Renew faces with healing hands, passing on excellence: in memory of Professor Wang Damei
10.3760/cma.j.cn114453-20251107-00287
- VernacularTitle:妙手换新颜 传承至美
- Author:
Chen ZHANG
1
;
Man LI
;
Hongsen BI
Author Information
1. 北京大学第三医院成形外科，北京 100191
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Surgery, plastic;
Wang Damei;
Craniofacial surgery;
Sex reassignment surgery;
Parasitic conjoined twin
- From:
Chinese Journal of Plastic Surgery
2025;41(11):1226-1230
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Marking the 110th anniversary of the Chinese Medical Association, this article commemorates the foundational contributions of Professor Wang Damei (1920-2003) for her life-long dedication to the development of plastic surgery. In 1949, she helped establish New China’s first department of plastic surgery at Peking University Hospital (now Peking University First Hospital). From 1952 to 1953, she organised and taught the inaugural national advanced courses in plastic surgery. In November 1965, when the department was incorporated into Peking University Third Hospital, she transferred with it and continued her clinical work there until retirement. Clinically, she completed several landmark procedures, including China’s first craniofacial surgery (1973), the resection of a parasitic cranial twin in Yunnan (1979), and the country’s first male-to-female surgery (1983). She also promoted copper-needle indwelling therapy for cavernous haemangioma in 1991, and supervised a modified implantation of an artificial urinary sphincter in 1999. Academically, she translated and edited key textbooks, standardised clinical pathways, and helped shaping a practice that was "teachable, learnable, and reproducible". Through initiatives such as seven missions to Yunnan, she integrated standardization with humanistic care, exemplifying the professional ideal encapsulated in "Renew Faces with Healing Hands, Passing on Excellence" .
