Great Doctor Ling Ran

Morning.

Ling Ran came to the hospital after he was well-rested. He ate his breakfast together with the kimchi, moo shu pork[1], radish, milk, yogurt, soybean milk, pistachios, cashews, oranges, apples, and bananas given by two female nurses, a female doctor, an intern, and a patient’s family member. He continued to pat his stomach all the way to the office, where he finished preparing the medical records, then followed Huo Congjun to begin the large ward round in the Emergency Department.

Huo Congjun walked proudly like a lion who took more than it was entitled to. He scanned through the ten or so observation rooms carefully. Previously, the Emergency Department did not have this many patients for him to inspect. Huo Congjun was so happy that he felt like he just had a free breakfast.

After checking three observation rooms, the remaining rooms were all filled with Ling Ran’s patients, and Ling Ran and Lu Wenbin were left with introducing the patients to Huo Congjun.

Usually, if a patient with a normal disease or injury had to stay in the observation room for a day or two, his or her symptoms would already be considered bad. If the patient had to stay for more than three days, then that patient would most likely be transferred to a specialist’s department. Take, for example, the most basic abdominal pain. If it was not treated in one day, then the patient would be sent to the Emergency Department. If it was not treated in two days, then the patient would be sent to the General Surgery Department or the Gynecology Department. If those two could not treat the patient, the Department of Urology was also available to treat the patient. They would never be like the patients treated with the M-Tang technique, who would stay in the observation room for ten days, up to half a month.

The more Lu Wenbin gave brief summaries of the patients’ symptoms, the more guilty he felt. They showed off a bit too much. Lu Wenbin could even imagine how the other resident doctors, attending physicians, associate chief physicians, and chief physicians felt.

The only comfort he could gain was that the M-Tang technique project did indeed bring great profit to the Emergency Department. Just this month alone, they had treated around two hundred patients, and each doctor could gain around one to two hundred RMB on average. The associate chief physicians and chief physicians even gained a little more.

Lu Wenbin believed that he should not be ostracized too much if he stood in the limelight a little because of this.

“The prognosis for the M-Tang technique is very good.” Department Associate Director Du suddenly spoke up and asked Lu Wenbin, “Young Lu, what is the principle of tendon sutures?”

“Oh…” Lu Wenbin’s thoughts had been thrown into chaos. He was shocked by the question, when he heard it, he hesitated for two seconds before he said, “The first is to make sure that the tendon is not torn when it is recovering. The second is to make sure that strangulation of tendons does not occur. The third is to make sure that there are no knots on the surface of the tendon. The fourth is to try as much as possible to minimize damage of the tendon.”

“Yes, not bad.” Department Associate Director Du turned his head around and asked a thin and tiny resident doctor behind him. “Tell me how the flexor tendons located in Zone II are classified.”

“The hand?” asked the thin and tiny resident doctor.

“Nonsense, I already told you to tell me about flexor tendons,” Department Associate Director Du said rudely.

“Oh… It is… it’s from… the midpoint of the middle phalanx to the palmar crea-the distal palmar crease.”

“Yes. Go back and read more. It’s just an easy question, but you took almost half a day to think.” Department Associate Director Du looked scary when he was mad.

In hospitals, junior doctors were still in the learning stage, and they could get scolded anytime. Senior doctors did not hold back on the scolding. Some junior doctors who failed to tolerate the scolding would get angry and quit their jobs, but no one cared about them. The tertiary grade A hospitals can just recruit anyone they like.

The question-and-answer sessions during the large ward rounds were the tradition of big hospitals. Senior doctors used this opportunity to confirm the learning progress and standard of the junior doctors, and the junior doctors could then build their own value. This was just like the training given to professional football players. Getting an agreement did not guarantee being selected for the game. The performance on the training field would be the key factor that allows the new player to play the game.

Junior doctors who failed once or multiple times during the question-and-answer sessions were like players who kept making mistakes. They would probably feel embarrassed to stay, so there was no reason for them to argue with the senior doctors. The junior doctor who were capable would get this right.

The hospital was very simple in this matter.

