The Department of Urology of West China Hospital of Sichuan University is one of the earliest established urology departments in the China. It has been the medical, scientific research and teaching center of urological diseases, minimally invasive urology and kidney transplantation, and the overall academic level has been ranked among the best in the nation. The Department covers all subspecialties of urology, including urological tumor, prostate disease, minimally invasive techniques, stone disease, repair and reconstruction of the urinary tract, andrology, kidney transplantation, female urology. The Department of Urology at West China Hospital currently has more than 120,000 outpatients each year. The ward of Department of Urology has the largest number of beds in China, including 197 beds for general urological patients and 31 beds for kidney transplantation patients. Currently, more than 8,500 patients are admitted to the Department of Urology each year, with an average of 800 surgical procedures per month. In 2018, the Department of Urology was ranked third on the “China's Best Specialties List” conducted by Fudan University.
The Department of Urology is now the authorization center of Doctor’s and Master’s degree of urology as well as the postdoctoral mobile station. It is also the Southwest Minimally Invasive Surgery Training Center of Chinese Urological Association of Chinese Medical Association. And in cooperation with the Clinical Skills Training Center, the Department of Urology is the first educational institution authenticated by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) in Asia. At the end of 2012, the Southwest Urinary Stone Treatment Center of the Chinese Urological Association was established. In 2012, the Department of Urology was approved by the national key clinical specialty construction projects of the Ministry of Health, and in 2014, the Institute of Urology at West China Hospital of Sichuan University was officially established.
High-quality professional team. By the end of 2014, the Department of Urology had 32 active physicians, including 10 physicians with senior title and 7 physicians with the associate senior title; 7 doctoral supervisors and 6 master supervisors; 23 physicians with M.D. degree, and 88 active nurses. At present, there is 1 Vice President and 1 member of the Chinese Urological Association in the Department of Urology, and several members of the Urological Oncology, Minimally Invasive Surgery, Urinary Stone, Continence, Kidney Transplant, Basic Science, and Nursing Working Group of the Chineses Urological Association. And 8 experts are the members of the editorial board of Chinese Journal of Urology, Chinese Journal of Organ Transplantation, Chinese Journal of Andrology, Foreign Medical Sciences (Section of Organ Transplantation), Chinese Journal of Endourology, Chinese Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine, Journal of Clinical Urology, The Practical Journal of Cancer, West China Medical Journal, and Sichuan Medical Journal.
Provincial and ministerial awards for scientific research achievements. In the past 5 years, more than 50 papers have been published in core journals at home and abroad each year, and a total of more than 100 papers were collected by SCI. Since the establishment of the Master's degree in 1978 and the Doctoral’s degree in 1984, the Department of Urology has cultivated more than 200 doctoral and master students. Every year, more than 20 advanced urologists and nurses are recruited nationwide.
Advanced equipment and technologies
There are currently 6 standard laminar flow operating rooms, 1 laminar flow operating room equipped with a urological examination table, 1 laminar flow cystoscopy room, 1 urodynamics examination room, and 1 extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) treatment room.
Multiple Olympus transurethral operating systems, Olympus HD electronic laparoscopic operating systems, ureteronephroscope, percutaneous nephroscope, flexible ureteroscopy and cystoscope, EMS ultrasonic lithotripsy system, holmium laser treatment system, Ligasure vascular closure system and other equipments, AMS GreenLight laser treatment system, Lifeport kidney perfusion transport system and microscope system guarantee a series of urological, minimally invasive and kidney transplantation surgeries.
Advanced German Donnier extracorporeal shock wave lithotripter provides the patients with urinary calculi with less trauma and faster recovery treatment.
A GE urological examination table, a C-arm X-ray device and a color ultrasonic machine support for the diagnosis, treatment of urinary system diseases and positioning during surgery.
Besides, our department has vigorously launched surgery since the end of 2010, which not only reduced patients' treatment expenses, but also increased the utilization rate of beds, shortened the preoperative waiting time, and won the Silver Award in the Cost-Cutting Projects of the Asian Hospital Management Awards 2013.
Since 2015, our department took the lead in conducting robot-assisted surgeries, making the minimally invasive surgeries reach the world advanced level.
