The Department of EndocrinologyMetabolism at the First Affiliated Hospital of University of South China is a National Key Clinical Specialty,is authorized to confer doctoral degreeshost postdoctoral research fellows. It serves as the Hunan Sub-Center of the National Clinical Research Center for Metabolic Diseases, the Hunan Provincial Clinical Research Center for Diabetes,the Hunan Provincial Clinical Research Center for Obesity PreventionTreatment. It is also among the first member institutions of the National Alliance for the DiagnosisTreatment of Obesity in EndocrinologyMetabolism, a training base for the China Type 2 Diabetes Weight Management Program,a group member of the China Type 1 Diabetes Alliance. The department currently has 64 inpatient beds, with approximately 3,000 discharges60,000 outpatient visits annually. It provides comprehensive diagnosistreatment services for over 140 types of endocrinemetabolic disorders. As one of the earliest centers in China to establish subspecialty services for obesitygrowthdevelopment disorders, the department took the lead in forming the Regional Endocrinology Specialty Alliance under the hospital’s regional medical center framework. The alliance currently includes 38 member hospitals. The department has also actively participated in the development of multiple national clinical guidelinesexpert consensuses for endocrinemetabolic diseases.
The department currently has four professorschief physicians, including three doctoral supervisors10 master’s supervisors. Among the faculty are one national committee member of the Chinese Diabetes Society under the Chinese Medical Association,one national committee member of the Chinese Society of OsteoporosisBone Mineral Research. The team includes two discipline leaders recognized as High-Level Health Talents of Hunan Province, one national model individual in the “Striving for Excellence” campaign of the national healthcare system,one Hunan Provincial Outstanding Young Professional. To date, the department has trained 20 doctoral graduates124 master’s graduates. Each year, it hosts the Hengshan Forum on ObesityFatty Liver, as well as the Annual Conference of the Regional Endocrinology Specialty Alliance under the hospital’s regional medical center.
The department has undertaken more than 30 research projects, including key programs funded by the Ministry of Education, grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), funding programs for returned overseas scholars, as well as key R&D projects of the Hunan Provincial Department of ScienceTechnologymajor special projects of the Hunan Provincial Health Commission. It holds six national invention patentstwo utility model patents,has led the publication of 10 academic monographs, including EndocrineMetabolic Diseases and Doctor-Patient Communication for Medical Students. To date, the department has published over 100 SCI-indexed papers, including five papers with an impact factor exceeding 10, with research findings appearing in leading medical journals such as Cell Metabolism, Metabolism,Adv sci. According to China Yixintianxia’s national big data ranking of disciplinary influence, the department ranks 65th nationwide.