top student at medical school

Chapter 178 A Child Who Needs Comfort (Please Subscribe)

After sending Fang Ziye some information about the laboratory's structure and theoretical aspects, Luo Tingzhu asked, "Senior brother, the number of beds you're in charge of should have returned to normal by now, right?"

Fang Ziye simply chose to receive and store the document; he did not immediately read it.

"Two beds. There are only eleven patients in the group so far. It's much more relaxed than when I first arrived," Fang Ziye typed back.

"Did your team leader cause you any trouble?" Luo Tingzhu asked again.

Luo Tingzhu knew that when Fang Ziye was on duty, or when Mao Mao, a resident physician in his group, was on duty, or when he was the chief resident, he would manually reduce the fractures of some patients who should have been hospitalized for surgery.

This will definitely lead to a relative decrease in the number of patients in the group.

"Not yet. But it probably won't happen, since manual reduction is also counted towards the team's performance evaluation. It certainly can't fill the gap in surgical costs, but it can at least fill some of it."

"Moreover, Professor Shen Tao is currently performing some of the more complex surgeries in the group, so the current surgical volume is quite considerable," Fang Ziye explained, knowing that Luo Tingzhu was concerned about him.

At Zhongnan Hospital, whether you are a staff member or a student, you don't need to worry about the number of patients or surgeries in the ward. There may be more surgeries than you can do, but there will always be more surgeries available.

However, when it comes to disputes of interest, one must still be cautious.

……

After chatting with Luo Tingzhu and sending her to bed, Fang Ziye stood up and watched Guan Hongming and his fellow student's experimental procedures for a while. So far, they seemed to be performing in a fairly standard manner.

In fact, as long as the framework of the Western blot experiment is well done, the success rate is still quite considerable. There is only a failure rate, but it is much better than the results of a pieced-together experiment.

After finding no further problems, Fang Ziye returned to his seat and began to carefully read the documents.

……

The next day, Fang Ziye still got up at six o'clock sharp and went for a five-kilometer run, finishing around 6:30.

After taking a shower and getting ready to leave home, Fang Ziye was quite satisfied with his time management, ensuring he left before 7:05.

After enjoying a delicious breakfast and sharing the pictures with Luo Tingzhu, who was overseas in the evening, Fang Ziye arrived at the department. Before handing over the shift, he first checked the post-operative examination results of his patients.

Currently, the two patients under Fang Ziye's care are both post-operative patients who only need regular check-ups of inflammatory markers, coagulation factor results, and liver, kidney function, and electrolytes.

The task wasn't too heavy, but after Fang Ziye recorded all the relevant data in his notebook, Shen Tao, without anyone noticing, crouched down next to Fang Ziye and looked down at him, who was still sitting in his chair.

Fang Ziye tilted his head slightly to the right twice before confirming that it was indeed Shen Tao standing there.

"Teacher Shen, would you like a seat?"

Fang Ziye had no idea about the story between his master and Shen Tao.

"No need," Shen Tao said wistfully, his eyes showing some hesitation.

Then she asked in a low voice, "Ziye, you've already chosen your doctoral supervisor, right?"

Shen Tao was genuinely envious, jealous, and resentful. He envied Fang Ziye, but was jealous and resentful of Wei Ge, that guy with the dagger.

If Fang Ziye hesitated even slightly, Shen Tao would have to resort to his ultimate move and summon his trusted advisor!
"Yes, Professor Shen, I will be pursuing my doctorate under Professor Deng Yong." Fang Ziye's voice was low, probably only loud enough for Shen Tao to hear clearly.

Shen Tao sniffed and then touched his nose with his right hand: "Alright, Professor Deng has a great reputation, so it can be said that a great teacher produces a great student."

"Let's go down into the operating room together later, so I can see how much you've improved in clinical practice."

“If you’ve come to Enshi Central Hospital and you’re always focusing on writing articles and doing research, then there’s no point in coming down early. You can write articles and do research anywhere,” Shen Tao advised.

If Fang Ziye only writes articles, there's no need for him to come to Enshi Central Hospital.

“Okay, Teacher Shen.” Fang Ziye rubbed his hands together excitedly.

