As one of the key clinical divisions in the hospital, the Department of Gastroenterology has long adhered to the principles of "prioritizing medical ethics, refining clinical skills, maintaining rigorous academic standards, and upholding the truth." Currently, it is the construction unit of "National Key Clinical Specialty Project", the Key Clinical Specialty of Guangdong Province, and an important member of the Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Liver Diseases. It also serves as the leading unit of the Gastroesophageal Varices Group and Alcoholic Liver Disease Group in Guangdong Medical Association. The department-affiliated Endoscopy Center is the Guangdong Province Engineering Technology Research Center for Digestive Endoscopy. Additionally, the department also serves as the training center for candidates of master degree and doctorate of Gastroenterology from Sun Yat-sen University, and is postdoctoral research center in Gastroenterology, as well as a doctoral training center and postdoctoral workstation in Molecular Biology. It is also the leading institution for the National 973 Program and the main unit of the Sino-U.S. Joint Liver Cancer Research Center, a key laboratory under the Guangdong Provincial Department of Education.

Currently, there are dozens of pre-masteral and pre-doctoral students in training, and several postdoctoral fellows enrolled. The department consists of gastroenterology ward (including Tianhe Campus, Lingnan Campus, Yuedong Campus, and Zhaoqing Campus), gastroenterology outpatient clinic (including specialist clinics, general clinics, disease-specific clinics, and premium expert clinics), digestive endoscopy center, the gastrointestinal function unit, the gastrointestinal motility examination room, clinical research room, and basic research laboratory. It is a vibrant, continuously developing, and internationally aligned modern department integrating medical care, scientific research and education.

The department comprises five subspecialties including gastrointestinal diseases, biliary and pancreatic diseases, liver cirrhosis, alcoholic liver disease, and digestive endoscopy center. There are 26 physicians, 4 postdoctoral fellows, 1 clinical researcher, 1 full-time laboratory researcher, 1 translational medicine researcher, 2 endoscopic technicians, 1 clinical research assistant, and 1 administrative assistant. There are 15 senior physicians, 7 attending physicians, and 4 resident physicians. A total of 24 staff members hold doctoral degrees and 9 hold master's degrees. The scope of work primarily covers diseases of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and peritoneum, such as gastrointestinal bleeding, peptic ulcers, inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis, liver cirrhosis, gallstones (jaundice), and tumors of digestive system (including esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, biliary tumors, etc.), encompassing all digestive diseases.

The department-affiliated Endoscopy Center, also known as Guangdong Province Engineering Technology Research Center for Digestive Endoscopy is equipped with the most advanced endoscopic facilities and technologies. It is one of the most comprehensive hospitals in Guangdong province providing diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic services, and more than 50,000 endoscopic procedures were performed annually. The department's specialties include the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal bleeding, liver cirrhosis, liver cancer, fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease, liver dysfunction, peptic ulcer, gastrointestinal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Endoscopic minimally invasive treatment of gastroesophageal varices and bleeding and endoscopic diagnosis and minimally invasive resection of early gastrointestinal cancers are strengths of our department.

Our department maintains robust collaborations with internationally renowned institutions such as Saga University School of Medicine in Japan, Harvard University, Stanford University, Yale University, Louisiana State University, the University of Pittsburgh, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. These partnerships are instrumental in advancing the department toward international first-class standards in gastroenterology.