Professor Changqing Pan: build Shanghai Chest Hospital as an international brand

In 2016, Professor Changqing Pan (Figure 1) shouldered the crossbeam of Shanghai Chest Hospital. Serving in the hospital for more than a year, he used his double decades of experience as a doctor to carry through a simple doctor’s vision, and to exert a comprehensive management concept to make an efficient hospital management come true.

Figure 1 Professor Changqing Pan.

Stay gold—clinical work and management spark off the best in both

Last year in March, an “appointment notice” issued by Shanghai Hospital Development Center made Professor Pan, who was at that time the Associate Dean of Shanghai First People’s Hospital, the new Dean of Shanghai Chest Hospital.

According to the notice, Professor Pan, originally the chief physician of General Surgery at the Shanghai First People’s Hospital, specialized in gastrointestinal cancer and thus had nothing to do with chest. The decision made by Shanghai Hospital Development Center was based on three major factors: his considerable experience, clear thinking and pragmatism.

Reaching the pinnacle after twenty years of clinical experience, Professor Pan transitioned to a hospital management role that was full of new challenges. Shifting his roles from a doctor to a manager, he had been confronted with collision between the two distinctive work approaches. Having been clinical-oriented for most of his life, he adopted the new role at rather late of a stage. Nevertheless, he did all he could do to delve into management techniques after being entrusted with such significant task. Stepping into the Chest Hospital, he took part in meetings actively, studied reports carefully and walked every nook and cranny of the hospital. Using every possible means, he gained understanding about the hospital’s situation step by step through multi-angle and multi-level listening and feedbacks. By clinging to his original aspiration as a doctor, further combined with his years of clinical experience and advantages, he figured out a unique set of management techniques and theories after a year of extensive practice and learning.

During our interview with Professor Pan, we could feel how passionate and proud he was towards his career. It is also because of his remarkable clinical experience that he could integrate hospital management with clinical needs inseparably. Speaking of the advantages of the Chest Hospital, Professor Pan was full of pride—high brand popularity in conjunction with strong clinical and innovative ability is the hospital’s core competitive strength. Every management decision was made for the cultivation of the hospital in terms of medical treatment, education and scientific research. Coming hand in hand, clinical work and management let him view the development of the hospital in both depth and breadth. Such “collision” does spin off lots of brisk and dazzling sparkles that bring out the best in both.

Being asked what he would like to be remembered for after retirement, Professor Pan admitted that his real concern was not that but something bigger—what he could possibly contribute with his utmost effort to the hospital’s development and the establishment of the medical teams. This answer, as a matter of fact, tallied with his style—having been in the field for more than 20 years, whether as a doctor or a manager, he regards medical ethics rather than wealth or fame as the principle, and carries through a simple doctor’s vision with an acute management concept to implement efficient hospital management.

Strive for excellence, build Shanghai Chest Hospital as an international brand

Founded in 1957, Shanghai Chest Hospital (Shanghai Chest Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University) is the oldest cardiovascular, pulmonary, esophageal, tracheal and mediastinal diseases-based specialist hospital built in the nation that assembles together medical treatment, education and scientific research. As a 3-star first-class specialist hospital, it has created many medical “firsts”: in terms of surgical techniques, it has carried out the world’s first instance of unrelated donor unilateral lobar lung transplantation on adult, the nation’s first aortic valve replacement with coronary artery bypass and the nation’s first Da Vinci robot-assisted lung cancer radical surgery and thymoma resection. In terms of innovative development, it gave birth to the nation’s first bubble-type artificial heart-lung-machine along with its manufacture and application. Out of the four nationally recognized pioneers of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Jiasi Huang, Yingkai Wu, Kaishi Gu and Xichun Lan, three of whom served as the Dean or deputy Dean of the hospital before. Despite the rather young age of the hospital, it has profound foundation which our nation’s most excellent resources of cardiothoracic surgery are congregated. In Professor Pan’s opinion, the direction of Shanghai Chest Hospital’s development strategies and planning lies in its own position. At present, the hospital has fairly high ranking in pulmonary and mediastinal tumors treatment, while more effort has to be put in cardiac treatment. He strongly believes that through the joint effort of the entire staff the hospital will become a place full of uniqueness and strengths, where the development of cardiothoracic techniques can take a step forward, where professions like chest-lung tumor treatment can reach the forefront of the country, and where cardiothoracic discipline can come out of the intense competitions to the front of Shanghai and other hospitals of the nation.

Not only is disciplinary establishment the cornerstone of a hospital’s brand, reputation and competitiveness, it is also the starting point of a hospital’s management, business and quality. Meanwhile, both clinical and scientific research abilities are indispensable. It is to Professor Pan’s belief that as a national and international first-class Chest Hospital, the abundant resources of clinical research samples derived from the huge number of patients provide conditions that are favorable to the enhancement of clinical research level and operational skills. In the near future, through continuous exploration and research, the hospital crew will formulate a set of medical norms and standards that is generally applicable to the country so as to provide patients with better treatment programs. This has been a long-cherished dream made by doctors of all generations.