After Shen Tao said that, I estimate that I'll gain at least fifteen knowledge points in the operating room today. That's a considerable sum.

……

The subsequent shift handover and ward rounds proceeded smoothly without any incident.

Zhang Mingcan didn't mention anything related to Dr. Fang again, and although Director Hongdu occasionally glanced at Fang Ziye with complicated expressions, he ultimately said nothing.

He knew that his arrangements and plans were not supported by many young people in the department. However, since he was not in a position to interfere in other people's affairs, and since a delicate balance had been formed in the department, such as the fact that associate professors like Xue Tao and Huang Kai were too embarrassed to ask Fang Ziye to help with consultations, he didn't say much.

I just feel that for the trauma medical center of Enshi Central Hospital to develop, it must be standardized, but in addition to standardization, everyone's concerted efforts are also needed.

Now that the large number of patients coming in at the beginning of the month has disappeared, the types of diseases in the department have become quite complicated again.

Without patients, the so-called development of specialized departments is nothing but wishful thinking.

Hongdu also knows that Enzhou is just an autonomous prefecture, and the size of its trauma surgery department is limited. It may not be able to accommodate three equally parallel specialties. Therefore, it will be extremely difficult for Enzhou Central Hospital to catch up, because the current demand for trauma surgery services is already close to saturation.

Unless the trauma surgery department can routinely handle high-end cases that the other two hospitals cannot resolve.

……

After Fang Ziye finished his rounds with Wu Guonan and Shen Tao, he was taken directly into the operating room. Only resident physician Mao Mao remained in the team to complete basic procedures such as revising medical orders, removing sutures, processing discharge orders, and changing dressings.

Upon arriving at the changing room, Wu Guonan asked with great interest, "Dr. Fang, I heard you're about to publish a major article. That's incredible! We might have to start calling you Professor Fang a few years earlier."

Although professorship is a teaching title, research ability is equally important in the selection of professors and associate professors.

Once officially hired, each doctor's time spent on research will decrease, and they will rely on the students' output, which is also a form of teaching ability.

Hearing this, Shen Tao sighed and said with a slightly sour tone, "An article with an index of around 15 points is enough to allow him to rise smoothly and without any waves to associate professor and then associate professor. An article with an index of over 20 points, plus being sent to the grassroots level ahead of time, is even more impressive."

"It's possible that he could be promoted to associate professor around the age of thirty-three."

He is thirty-five years old this year. He used to be called a genius by the people in the group. Now at thirty-five, he is preparing for the position of associate professor, which is also one of the top levels in the hospital.

However, when it comes to promotion, the standard requirements are quite stringent, and it's not easy to get it done even a year in advance.

Wu Guonan knew he might have provoked Shen Tao: "Professor Shen, are you a little jealous?"

"No, not at all!" Shen Tao shook his head. After putting on his scrubs, he wiped the tip of his hair, put on his hat, and said, "It just feels like I've been slapped to death on the beach."

"Although Xiao Fang isn't going to publish in one of the top four journals, you have to understand that those are the exclusive domain of the big shots and bigwigs. How could an ordinary person possibly squeeze in?"

"This is already the ceiling that many teams can break into, and Ziye is at this age now."

"Sigh, I feel a little guilty that I was once praised for having some talent." Shen Tao said, slightly embarrassed.

"Hey, Professor Shen, don't you have students too?" Xue Tao suddenly asked.

Shen Tao turned his head dramatically, his eyes glaring menacingly.

Xue Tao immediately realized she had misspoke and quickly pursed her lips, making a silly expression. But this pursed lips made her nostrils appear even larger, as if half of her face was made up of nose.

It's comparable to a cow's nose.

"Don't even mention it. It's not that I'm bad, but I'd say it's just average." Shen Tao's tone was bleak.

Young master's supervisors, how easy is it to get by? What kind of students can they be assigned?
Yuan Weihong has more luck and courage than I do.

Wu Guonan then quickly changed the subject, and the group walked into the operating room chatting and laughing.

Just before he was about to enter the operating room, Wu Guonan asked him, "Wang Zhongxing, how are your preparations for this youth skills competition going? Can you achieve the same results as Huang Kai before?"

"Director Zhang has asked me about it privately several times."

