China's Top Departments: Gynecology at the Obstetrics & Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University (Shanghai)

If you or a loved one is facing cervical, ovarian or endometrial cancer, uterine fibroids, endometriosis or pelvic floor disorders — or if you are a young woman with cancer who hopes to preserve fertility, or someone dealing with reproductive endocrinology problems such as menstrual disorders or polycystic ovary syndrome — the Department of Gynecology at the Obstetrics & Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University, affectionately known as the "Red House Hospital," is one of China's most established destinations, combining a 140-year institutional legacy with some of the country's strongest minimally invasive and fertility-sparing surgery programs.

Department Overview

The Obstetrics & Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University (the "Red House Hospital") is China's first specialized obstetrics and gynecology hospital and one of the birthplaces of modern Chinese obstetrics and gynecology. Its Department of Gynecology is a core discipline of the hospital, long ranked among the top OB-GYN programs in China's hospital specialty reputation rankings — second nationally for many consecutive years, and No. 3 in the 2023 Fudan OB-GYN specialty reputation ranking with a reputation score of 7.83.

The department comprises 11 inpatient wards, with outpatient services spanning general, specialist, specialty-disease and difficult-case clinics. Its sub-specialties include gynecologic oncology, general gynecology (including pelvic floor), cervical and early vaginal disease, gynecologic endocrinology and reproductive medicine, reproductive immunology, endometriosis, and integrative Chinese-Western gynecology, covering women's gynecologic conditions across the entire life course — from adolescence through the reproductive years to menopause and beyond.

Hospital Background

• Founded in 1884, developed from China's first specialized OB-GYN hospital, the "Shanghai West Gate Women and Children's Hospital," donated by the American Margaret Williamson and founded by two medical missionaries, Elizabeth Reifsnyder and Elizabeth McKechnie. Because its English name at founding was Margaret Williamson Red House Hospital and its roof was red, it is warmly known to this day as the "Red House Hospital."
• Professor Wang Shuzhen, one of the founders of Chinese obstetrics and gynecology, served as its first Chinese chief and is celebrated alongside Beijing's Lin Qiaozhi as "Wang of the South, Lin of the North." Over more than a century, the hospital has trained generations of renowned specialists.
• A tertiary (Class III, Grade A) specialized OB-GYN hospital integrating clinical care, teaching and research.
• Campuses: Huangpu Campus (419 Fangxie Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai) and Yangpu Campus (128 Shenyang Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai, opened in 2009).
• Scale: the two campuses cover 65 mu (~10.7 acres) with more than 84,600 m² of floor space and 820 authorized beds; the hospital handles about 1.7 million outpatient visits and about 74,000 inpatients per year.
• Faculty: 91 full professors / chief physicians and 148 associate chief physicians, including 39 doctoral supervisors and 61 master's supervisors.
• Public hospital phone: 021-33189900

Academic Credentials

• Obstetrics & Gynecology is a Key Discipline of the Ministry of Education and of Shanghai
• Both Gynecology and Obstetrics are National Key Clinical Specialties
• Integrative Chinese-Western gynecology is listed as a "12th Five-Year" key specialty by the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine
• In 2013 OB-GYN was selected as a Shanghai "top-priority" key clinical discipline; in 2017 the hospital was approved to establish the Shanghai Clinical Medical Center for Female Reproductive Diseases
• Platforms: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Female Reproductive Endocrine-Related Diseases; Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Qualifications: one of the Ministry of Health's first endoscopic training bases, a national four-level gynecologic endoscopy training base, the Ministry of Health's East China gynecologic oncology training center, the Shanghai Gynecologic Clinical Quality Control Center, the Shanghai Female Reproductive Endocrinology Center, the Shanghai Jiai Genetics and Infertility Center, and the Shanghai Fertility Preservation Center

Academic Leadership — Prof. Hua Keqin (华克勤)

• Chief physician, professor and doctoral supervisor; Party Secretary of the hospital and Director of the Shanghai Gynecologic Quality Control Center
• Recognized nationally and internationally in gynecologic minimally invasive surgery, tumor endocrinology, reproductive tract malformations and pelvic floor reconstruction
• In 2013 her team performed the world's first laparoscopic fertility-preserving radical (uterus-preserving) trachelectomy in mid-pregnancy — on a patient at 16.5 weeks of gestation with cervical cancer — changing the previous practice of terminating the pregnancy and performing a radical hysterectomy
• Editor-in-chief of the classic textbook Practical Obstetrics and Gynecology; recipient of honors including National Outstanding Science and Technology Worker, Shanghai Leading Talent, First Prize of the Shanghai Medical Science and Technology Award and Third Prize of the Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award; author of 223 papers, including 112 SCI-indexed papers

