top student at medical school

Chapter 204 Setting a Precedent (Please Subscribe)
Why are you being so stingy?

"He's just a doctoral student, right?" Duan Hong smiled broadly, his chubby neck bulging. When he turned back to the operating table, his tone was kind and friendly.

Although she was blaming Deng Yong, her gaze remained fixed on Fang Ziye.

Upon hearing Professor Duan Hong's words, many people turned their heads to look at what Fang Ziye had done, and each of them trembled slightly, exclaiming "Holy crap!"

It wasn't that they lacked mental fortitude, but rather that Fang Ziye's selection and completeness in piecing together the fracture fragments were somewhat beyond their comprehension.

If Fang Ziye hadn't pieced the bones back together later, they might have even suspected that Fang Ziye had broken them up again on the operating table.

Simply unbelievable.

Most people wouldn't even dare to think about it.

Professor Deng Yong led Fang Ziye to continue working, focusing on the blood vessels and nerves, while the cleaning and shaping of the muscles were left for later.

He said, "That's not magnanimity, that's... I treat you like a brother, but you treat me like an idiot."

"The most difficult part of limb reconstruction surgery is bone reshaping."

"Duan Hong, are you insulting my character, my intelligence, or do you think I'm just a country bumpkin?" Deng Yong asked jokingly at the end.

Currently, the three most challenging areas in trauma surgery are osteotomy and reshaping, treatment of traumatic injuries, and limb reconstruction.

Any one of them, if they manage to figure it out, could probably occupy half of the current academic and clinical circles in China, giving them the confidence to compete with the best from all walks of life.

Although Fang Ziye's current bone-jointing skills are far from reaching that level, with this basic skill, if he continues to develop in this direction, his internal strength will be at least twice as good as others.

At least for now, in Deng Yong's knowledge, no professor in China has been able to distinguish and piece together bones of this height from a pile of fragments like Fang Ziye.

This reflects a relative lack of understanding in the realm of basic theory, which requires further exploration and breakthroughs.

In fact, theories are often intertwined.

When performing manual reduction, these theories, in analyzing the characteristics of the bone itself, can certainly serve as one of the foundational theoretical bases for other techniques.

How shameless must Duan Hong be to say something like, "He's just a PhD."

How ignorant and short-sighted must Deng Yong be to give away such a fine piece of jade? Who wouldn't want to reach the top?
Duan Hong's eyelids twitched for a moment, but he showed no sign of embarrassment.

"Just kidding, don't take it seriously. 'Student' and 'junior' are the same thing, aren't they?" Duan Hong started playing the emotional card, his tone a bit cheeky, as if trying to build rapport with Fang Ziye.

Wu Xuanqi immediately grasped the key point and seized the opportunity to say, "Ziye, once your group's research on fracture classification comes out, be sure to let me have a look beforehand."

"Dr. Chen and I are quite interested in manual reduction techniques, and we also want to improve our skills."

"Teacher Deng Yong, is this alright?" Wu Xuanqi asked Fang Ziye first, then shifted the focus to Deng Yong.

Deng Yong nodded: "Let's have a public discussion first, then proceed with the surgery."

"Bone splicing is just a small step in this surgery. If the blood vessels and nerves are not properly treated, and the muscle bed is not properly managed, even if you manage to splice the fracture back together, it will be of no use."

"He can't move after the surgery, so he's just a pretty face." Deng Yong didn't want to give Fang Ziye too much of a halo, so he deliberately exposed one of Fang Ziye's strengths.

But Wu Xuanqi said, "Professor Deng, as long as we can get a prototype of the limb reconstruction surgery first, I'll see if I can work with Dr. Chen to do my best to help him with his functional rehabilitation."

"Traditional Chinese medicine still has a deep research foundation in functional reconstruction and rehabilitation."

"Currently, a crucial aspect of the sanatorium project that Dr. Chen plans to build is functional rehabilitation and reconstruction, but the prerequisite for functional rehabilitation and reconstruction is anatomical reconstruction."

Anatomy determines function.

How can hand function be restored if hands are missing?
Duan Hong also joined the team performing vascular exploration. His cooperation with Wu Xuanqi was slightly better than that of Fang Ziye and Deng Yong.

Deng Yong was also guiding Fang Ziye through surgery. Although he wasn't teaching, the details he demonstrated were very helpful to Fang Ziye.

