On the afternoon of September 16, the Launching Ceremony of the People’s Daily Health App and the Fourth China’s Top Doctor Awards Ceremony sponsored by the People’s Daily Health App and Health Times of the People’s Daily was held online. Nearly 600 participants from the medical and health community in China, including academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, representatives of presidents of Class-A Grade-3 (top level in China) hospitals, members of academic boards, and leaders of various disciplines, witnessed the announcement of those honorary titles.

At the ceremony, 6 experts from Hunan Province were granted the title of “China’s Top Doctor”, and 4 of them were from the Second Xiangya Hospital: Professor Li Lingjiang from the Department of Neurology, Professor Liu Liming from the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery， and Professor Wang Yaping from the Department of Pain Medicine were awarded the title of “China’s Top Doctor with Outstanding Achievements”, and Professor Liu Deliang from the Department of Gastroenterology was awarded the title of “China’s Top Doctor as a Good Model”.

An annual academic event for doctors, the China’s Top Doctor Awards Ceremony is approved by the People’s Daily, sponsored by the People’s Daily Health App and Health Times of the People’s Daily, and supported by media platforms affiliated to the People’s Daily. With “authority, objectivity, and fairness” as the principles and “commending exemplary doctors, guiding public opinion of respecting doctors, and improving the people’s health” as the theme, this event aims to promote the development of excellent doctors by providing them with beneficial policies, mechanisms, public opinions, academic and social environment, motivate doctors to become top ones and enhance their veneration of the profession, thus supporting the “Healthy China” initiative. In this year’s list, apart from the four titles, namely China’s Top Doctor Worth a Special Tribute, China’s Top Doctor with Outstanding Achievements, China’s Top Doctor as a Good Model, and China’s Top Doctor as a New Force, there was also a special title named “Respect for Medical Workers Fighting the Epidemic”, which was set to salute the representatives of medical workers who went in harm’s way to support Wuhan in the fight against COVID-19.

The doctors on the list were selected by an academic board consisting of 185 members specializing in 98 disciplines from across China. All of these members hold significant positions, such as chairmen, chairmen-elect, and vice chairmen of national associations or societies for clinical disciplines, and Party secretaries and presidents of hospitals that rank among top ten in terms of their specialties. The authority and credibility of the list is thus guaranteed. As to the procedures, the organizing committee sought advice from health authorities, renowned associations and societies manty times, and Academician Wang Longde, Academician Zhao Yupei, Academician Dong Jiahong, and Academician Ge Junbo served as the co-chairmen of the academic board’s presidium to guide and supervise every part of the assessment procedures.

The China’s Top Doctor Awards Ceremony has been held for four consecutive years from 2017 to 2020. Eleven experts from the Second Xiangya Hospital have been granted the title of “China’s Top Doctor”: Professor Zhou Zhiguang in 2017; Professor Lu Qianjin, Professor Liao Eryuan, Professor Yi Zhuwen, and Professor Jian Zaijin in 2018; Professor Zhou Shenghua and Professor Li Huande in 2019; and Professor Li Lingjiang, Professor Liu Liming, Professor Wang Yaping, and Professor Liu Deliang in 2020. The number of doctors with the title at the Second Xiangya Hospital tops those in Hunan Province, demonstrating the outstanding achievements the Second Xiangya Hospital has made in talent team building, discipline development, and the education of medical morals and technologies for doctors, which has been recognized by the mainstream media and its counterparts.

Profiles:

China’s Top Doctor with Outstanding Achievements

Li Lingjiang (born in September 1954) is the chief physician of the Department of Psychiatry at the Second Xiangya Hospital, the chairman of the Chinese Society of Psychiatry, and the chief editor of the Chinese Journal of Psychiatry. He has taken the lead in formulating the standards for clinical practices: Guide to the Prevention and Treatment of Depressive Disorders and Guide to the Prevention and Treatment of PTSD. He enjoys a high reputation in the field of clinical treatment of mental diseases, especially depression and anxiety disorders, and has been awarded the titles of “Xiangya’s Top Doctor”, “Outstanding Psychiatrist in China”, and “Outstanding Individual for Earthquake Relief”. He has published 108 SCI articles, edited 6 monographs, including the textbook Psychiatry for medical students of the 8-year program, and won the Second Prize of the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award and the First Prize of the Scientific and Technological Progress Award of the Ministry of Education.

Liu Liming (born in August 1964) is the director of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery (a national key discipline) at the Second Xiangya Hospital, Tier-1 (the highest level) chief physician, doctoral advisor, and the vice chairman of the Atrial Fibrillation Committee of the Chinese Research Hospital Association. He has carried out nearly ten thousand heart operations and successfully finished the first Cox-Maze IV surgery for a patient with dextrocardia suffering atrial fibrillation in the world. He has also taken the lead in adopting over 10 new surgical methods in the fields of minimally invasive surgery, valve and atrial fibrillation surgery. He has been granted the title “Great Doctor of Cardiovascular Surgery” by the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, and his medical morals and expertise are highly commended by patients. He has hosted 1 national key research and development project, published over 60 articles, and won 1 Second Prize of Hunan Provincial Scientific and Technological Progress Award and 1 First Prize of Hunan Provincial Medical Science Award.

Wang Yaping (born in September 1965) is the director, chief physician and doctoral advisor of the Department of Pain Medicine at the Second Xiangya Hospital and a member of the Pain Medicine Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association. He has been engaged in the diagnosis and treatment of pain for 30 years and actively promoted the treatment of pain with new techniques, such as treating trigeminal neuralgia through balloon compression of trigeminal nerve, treating neuralgia through electrical stimulation on spinal cord, treating cancer pain through morphine pumps in prepontine cistern, and treating pain in neck, shoulders, waist and legs through minimally invasive techniques via endoscopes. He has appeared on several TV programs to spread the knowledge about pain and is praised for regarding patients as his kinfolk. He has hosted and participated in 4 projects supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and published over 20 articles.

China’s Top Doctor as a Good Model

Liu Deliang (born in August 1964) is the director, chief physician and doctoral advisor of the Department of Gastroenterology at the Second Xiangya Hospital and a member and group leader of the Chinese Society of Digestive Endoscopology. He has carried out over 15,000 endoscopic minimally invasive operations, over 4,000 of which are Level-4 operations (the most complicated and difficult operations). He has also performed the first endoscopic myotomy to treat digestive tract stenosis in China, and participated in the formulation of 5 domestic or international guides. He enjoys the reputation as “the best endoscopy doctor in Hunan Province”. He has published 76 SCI articles, 95 articles in Chinese, and won 5 medical technology awards presented by Hunan Province and Central South University as the one who contributes the most.