The department's faculty bench is deep. Prof. Jiang Hua (蒋华), the hospital's President, is a chief physician and professor in gynecologic oncology; Prof. Xu Congjian (徐丛剑) covers gynecologic oncology, reproductive endocrinology and endometriosis; Prof. Liu Xishi (刘惜时) specializes in surgery for benign and malignant gynecologic tumors, endometriosis and laparoscopy; Prof. Li Dajin (李大金) leads reproductive immunology and integrative Chinese-Western treatment of recurrent miscarriage and infertility; Prof. Sui Long (隋龙) is an expert in cervical disease; Prof. Chen Yisong (陈义松), Deputy Director of General Gynecology and head of the pelvic floor sub-specialty, specializes in ultra-minimally invasive single-port laparoscopy; and Prof. Huang Hefeng (黄荷凤), Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, works in reproductive genetics and preimplantation genetic testing (PGT).

Core Strengths

Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery

• Minimally invasive surgery accounts for roughly 88.2% of gynecologic procedures; about 450 laparoscopic radical hysterectomies for cervical cancer — the most demanding gynecologic minimally invasive procedure — are performed annually
• The hospital is the only institution in Shanghai able to perform the full range of four-level gynecologic endoscopic surgery
• The technical armamentarium spans laparoscopy, 3D laparoscopy, da Vinci robotic surgery and vNOTES (transvaginal natural-orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery)
• High-difficulty four-level procedures are routinely performed, including laparoscopic cervical cancer surgery, organ-preserving minimally invasive pelvic floor reconstruction, minimally invasive surgery for malignant ovarian tumors, and laparoscopic para-aortic and pelvic lymph node dissection

Cervical Cancer & Fertility Preservation

• Between 2017 and 2022 the team performed fertility-sparing surgery for 1,240 cervical cancer patients, with a postoperative pregnancy success rate of 63.9% and a recurrence rate of only 0.08% — far exceeding the ~30% postoperative pregnancy rate reported internationally for comparable surgery
• In 2013 the team performed the world's first laparoscopic uterus-preserving radical trachelectomy in mid-pregnancy
• The hospital leads the establishment of quality control standards for cervical cancer surgery (slated to be written into Shanghai's local health standards) and assisted the National Health Commission's Hospital Management Research Institute in drafting the Single-Disease Quality Monitoring Manual for uterine fibroids and cervical cancer (surgical treatment)

Gynecologic Oncology & Complex Gynecology

• Conditions covered include cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, endometriosis / adenomyosis, female reproductive tract malformations and cesarean scar diverticulum
• Drawing on multidisciplinary collaboration and international partnerships — with the University of Houston, Lund University, the University of Auckland and Singapore's KK Hospital, among others — the department offers comprehensive care for complex and difficult cases

Pelvic Floor & Reproductive Endocrinology

• The pelvic floor sub-specialty treats uterine prolapse, urinary incontinence and reproductive tract malformations, offering organ-preserving minimally invasive pelvic floor reconstruction and "scarless or near-scarless" ultra-minimally invasive single-port laparoscopy
• Reproductive endocrinology covers menstrual disorders, polycystic ovary syndrome and infertility from adolescence through the reproductive years to perimenopause; it is one of China's longest-established centers in this field

Digital Health & Artificial Intelligence

• In collaboration with universities and industry, the department is developing the "Zhen-Yan-Li-Ying" medical analytics cloud platform for the prevention and treatment of gynecologic tumors, spanning cytology, histology, morphology and imaging, to support rapid diagnosis and help address the shortage of specialists in grassroots settings

Research & Honors

• Total awarded research funding exceeded 100 million RMB in 2021; that year the hospital published 252 SCI-indexed papers with a cumulative impact factor of 926.85
• The hospital has undertaken numerous national projects, including the "863 Program," the "973 Program," Ministry of Science and Technology support programs, key projects and major international cooperation projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and National Key R&D Program projects
• Honors include National Civilized Unit (2017), excellence awards in the National Quality Control Circle competition, and the Shanghai May 1st Labor Award; the hospital has repeatedly been named a Shanghai Civilized Unit
• Note: this guide is compiled from the hospital's official website and authoritative public sources; rankings follow the publicly verifiable Fudan Hospital Specialty Reputation Ranking, and no unverified specific positions are cited.

Clinics & Addresses

• Huangpu Campus: 419 Fangxie Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai
• Yangpu Campus: 128 Shenyang Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai
• Public hospital phone: 021-33189900

If this department interests you, you may also want to read about gynecology at Gaoxin Hospital and OB-GYN at Xijing Hospital.