This is Professor Deng Yong's own understanding of teaching: teaching through methods, being diligent and persistent, rather than simply feeding students knowledge.

Then he asked, "Oh! Is that so?"

"I was just saying that recently, the group was searching for experts in traditional Chinese medicine and hand surgery. It must have been something big. It turns out it was for a research project on functional rehabilitation."

"If you can make it, that would be excellent."

"What group?" Deng Yong's question left Wu Xuanqi completely speechless.

Upon hearing this, Duan Hong turned his head and quickly explained, "You don't know about the expert group in Hubei Province, nor do you have access to the medical and health care group in Hubei Province."

Although Wu Xuanqi could not have access to it, it was impossible for him to be completely unaware of it.

The expert group is the easiest to understand, but the healthcare group is not a general healthcare task, but a special healthcare task.

Generally speaking, such groups are only for national-level leaders and medical support teams that provide on-call services after they arrive in Hubei Province.

Wu Xuanqi was, of course, out of reach.

Wu Xuanqi naturally stopped asking about things he couldn't access.

Professor Deng Yong quickly led the discussion to skip this topic as well!
However, Professors Deng Yong and Duan Hong were very helpful and showed great care for their students. While they were cleaning the wound, they asked the vascular surgeons, "Director Peng, can we send someone to handle the blood vessels in our orthopedics department ourselves?"

Peng Yuanming is the director of the Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery Department, which also includes the Vascular Surgery Department.

Upon hearing Professor Deng Yong's question, he, who was in the middle of surgery with Nie Mingxian, immediately trembled and forced a smile: "Professor Deng, Professor Duan, if you could perform a demonstration surgery, that would be wonderful?"

"You two are both renowned experts, so please stop making fun of us students."

His position in vascular surgery was merely nominal; even Wu Xuanqi, who came before him, had to admit his own inadequacy. Duan Hong and Deng Yong were both top-tier trauma surgery professors, and their expertise in handling blood vessels was undoubtedly far superior to his own.

If such a complex procedure as pelvic reconstruction can be solved, there must be many vascular problems that need to be addressed during the process. How could Peng Yuanming dare to disagree?

"Then let's do it ourselves?"

"Dr. Nie. Professor Mao?" Duan Hong asked Nie Mingxian and the person next to him in a very polite tone.

Upon hearing the name Professor Mao, Fang Ziye felt a flicker of doubt. How come there was another professor who commanded such respect from Professor Duan Hong?

"Professor Duan, you're too kind. There's no need to ask such a question," the middle-aged man beside Nie Mingxian replied in a gentle and refined tone, without even looking up.

Fang Ziye looked at the other party and found that Dr. Wu Xuanqi next to Professor Duan Hong was extremely puzzled, obviously unaware of the existence of this Professor Mao.

After receiving Professor Mao's reply, Deng Yong nudged Fang Ziye's hand, indicating that Fang Ziye could proceed.

Although vascular suturing is not as absolutely important in trauma surgery as it is in hand surgery, it is still occasionally used in clinical practice.

If Fang Ziye wants to develop in the direction of limb reconstruction or the treatment of traumatic injuries in the future, he will definitely need to master the skill of vascular suturing!

Fang Ziye, of course, didn't stand on ceremony.

With the teacher right beside him, reciting his lessons, why would he be timid?

I picked up the needle holder, grabbed the vascular suture, and got to work...

Time passes slowly.

While Fang Ziye and Wu Xuanqi were suturing the blood vessels, Professor Deng Yong was in charge of cleaning the muscle bed, while Professor Duan Hong, Wu Xuanqi's teacher, went to the lower limbs to help, also performing blood vessel exploration and cleaning.

Fang Ziye sutured six blood vessels in a row, but that was still fewer than Wu Xuanqi's. Wu Xuanqi's skill in vascular suturing was much higher than Fang Ziye's, at least a level higher, so he sutured nine.

However, Fang Ziye is not greedy; he is content with just small-scale operations.

For major surgeries, Professors Deng Yong and Duan Hong are in charge of the surgical process and are the core of the team. Others, such as Director Zhang Mingcan, Director Hong Du, and Director Wu Guonan, are just there to assist.

I'm already very happy if I can learn some techniques from my mentor.

After the blood vessels were sutured, Fang Ziye did not try to do more.