Department Associate Director Du turned his head around slightly and swept his gaze past the doctors. The junior doctors lowered their heads. The tall Lu Wenbin even felt like bending his back.

He subconsciously snuck a glance at Ling Ran, who was even taller than he was, wanting to find a little bit of comfort from the intern, but what he saw was Ling Ran acting completely calm and composed.

Lu Wenbin immediately felt his heart grow cold. ‘Did you forget to eat your medicine?!’

As a junior doctor who went through his one-year internship and three-year housemanship in the hospital, and had been a resident doctor for nearly three years, this was the conclusion Lu Wenbin had obtained: junior doctors must be humble, keep a low profile, and be obedient!

How should a person remain humble, keep a low profile, and be obedient? At the very least, they should not act like Ling Ran; Ling Ran was the textbook example of what NOT to do in these kinds of situations!

Lu Wenbin recalled the countless instances when he saw his composed, genius cohorts questioning their own lives after being stumped multiple times by the questions thrown at them by their senior doctors…

Medical students who studied for five to seven years and worked for another six to seven had only learned for fourteen to fifteen years. There was no way they could learn so many things in such a short period of time.

There were thousands of reasons behind why a person would get sick, millions of factors that contributed towards making a diagnosis, and each prognosis was different. If a senior doctor was determined to make things difficult, then there were few junior doctors who can survive through it.

True embarrassment was in being reduced from a calm and composed person, to being utterly confused.

Lu Wenbin did not dare give a verbal reminder to Ling Ran either, he could only stare at him while his heart was in his throat.

One second, three seconds, five seconds, thirty seconds.

Department Associate Director Du looked as if he did not see Ling Ran. His gaze moved past him.

Immediately afterwards, Chief Physician Tao, who was almost at the age of retirement, grinned and picked a resident doctor. He asked, “Tell me the materials for suturing threads and how we should choose them.”

The resident doctor who got picked was stumped by the question, he gave a faltering answer.

The chief physicians and department associate director’s questions were not very difficult, but they required in-depth knowledge of many subjects. Reading books alone was not enough, the junior doctors had to memorize them, and medical books were very expensive. It was inevitable that they would miss memorizing certain information.

Take, for example, if the Emergency Department suddenly started asking questions about orthopedics, then the resident doctors would be trolled so hard that they could not even fight back.

However, if their superiors could ask a question where the answer truly existed somewhere in the world, then the resident doctors could only think of ways to answer the question.

In truth, when the junior doctors spent their three years as housemen, they had heard even more ridiculous questions, and if they could not answer the questions during that time, there was a possibility that they would not be able to get their certificates. Unless they gave up on becoming doctors, they could only be trolled.

Chief Physician Tao used a similarly threatening glare to scan through the crowd. Lu Wenbin lowered his head and looked at Ling Ran again. Ling Ran remained calm and composed. He stood with his chest puffed out and his head raised, looking stupidly handsome among the doctors.

“Tell me about the Pulvertaft suture…” Chief Physician Tao picked another resident doctor. He, too, did not seem to have noticed Ling Ran.

Lu Wenbin was nervous and agitated. He felt as if there was an itch he could not scratch in his body.

The ward-round group talked as they walked, and very soon, they arrived in front of the patient who had his finger replanted yesterday.

Before Ling Ran—who was the first assistant—came forward to introduce the patient, the chief physicians and the department associate director’s gazes landed on the patient’s finger.

What was the most important thing in a finger replantation surgery? Blood circulation.

The finger’s color would show how the finger’s blood circulation was. As long as it was not stark pale, then it meant that there was a chance the finger could survive.

“There’s nothing wrong with Chief Physician Wang’s sutures.”

“Ling Ran is the first assistant, right? Did the operation yesterday go well?”

“Ling Ran is getting ready to perform finger replantation surgery.”

A few chief physicians and associate chief physicians talked casually, just like a normal chat. The patient’s family were nervous when they saw the large group of doctors, but they became relieved when they heard the chatting among the doctors.

When Lu Wenbin saw this scenario, he suddenly realized that his experience could only be applied to junior doctors. However, for Ling Ran who can use the M-Tang technique and even perform finger replantation surgeries, he was no longer a junior doctor.