**Historical Background**
The Department of Anesthesiology at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, was founded in 1952 by Professor Jue Wu, one of the pioneers and renowned figures in modern anesthesiology, clinical pharmacology, and clinical anesthesiology. It is one of the birthplaces of anesthesiology in China. Over the past seven decades, under the guidance of Professors Jue Wu, Changsi Xiao, Hao Jiang, Zhanggang Xue, Jing Cang, and Changhong Miao, the department has evolved into a modern multidisciplinary department encompassing clinical anesthesiology, critical care, and pain management. In 2010, it was designated as one of the first national key clinical specialties, followed by the "Leading Subject" project of Shanghai municipal key clinical specialties in 2018. In 2020, it became a national key base for standardized training of resident physicians. In the same year, it took the lead in obtaining a key research and development project from the Ministry of Science and Technology. In 2021, the department established the first provincial and ministerial-level key laboratory of anesthesia in Shanghai, named "Shanghai Key Laboratory of Perioperative Stress and Protection."
The department currently consists of 171 staff members, including 6 professors and chief physicians, 2 principal investigators, 20 associate professors and associate chief physicians, 42 attending physicians, 60 resident physicians, 1 chief technician, 4 chief nurses, 17 nurses, and 19 nurse assistants. In 2021, the department performed over 150,000 anesthetic procedures, including 6,076 cardiac surgeries, 156 liver transplants, 89 kidney transplants, 35 heart transplants, more than 89,000 painless gastrointestinal endoscopic examinations, and 1,300 bronchoscopy examinations. In the same year, the department conducted over 39,000 preoperative assessments, treated more than 8,200 patients in pain clinics, performed over 200 pain management procedures, and completed over 1,600 implantations of intravenous ports (PORT) for both inpatients and outpatients.
In addition to standard equipment, the department possesses various advanced medical devices such as ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), magnetism-sensitive immunoassay analyzers, CATS autotransfusion devices, thrombelastography analyzers, continuous cardiac output monitors, tissue oxygen saturation monitors, BIS (bispectral index) monitors, AEP (auditory evoked potentials) monitors, blood gas and electrolyte analyzers, hemoglobin monitors, neuromuscular monitoring devices, transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), portable ultrasound diagnostic equipment, fiberoptic bronchoscopes, various video laryngoscope devices, and various thermoregulatory and anticoagulation devices, which provide a solid material foundation for high-quality perioperative care, patient safety, and reduced perioperative complications.
Zhongshan Department of Anesthesiology serves as a national continuing education base for anesthesiologists, one of the first batch of standardized training bases for residents of the Ministry of Health, the standardized training base for residents of Shanghai, the standardized training base for specialist physicians in Shanghai, a national adult education base, a national drug clinical research base, one of the first batch of key specialty bases for the standardized training of resident physicians, as well as master's, doctoral, and postdoctoral training bases. As of 2021, the department has trained 214 graduate students, including 71 doctoral students and 143 master's students. Over 140 resident physicians have been recruited and trained in standardized training bases. The department conducts national-level continuing education courses 2 to 4 times each year, as well as other types of courses 5 to 6 times a year, with over 200 attendees annually and over 200 lecture hours given. Each year, the department trains over 50 anesthesia fellows, many of whom have developed into key figures or leaders in the field of anesthesiology in major hospitals nationwide.
With each generation of anesthesiologists at Zhongshan Hospital, they unite and strive towards the department's new goal and philosophy, which centers around "patient-oriented care, clinical excellence, teaching, nurturing, and strong research." Through diligent work in medical care, education, interdisciplinary cooperation, and a commitment to ongoing improvement, they have gradually established distinctive strengths in discipline development and scientific research. At this new starting point in history, the anesthesiologists at Zhongshan Hospital will remain true to their original aspirations, not squander their youth, move forward in the spirit of progress, strive for excellence, and continue to achieve brilliance.