Deng Yong instructed, "Go over there and perform osteotomy on the fibula, iliac bone, and some cancellous bone that were previously selected, and use them as transplant materials."

"Ideally, we can complete the osteotomy and repair the remaining bone defects. Later, I'll take you to have the fibula on the other side removed to make autologous bone graft material."

"This patient has too many bone defects..."

After greeting Fang Ziye, Deng Yong looked at Wu Xuanqi, who was already performing nerve suturing, with great envy and said, "Professor Duan Hong, it's a pity that Wu's skills are not in hand surgery."

Upon hearing this, Wu Xuanqi raised his head slightly and explained, "Teacher Deng, our hospital doesn't have a dedicated hand surgery department, so we only do it occasionally. Please excuse our inconvenience."

"My teacher told me that Professor Deng, your specialty is bone grafting with a pedicle. I wonder if there is a suitable place for this patient to have the graft?"

Wu Xuanqi proactively sought advice from Deng Yong. Deng Yong looked around and shook his head: "It's difficult. Bone grafting with a pedicle is impossible, but blood supply reconstruction after internal fixation of the fracture will be very necessary."

"Vascular transposition and tendon innervation nerve transfer are both procedures you should be quite skilled at, Xiao Wu. Shall we do them together with Director Wu later?"

"Thank you, Teacher Deng." Wu Xuanqi did not refuse.

Fang Ziye could only watch with envy from the sidelines, not daring to volunteer himself.

Because of the surgeries Professor Deng Yong mentioned, it would be very difficult for him to even try to skirt the rules.

Vascular repositioning is not simply suturing arteries and blood vessels. He has only reached level 4 in suturing skills. He only has a superficial understanding of more delicate surgical procedures in hand surgery and cannot use them directly.

You should just focus on your own osteotomy.

Fang Ziye then went to the sterile operating table again, looked around, and thought about how to piece together the bone defect using osteotomy. At the same time, Fang Ziye was also thinking.

We're about to have a vascular transplantation and reconstruction surgery. Professor Deng Yong and Professor Duan Hong, how are you going to get started? It's all so messy.

Trauma surgery involves far more than just fractures, yet it is still a fracture, only with hundreds of additional complexities that need to be addressed one by one.

Fang Ziye can no longer get involved in high-level situations.

Fang Ziye's osteotomy technique, given the limited resources, can only be described as mediocre.

Therefore, when his master occasionally turned to look at him, he didn't find anything particularly amazing. However, he did notice that his osteotomy technique had improved, and offered a slight word of encouragement.

Professor Duan Hong took a moment to peek at Fang Ziye, then 'twisted' him and showered him with praise, which made Professor Deng Yong curse him out.

"Professor Duan, this kind of flattery is not allowed."

"Don't underestimate our young Fang just because he's young. He's not even twenty-seven yet. Don't look down on a young man just because he's not rich." Deng Yong chuckled.

Then he looked at Wu Xuanqi again and chuckled.

After hearing Professor Deng Yong's words, most people fell silent. Even Nie Mingxian and Professor Mao beside him couldn't help but glance in Fang Ziye's direction.

To be honest, in the surgical system, those under thirty years old are basically standing in the audience.

In a top-tier teaching hospital, anyone below the rank of associate professor would be left watching helplessly, with no chance to even step onto the stage.

But you can't judge a surgeon's age by appearances alone, so they assumed that Fang Ziye was also close to thirty and about to graduate with his doctorate, which was somewhat understandable.

At only twenty-six or twenty-seven, so young, yet she managed to get something done in such a major surgery, and did it very well.

This makes many people feel a little embarrassed!

There's a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of mixed emotions, often including regret or sadness) that people of the same age can have vastly different fates.

……

Fang Ziye was truly unable to get involved in the subsequent operations, although Professor Duan Hong occasionally dared to give him some food.

Professor Duan Hong may have done this because his student Wu Xuanqi had too many opportunities to practice.

Even Professor Deng Yong looked at Fang Ziye.

Fang Ziye secretly lamented that he didn't have enough knowledge when he needed it, and that he only regretted not having enough skills when it came to surgery.

After Fang Ziye finished the osteotomy, he stood to the side, looking straight in, with a smile on his face: "I can't do it, thank you Professor Duan."

"I won't."

"It can't be done!"

"Forced is still not good." Fang Ziye adhered to his absolute bottom line.

