Chuang Gung Medical Foundation, Division of Pediatric Allergy, Asthma and Rheumatology - UNREGISTERED VERSION

Pediatric Rheumatology Center at Chang Gung Children's Hospital

Min-Jay Yang/Tsung-Chieh Yao, M.D., Ph.D.

Historical Perspective
      
      Rheumatic diseases affect people of all ages. However, rheumatic diseases are often mistakenly associated with old age, probably because osteoarthritis  (the most common form of arthritis) occurs more often among elderly persons. Such may delay correct and proper treatment of rheumatic diseases in children. Actually, rheumatic diseases in children are different from  that occur in adults and elderly persons. For example, although clinical manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in similar to those in symptoms tend to be more severe in children than in adults. In addition, juvenile  idiopathic arthritis also known as juvenile arthritis is completely different from rheumatoid arthritis in adults, necessitating different management.

       Furthermore, rheumatic diseases in children pose special challenges to the treating physician: addition to control of symptoms, prevention of irreversible damage, and surveillance and early detection of disease flares, good require that  normal growth and development of children and adolescents be taken into account in the face of these serious and chronic illness.

         In the past, Taiwan has a shortage of pediatric rheumatologists until two decades ago when Professor Jung-Long Huang completed his training program in pediatric rheumatology  at the University of British Columbia, Canada. Professor Huang has devoted his efforts to build and lead a team of pediatric rheumatologists which is committed to improving in the quality of care for rheumatic diseases in children, conducting clinical  and translational research, and developing fellowship training program in pediatric rheumatology.

Now and the Future

      The number of patients with pediatric rheumatic diseases treated at Chang Gung Children's Hospital is now outnumbering that of all other hospitals in Taiwan. Pediatric Rheumatology Center at Chang Gung Children's Hospital provides high-quality health care services to children and adolescents with a wide range of rheumatic diseases. Pediatric rheumatic diseases can involve multiple organ systems. Thus providing high-quality care to patients with pediatric rheumatic diseases requires cooperation of health professionals from many disciplines. Health professionals from various subspecialties at Chang Gung Children's Hospital all work together like a big family, aiming to provide the best possible team-based care to our patients.

        Today's research leads to tomorrow's medicine. Many research results from our pediatric rheumatology team have been recognized worldwide and published in well-known international journals in the field of rheumatology, including Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, Arthritis and Rheumatism, Rheumatology, Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism and etc. We are intensifying our efforts to conduct leading-edge research projects, aiming to provide new insights into disease mechanisms and better treatment strategies.

         Pediatric Rheumatology Center at Chang Gung Children's Hospital offers a comprehensive fellowship training program as part of its commitment to educating the next generation of pediatric rheumatologists. This two-year fellowship program offers fellows comprehensive training in both the clinical and research aspects of pediatric rheumatology and affords them the opportunity to work alongside the faculty and staff of one of the largest and most active pediatric rheumatology programs in Taiwan.