Introduction to the Plastic Surgery Department

The Department of Plastic Surgery, Peking University Third Hospital is the first plastic surgery department established in new era of China. As a tribute to the founding of the People's Republic of China, professor Zhu Hongyin, one of the pioneers of plastic surgery in China, founded the department on September 3, 1949. Our department had the first case of thumb reconstruction by transplant the index finger (1957); published the first monograph of plastic surgery in China, The Essentials of Plastic Surgery (1959); established The Fourth Hospital of Beijing Medical College, a general hospital which was focused on plastic surgery as the key discipline (1963); confered the first graduate student of plastic surgery in New China (1964); was approved by the Ministry of Health of China the laboratory of plastic surgery (1964) - the first research-oriented plastic surgery discipline in China which is composed of clinical practice and laboratory parts.

In 1965, our department was merged into The Third Hospital of Beijing Medical College(The Peking University Third Hospital). After that, we completed the first accessory cephalectomy of parasitic head conjoined fetus (1979), the correction of early slosure of bilateral coronal suture of skull (1982), the first case of transsexual operation (male to female, 1983), and established the Research Center of plastic surgery (1984). Zhu Hongyin, as the chief editor, compiled the first Encyclopedia of Chinese Medicine,the plastic surgery volume (1986). The Cosmetic Surgery Clinic was set up in our department (1988) …… In 2014, our department was granted the specialty of clinical trials of plastic surgery drugs by Chinese Food and Drug Administration. In 2018, our department obtained the certification of qualified as the national key clinical specialty by National Health Commission of China.

After more than 70 years, no matter the clinical practice, the medical teaching or the medical study have all been developed simultaneously in our department. Moreover, both the plastic reconstruction and the aesthetic plastic surgery are developed at the same step. As the center for the diagnosis and treatment of difficult and severe cases in plastic surgery, we committed to the difficult and complicated operations, focusing on the concept of minimally invasive and personalized treatment. Our department is known for its academic style in plastic and cosmetic surgery, because of our excellent technology and rigorous and realistic style of study. As the training cradle of Chinese plastic surgeons, lots of postgraduate students and postdoctoral trainees as well as the advanced training doctors were graduated from our department.

The establishment and development of The Department of Plastic Surgery, Peking University Third Hospital is the resentative of the development of plastic surgery in China.