You can't take on a job you're not qualified for. After all, I haven't had the panel for very long. In just one year, I've already been lucky to catch up with some of the top geniuses of my age who have accumulated years of hard work and experience.

Even Wu Xuanqi had to accumulate experience again for another four or five years.

Compared to them, there is still a significant gap in terms of the depth of time accumulated.

I'm not a noob anymore!
For example, in manual repositioning techniques, I am even stronger than Wu Xuanqi.

Regarding osteotomy, Wu Xuanqi, who previously focused on hand surgery, didn't get involved at all. Furthermore, when it comes to academic background and understanding of basic bone theory, Wu Xuanqi would remain silent.

To admit what you don't know is the foundation of scholarship.

The surgery continued, and Fang Ziye remained idle.

After finishing his dinner on time, Fang Ziye returned to the operating room. While standing on tiptoe to look around, he took on the task of operating instruments as a circulating nurse, without going back to the operating room.

Professor Duan Hong and others took turns going offstage to eat, and then going back onstage.

The surgery that followed Fang Ziye's departure lasted another twelve hours, finally being completed at four o'clock the next morning.

Nearly twenty hours have passed since Huang Kai was injured, and the surgery lasted for more than eighteen hours.

At this point, only orthopedic surgery and some vascular surgery procedures have been completed.

Huang Kai also suffered some organ damage, such as a ruptured liver and a ruptured intestine, and is still undergoing surgical treatment.

Fang Ziye helped his master off the stage.

Wu Xuanqi and Professor Duan Hong were both being supported by others.

Let alone performing surgeries for such a long time, just standing for such a long time, given the opportunity to move freely, what would your legs be like?

Anyone who has ever stood on a train understands.

"Master, Teacher Duan, would you like to go downstairs and have some drinks?"

"At this hour, some early-rising porridge shops have already opened. I ordered some porridge, but I don't know when it will be delivered." Fang Ziye was very considerate in doing the logistics work.

Of course, arrangements were also made for Director Wu Guonan, Director Zhang Mingcan, and others, but the opportunity to get close to the two big shots, Professor Deng Yong and Professor Duan Hong, was given to Fang Ziye.

More than eight hours had passed since lunch, and the two professors hadn't eaten a single grain of rice. The surgery was still ongoing, and their physical exertion must have been immense.

Fang Ziye opened the food delivery page: "Nine minutes until delivery."

"Master, shall we finish eating before we go to rest?"

“Okay!” Deng Yong didn’t stand on ceremony. He, Duan Hong, and Wu Xuanqi left the operating room and began stretching exercises in the corridor.

Twist your waist, shift your hips, bend your neck...

"Sigh!" Deng Yong sighed, looking at Wu Xuanqi who seemed to have come back to life after just a few jumps. He leaned back and looked on with envy.

"I'm getting old, my stamina can't keep up anymore."

Upon hearing this, Wu Xuanqi said, "Teacher Deng, your experience and skill are something that we young people can only acquire by working hard and spending time. We admire you too."

"All the groundwork has been laid, and the technology is now excellent! ~ It's the perfect time to be here."

Wu Xuanqi half-praised, half-stated the facts.

Surgeons around fifty years old are indeed at the peak of their comprehensive skills. At this time, the sum of their theory, cognition, operation, and physical strength is at its peak.

As one progresses, one's theoretical knowledge and understanding will inevitably become more refined and advanced, but one's fine motor skills and physical strength will decline.

"How come you're just like your master?" Deng Yong rolled his eyes.

"At least it's something I've gained by spending twenty more years of my life with you."

Wu Xuanqi then looked at Fang Ziye, and just as he was about to speak, Deng Yong quickly patted Fang Ziye on the shoulder and said, "Go and find out where Professor Duan and Dr. Wu are resting."

"They're tired too."

Duan Hong, who was so exhausted that he needed to rest immediately, rubbed the soft flesh on his neck: "Deng Yong, why are you so stingy? You can't even let Xiao Wu and Ziye exchange a few words? You have so little confidence that you think Ziye will be taken advantage of by us?"

"I'm afraid you're too shameless."

"To be fair, we managed to barely complete this limb reconstruction surgery through our collaboration. Wouldn't you say that we've set a precedent for the first time in the province?" Deng Yong asked Duan Hong, while looking at Fang Ziye with affection, his mood improving slightly.

(End of this chapter)