summer vacations. Through this activity, patients with insufficient secretion of growth hormone, hypophysiscacoepy and chromosome abnormalities are tested, identified, and treated accordingly, achieving excellent clinical effects and social response.
Characteristic outpatient service: collaborating with the Gynecology Department, the Orthopedics Department, the Nutritional Department, the Geratology Department, the Department of Renal Medicine, Neurology Department, and Breast Surgery, the Department has established the “One-day Outpatient of Bone Metabolism and Climacterium” to provide diagnosis, drug treatment, nutritional and lifestyle guide and long-term follow-up services for osteoporosis patients and perimenopausal women, effectively improving the quality of life of climacterium patients. Meanwhile, the Endocrinology Department collaborates with the Obstetrical Department, the Nutritional Department, and the Thyroid Surgery to hold the “One-day Outpatient of Perinatal Diabetes and Thyroid Disease” to guide pregnant women with abnormalities in endocrine and thyroid in the perinatal period.
Chronic disease management platform: The Endocrinology Department has built an integrated management system of chronic diseases to achieve the long-term follow-up, integrated management, dynamic tracking, medication guide, and health education management of chronic diseases such as diabetes, thyroid disease, osteoporosis, climacterium, growth retardation, and obesity, and to gradually develop a big data platform of diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of chronic diseases.
Actively promoting multi-disciplinary collaboration: supported greatly by other associate departments, many MDT teams are established for bone metabolism, hypophysis disease, thyroid disease, disease of adrenal gland, diabetic foot, weight loss and metabolism to regularly hold MDT academic discussions, significantly improving the standard diagnosis and treatment level of related diseases.
[Achievements in Scientific Research]
In the past 5 years, the Endocrinology Department has undertaken over 30 scientific research fund projects, including 6 from the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Those projects focused on the basic and clinical research of diabetes and its complications, cognitive disorder, thyroid disease, bone Metabolism disease and obesity, etc. The Department has more than 100 papers included in SCI, and was awarded prizes such as the 2nd Prize of Shandong Provincial Science and Technology Progress, Shandong Provincial Medical Science and Technology Prize, Shandong Provincial Natural Science Academic Innovation Prize, and the 2nd Prize of Shandong Provincial Science and Technology of Colleges and Universities. Meanwhile, members of the Department presided over, assisted or participated in the compilation and translation of more than 20 medical books.
[Academic Exchange and Cooperation]
As an embodiment of its emphasis on sustainable talent development, the Department has sent many members to international famous universities for study and exchange in succession, including Harvard University, Mayo Medical Center, University of Texas, Cincinnati University, Cardiff University, Siena University Hospital, Italy, and Schneider Child Medical Center, Israel, while some young doctors were arranged to domestic leading hospitals like Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Shanghai Huashan Hospital, Renji Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital for further study. On a regular basis, physicians at all levels would attend international and domestic high-level academic conferences, and domestic and foreign famous professors would be appointed to guide clinical and scientific research work as the visiting professor. While paying attention to the disciplinary development, the Endocrinology Department of the Second Hospital of Shandong University is also making active contributions to the development of endocrinology in Shandong Province by establishing the Committee of Endocrinology of Shandong Society of Geriatrics and Endocrinology Branch of Research Hospital Association of Shandong Province. The department members also concurrently serve as the vice director, standing committee member and member in many domestic and provincial associations. It has been undertaking many national and provincial continuing education projects, organize education and learning activities in different forms every year, enhancing communication and exchange with associate hospitals in nearby cities, and sharing professional knowledge of endocrine metabolism diseases to actively contribute to the groundbreaking and innovation of endocrine metabolism specialty in Shandong Province.
Led by the professional academic leader Prof. Chen Shihong, the Endocrinology Department had made great improvements in recent years with the support of the University, hospital leaders and other departments. It is always upholding the Qilu medical spirit of “relieving the public by providing extensive medical assistance, and seeking truth via continuing study” to improve its accomplishments and strength, and the departmental cultural concepts of “be virtuous, industrious and harmonious, persistent and hardworking” to create a first-rate sweet home of “endocrinology” and provide safe, effective, scientific, warm and all-round medical and nursing services for patients so as to achieve a domestic first-rate department of endocrinology and metabolism disease.