Xue Tao and Huang Kai were both over thirty-five years old, so the responsibility of participating fell on Wang Zhongxing and his group, including the bearded man. Upon hearing this, Wang Zhongxing trembled slightly: "Um, Director Wu, isn't participation always the most important thing in competitions like this?"

"The level that Master Kai has reached is beyond our reach."

Then he looked at Shen Tao.

Wang Zhongxing's inner scream went wild—

Director Wu, do you know what you're saying? This is a skills competition, not a beard contest.

Many of the participants this time are at the same level as Shen Tao a year or two ago.

Shen Tao can come and provide counterpart assistance now. Even if he were two years ago, he could still beat me, okay?

Wang Zhongxing had not yet received further training, so he was unaware of the gap between himself and young doctors at top-tier hospitals in the province, such as the Provincial People's Hospital. He simply assumed that since everyone was working in clinical practice, their skill levels should be roughly the same.
However, it was only after Shen Tao came down this time that Wang Zhongxing realized the real gap between the two at the same age level.

"Huang Kai is still very outstanding, but Zhongxing, don't be discouraged. If you work hard, you also have a chance to reach his level," Shen Tao encouraged him.

Wang Zhongxing sighed, looking somewhat desperate, and said, "Teacher Shen, please don't try to comfort me. Compared to Ziye, I might be qualitatively inferior in some aspects of the operation, let alone others."

"I'm just thinking that it would be good enough to participate and broaden my horizons."

Hubei Province has 15 prefecture-level cities under its jurisdiction. Each prefecture-level city has at least one central hospital and one people's hospital, and perhaps also a traditional Chinese medicine hospital with a particularly outstanding orthopedic department!

With two participants from each hospital, even excluding those from Han City, there are over a hundred attending physicians like Wang Zhongxing. If we include all the top-tier hospitals in Han City, there are at least four or five hundred. This doesn't even include the attending physicians from some county hospitals who also participate.

If you want to win an award, it's all about who's taller; you might just be short.

Shen Tao turned to look at Fang Ziye: "Ziye's clinical skills are quite good, although they are not as outstanding as his research skills."

"But it's still not bad. If we give him a few more years, around the age of thirty, I estimate that in Hubei Province, it will be Ziye's generation who will be leading the way."

Shen Tao sighed.

Talented people come out from generation to generation.

He is already old compared to the younger generation.

But he had no regrets. He had won first prize and the prize money in the provincial youth skills competition. Although he hadn't won the prize money for the grand prize, the grand prize was usually reserved for a very small number of people.

For example, this grand prize was probably specially set up for Wu Xuanqi. Who else would dare to covet it?

That's not right either. The junior at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, who is a year older than Wu Xuanqi, is also incredibly formidable. If Wu Xuanqi were the same age as him, he might have a clear advantage, but there's a year difference, and Wu Xuanqi has also missed a few years of training.

……

After the surgery officially began, Wu Guonan and Shen Tao stood in the chief surgeon's position and the assistant surgeon's position, respectively. This surgery was for a pelvic fracture.

Surgical procedures for pelvic fractures are generally quite complex.

Although Shen Tao is young, he has actually seen several times more pelvic fractures than Wu Guonan, since pelvic fractures in prefecture-level city hospitals are usually referred to the provincial people's hospital.

The more complex the disease, the more routine it becomes for Shen Tao.

Fang Ziye was in the second assistant position, while Xue Tao and Wang Zhongxing were in the third and fourth assistant positions, just playing minor roles.

Pelvic fracture surgery is quite complex, so Shen Tao and Wu Guonan did not have Fang Ziye make any incisions. They only had him use retractors to assist in blood suction and keep the surgical field clean.

After the fracture ends were exposed, Wu Guonan frowned slightly: "Professor Shen, this patient's fracture is a little more complicated than what we saw on the X-ray."

"Given the amount of bone fragments missing, wouldn't a compression bone graft be necessary?"

Shen Tao nodded as well.

This pelvic fracture is not just a simple fracture, but also a bone defect, and it is a traumatic bone defect. Therefore, bone grafting must be performed as soon as possible. Otherwise, if there is a gap, it will be difficult to heal even if it is fixed.