Needless to say, not only does the international brand building of a hospital depend on its own strength in core competitiveness, it also relies on the support of a powerful academic platform. On 1^st April this year, Shanghai Chest Hospital and AME Publishing Company came to a strategic cooperation that could elevate scientific impacts by setting up together the “AME-Shanghai Chest Hospital International Research Center”. Together, these parties laid down five major areas of strategic cooperation—co-founding an international medical journal Shanghai Chest, publishing Chinese and English medical books, conducting systematic trainings for young and middle-aged doctors, organizing international multidisciplinary consultation on difficult cases, and international multidisciplinary consultation on scientific papers (wisdom gathering). Speaking about the journal Shanghai Chest, Professor Pan affirmed that a good journal is what a well-known hospital requires to publicize itself and strengthen its influential power. Shanghai is an international metropolis. Through a platform such as Shanghai Chest, we can demonstrate to the public the professional experience of the hospital, while facilitating academic exchanges among domestic and foreign experts. As a result, the hospital can have its brand-awareness truly heightened and “go big” with an ultimate goal of becoming an international first-class specialist hospital. Learning the achievements made by AME in establishing an international academic platform, Professor Pan is fully confident that the cooperation between Shanghai Chest Hospital and AME will undeniably make noteworthy contributions to the whole medical industry and the development of the hospital.

Hold on well at the current situation, pave future road through cultivation and innovation

In Professor Pan’s eyes, today’s youth is tomorrow’s nation. The future of the hospital rests on young doctors. He is therefore concerned with the cultivation and education of young doctors. Level training, tailor-made career planning, personnel and distribution systems that are open, fair and just… all these factors stirred up the passion among young doctors, and attracted a noticeable number of outstanding medical talents to join their hospital. Having originated from clinical work, Professor Pan has always stressed that “it is nothing bad for some doctors to manage. On the one hand, it plays a more precise guiding role in clinical work. On the other hand, it can train up their ability as well.” The Chest Hospital now is rather mature in its training system for young doctors, which lays emphasis on the “four enhancements”: to keep them motivated, to enhance their ability, to appropriately place them under pressure and to improve their innovative ability.

For more than a year after taking the managing role, Professor Pan has brought every management task and decision for the hospital into operation, which is bringing Shanghai Chest Hospital to another new milestone. As a doctor, he is diligent, hardheaded, ethical and dedicated. As a Dean, he is constantly taking new challenges and persists in moving forward through wind that combs his hair and rain that bathes him. “I keep reflecting from work. Only if we bear success and gain in mind will we keep making progress”.

Standing on the new height and threshold, Shanghai Chest Hospital will from now on keep making unremitting efforts to achieve faster and better development and to reach a point higher and farther under the leadership of Professor Pan. He staunchly believes that medical work embraces esteemed beliefs and far-reaching dreams.

Expert’s introduction

Changqing Pan is the Dean of Shanghai Chest Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University, chief physician of General Surgery, executive director and academic committee member of Shanghai Hospital Association, academic committee member of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, member of Hospital Architecture System Research Branch of Chinese Hospital Association and member of Shanghai Federation. He has served as the resident, attending and deputy chief physician of General Surgery at Shanghai First People’s Hospital, and got promoted to be the chief physician in 2002. He has served as the deputy chief executive officer of General Surgery since 1998. In October 1999, he went to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he carried out expert visits. Since 2003, he has taken up administration work and has served as the Director of Medical Services and the Director of Equipment Operations at Shanghai First People’s Hospital, where he has become the Vice President of Support Services, the Associate Dean and the Dean of the Hongkou Branch since April 2008. In March 2016, he was further appointed to be the Dean of Shanghai Chest Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He has remarkable experience in both clinical and management work. Specializing in the standardized surgical treatment and chemotherapy of gastrointestinal cancer, he and his team attained four “firsts” in Shanghai, which include: first instance of simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation with enteric drainage, first reduced-size orthotopic liver transplantation, first instance of simultaneous liver-kidney transplantation and first case of liver transplantation for severe hepatitis. Scientific research on “Magnetic-activated cell sorting for micrometastasis of gastric cancer” and “The effects of oxidative stress on telomerase activity, regulation of apoptosis and tissue homeostasis in cirrhosis and liver cancer patients” won the Shanghai Science and Technology Award. He also won the prize of “Shanghai Energy Conservation Advanced Individual” in 2013 and was awarded the “Shanghai Employees’ Most Trusted Manager 2014–2015” by Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions. So far, he has published 33 management and profession-related papers and participated in three books.

Acknowledgements

The Interviewer would like to acknowledge Mei Li Senior Editor of AME Publishing Company and David Tian, Senior Editor of AME Publishing Company for editing support.

Footnote

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

(Interviewers: Grace S. Li, Lichang Liu, AME Publishing Company; Translator: Brad Li, AME Publishing Company)