The Department of Geriatrics of The First Hospital of Jilin University was established in May 2013. It is a national key clinical department of the Ministry of Health and a base for “National Department of Geriatrics Physician Specialist Training”. The department relies on science and technology and academics to seek development, and has gradually grown. At present, it has become a comprehensive diagnosis and treatment department of geriatric diseases integrating medical treatment, teaching and scientific research. There are 60 beds, the annual number of outpatient and emergency patients reaches 24000 per year, and the average annual inpatient number is more than 2400.

The department pays attention to the discipline construction. Since the establishment of the department, many doctors have been sent to the key departments of the national key hospitals for further study. They were sent to the Department of Geriatrics of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, the Department of Cardiology of Beijing Anzhen Hospital, and the Department of Cardiology and Neurology of The First Hospital of China Medical University to do further study. Three of them have visited famous universities in the United States and Japan.

The department pays attention to the development of scientific research. The department has presided over 7 projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, more than 10 provincial-level projects, and holds many national-level, provincial-level and school-level continuing education lectures. It has published more than 200 articles, more than 70 SCI articles, and won 5 provincial natural science progress awards. The department was awarded the “Best Department of Scientific Research Per Capita Performance” and “Best Department of SCI Papers” in the 2012-2014 academic evaluation of The First Hospital of Jilin University.

The department pays attention to teaching development, and the department has undertaken the teaching tasks of the five-year “Internal Medicine”, “Diagnostics” and “General Medicine” of the Bethune Medical Department of Jilin University. It also served as the theoretical teacher and undertook clinical English teaching task of “Emergency Medicine” for international students in the Bethune Medical Department of Jilin University, and the teaching task of resident training rotation and trainee physician in The First Hospital of Jilin University. It presided over 4 teaching projects and published teaching articles.

The department pays attention to social responsibility, and has established the Geriatric Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Branch of Jilin Geriatrics Society, the Changchun Medical Association Geriatric Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Branch and the Geriatric Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Professional Committee of Jilin Provincial Life Concept Association. The department has successively held the 2017 Jilin Provincial Geriatrics Association Geriatric Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Professional Committee Academic Conference and Jilin Provincial Geriatrics Specialist Alliance Inaugural Conference, and the 2019 Northeast Three Provinces and Four Cities Geriatric Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Academic Conference.

The department has established alliances with 23 medical institutions in the Jilin Province, and has visited the group hospitals and alliance units affiliated to The First Hospital of Jilin University for free ward round many times, leading the development of geriatric medicine in the province.

Since its establishment 9 years ago, the department has carried out the “September 9th Double Ninth Festival Loving and Respecting the Elderly Activities” every year. Many professors have gone to community hospitals, primary hospitals, and nursing homes for free consultation activities and popular science lectures, providing support and solving problems for elderly patients in our province. It was awarded the honor of “Provincial Respect for the Elderly Civilization” and “City Respect for the Elderly Civilization”.

The department responded to the call of the motherland and performed outstandingly in the battle against the COVID-19 virus epidemic. 5 doctors and 8 nurses from the department participated in the anti-epidemic aid in Hubei Province and Jilin Province .