Because bone cells cannot form a bone scaffold to climb on, they will instead undergo bone resorption.

"The surgical field is right in the pelvis. Let's do an autologous bone harvest later."

“Director Wu, Xiao Fang has been practicing this procedure recently. Should we have him remove it again later? After all, Dr. Wang has done it quite a few times.” Shen Tao and Yuan Weihong had a good relationship, so he was trying to give Fang Ziye a chance.

Yuan Weihong's detestability lies in his ostentatiousness and boastfulness, not in Fang Ziye's exceptional talent, which makes Shen Tao feel that Fang Ziye is also detestable.

“Yes, it’s been a few days since I’ve seen Ziye operate. I remember last time, Ziye’s bone-harvesting design was quite good, and he had some ideas.” Wu Guonan nodded in agreement.

Wang Zhongxing and Xue Tao had no objections. Xue Tao narrowed his thick eyebrows and big eyes and said, "Yes, Director Wu, I also think that Ziye should be allowed to break through a few more times."

Iliac bone harvesting involves breaking open a complete bone and then removing it in a three-dimensional shape.

Xue Tao simply drove a beat-up tricycle with an air of nonchalance.

But no one responded to him.

Fang Ziye on the other side continued to play cooperatively with his head down. After a slight sigh in his heart, he chose to add points to his Bone Extraction and Bone Implantation Technique (Suppression Bone Implantation Technique) to level 2 (3/50) until he reached level 3 (200/500) proficiency before stopping.

Fang Ziye originally planned to first develop a certain level of proficiency in his skills, and then have Shen Tao or Wu Guonan observe his basic skills and provide guidance in new directions. He hoped that this would allow him to develop some entirely new theories and gain exceptional knowledge points.

But half a month has passed and neither of them has made a move, so Fang Ziye has given up waiting.

Highly skilled operations will generally contribute slightly more to the surgery, and as long as you don't add points to break through to level 4, there will be no knowledge point reduction.

Let's focus on gaining knowledge first. As for new directions or theories regarding bone grafting techniques, we can only wait for a qualified teacher to provide guidance.

The surgery continued smoothly, and Fang Ziye watched as the pelvic fracture, under the care of Shen Tao and Wu Guonan, was gradually flattened back to its original shape, except that a piece was still missing.

Fang Ziye is now gradually able to understand such operations.

No matter how complex the procedure for pelvic fractures may be, it still cannot escape the basic principles of fracture treatment.

Reset and fix.

Recovery is something that happens after surgery.

Therefore, all procedures serve the treatment principles. This includes surgical approaches, surgical techniques, and even bone harvesting and grafting—all are geared towards these two objectives.

However, the pelvic bone is very special, and the types of fractures are particularly complex. Therefore, even the deputy director or chief physician in a well-established prefecture-level city hospital cannot say that they can have absolute control over it. Fang Ziye naturally does not have the qualifications to look down on this operation, but when he looks up, he can slowly understand some things.

After simple fixation, the next step is bone grafting.

Before bone grafting, bone must be harvested first; otherwise, allogeneic bone can only be used.

Allogeneic bone is too expensive and not as good as autologous bone. Generally, autologous bone is used whenever conditions permit.

"Ziye, don't be nervous. Just follow your understanding and operate precisely."

"Bone grafting, especially suppressive bone grafting, is basically just stuffing it in; there's no need to pursue perfect harmony." Shen Tao was easing the pressure on Fang Ziye, hoping that Fang Ziye wouldn't be labeled a genius and then unable to shake off his old-fashioned ways.

However, Fang Ziye did not reply. Instead, he picked up a bone knife and a hammer and nailed them into the patient's iliac crest.

Like a stonemason carving, he used a hammer and bone scalpel to extract autologous bone from the iliac crest.

The use of bone scalpels is a basic operation of orthopedic instruments, and there's not much to say about it.

However, after Fang Ziye struck the iliac bone a few times and the shape of the autologous bone graft that emerged was revealed, Shen Tao, who had just been comforting Fang Ziye, immediately looked displeased.

Suddenly, his back hunched, his eyes filled with astonishment and shock, as if he had transformed into a child who needed comforting.

(End of this chapter)