The Pathology Department of West China Hospital, Sichuan University, is one of the largest Pathology Departments in China. The Department is proud of its long tradition of integrating teaching, medical service and research together. The Department has over 103 staffs, including 42 pathologists/teachers and 44 technicians. Over a dozen residents and more than 30 graduate students are in training in the Department, which also offers advanced training programs to over 60 visiting fellows/ technicians from all over the country.
In 2016, the Department provided pathological services for 239,859 cases, including 128,494 surgical pathology cases, 98,181 cytological diagnoses, and 13,418 cases of frozen section diagnoses. More than 595,996 tests were performed, including histopathology, cytopathology, special staining, immunohistochemistry, over 7,570 in situ hybridization (ISH) and FISH tests, 15,059 PCR-based tests, and 1,770 cases examined by electron microscopy. The Department is one of three pathology consultation centers authorized by National Health and Family Planning Commission of China. Over 10,000 consultation cases from outside institutions were sent to the Department each year, which were reviewed by specialists in such sub-specialties as bone and soft tissue pathology, breast pathology, gastrointestinal (GI) and liver pathology, genitourinary (GU) pathology, hematopathology, neuropathology (including nerve and muscle biopsies), ophthalmic pathology and renal pathology.
The laboratory has been fully accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) in 2013, being the first CAP-accredited Pathology Department in comprehensive hospitals in China. The Department is also supported by the Key Disciplines Program of National Health and Family Planning Commission of China.
The Department is responsible for all pathology courses in West China Medical School, School of Stomatology, and School of Forensic Medicine and Basic Medical Sciences, and has been awarded many times for outstanding teaching. Leading faculty members are major authors of acclaimed pathology textbooks widely used in China. A unique 120-hour two-semester course of “Diagnostic Pathology” is offered for all trainees. Two courses, “Molecular Pathology” and “Modern Histopathology Techniques”, are offered to graduate students. Faculty members of the Department have been principal investigators of a few dozens of national or local research grants in the past five years. Experimental work carried out in the research laboratories of the Department in the last five years resulted in over a hundred publications in acclaimed international and Chinese academic journals, including Cancer Research, American Journal of Pathology, Leukemia, the Journal of Biological Chemistry, American Journal of Surgical Pathology and Modern Pathology.
