The Second Norman Bethune Hospital of Jilin University, established in 1961, is led by Professor Gao Hongwen, who currently serves as a Standing Committee Member of the Chinese Society of Pathology, Chinese Medical Association; a Standing Committee Member of the Chinese Pathologists Association, Chinese Medical Doctor Association; Head of the Head and Neck Diseases Group of the Chinese Society of Pathology; Chairman of the Jilin Provincial Pathologists Association, Chinese Medical Doctor Association; Chairman of the Changchun Medical Association Pathology Professional Committee; and Editorial Board Member of the Chinese Journal of Pathology. The department has established subspecialties in female reproductive system, head and neck, thoracic, breast, male reproductive and urinary systems, molecular pathology, and research, with members serving as corresponding subspecialty group committee members in the Chinese Society of Pathology.
The department currently has 42 staff members, including 22 doctors: 3 professors (chief physicians), 3 associate professors (associate chief physicians), and 2 doctoral supervisors. Young doctors in the department have successively obtained projects such as the National Natural Science Foundation for Young Scientists and serve as youth committee members of the Chinese Society of Pathology and the Chinese Pathologists Association. The department handles approximately 3,000 difficult external pathology consultations annually. By 2020, the total number of pathological biopsies had reached over 836,000, ranking first in the province.
In 2009, the department pioneered the use of gross specimen photography and a digital pathology network system in China, establishing the country's largest pathological specimen image database. In 2013, it became the first immunohistochemistry laboratory in the province to be certified by the National Pathology Quality Control Center. That same year, it also took the lead in establishing a molecular pathology testing platform in the province. In 2014, the department appointed Professor Kiminori Sasano, Director of Pathology at Tohoku University, Japan, as the first Honorary Professor of Jilin University at our hospital. It has established cooperative relationships with the pathology departments of Tohoku University, Okayama University in Japan, and Seoul National University in South Korea, among others.
The department is one of the first national key clinical specialty construction units and has passed national acceptance inspection. It is also the project unit for the Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Tumor Molecular Pathology Diagnosis, playing an academic leading and pioneering role in the clinical pathology field of Jilin Province.
