top student at medical school

Chapter 28 On Melancholy (Please add to your favorites and read on)
Li Yuanpei and Fang Ziye hesitated for a few seconds before accepting the gift without ceremony. Li Yuanpei felt that the beautiful woman in front of him looked unfamiliar, but he knew that she must be the teacher's newly accepted eight-year doctoral student: "Should I call you Junior Sister Luo or Senior Sister Luo?"

"Senior Brother Li, Senior Brother Fang, you both enrolled earlier than me." Luo Tingzhu retracted a duck claw and put it back into her snack bag.

"Thanks, Junior Sister Luo." Fang Ziye waved the snacks in his hand, somewhat unaware of his surroundings.

Upon hearing this, Luo Tingzhu joked, "Actually, in a sense, my two senior brothers and I will graduate in the same year. You two senior brothers have to go easy on me then."

Luo Tingzhu spoke in a somewhat cunning and mischievous tone.

But everyone knows it's a joke.

Luo Tingzhu is in her fifth year of an eight-year program, and she will graduate with her doctorate in three years. If she wants to stay in the hospital and find a job then, and I give way to her, what will I do?
Naturally, neither Li Yuanpei nor Fang Ziye took such a joke seriously. Fang Ziye even told Li Yuanpei, "Brother Pei, don't be fooled by Junior Sister Luo's appearance. Junior Sister Luo is currently in the training room, and apart from Senior Brother Sun and Senior Brother Dai, she is definitely superior to him."

"We can only look up to them from afar."

Dai Yinsheng and Sun Shaoqing are both third-year doctoral students in their respective fields. They have steadily climbed the ranks from the five-year program, immersing themselves in clinical practice for six years and spending a considerable amount of time in the training room. However, even so, Liu Zhengjun, a fellow third-year doctoral student, might not dare to say that he is necessarily better than Luo Tingzhu.

That tells you how talented Luo Tingzhu is.

"That's it, we might as well start looking for jobs sooner rather than later," Li Yuanpei said, shrugging his shoulders.

But Luo Tingzhu shook her head violently when she heard this: "Senior Brother Li, you are being too modest. You are well aware of the predicament of our eight-year program."

"Although it takes eight years to complete a bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree in one go, the three years we miss are precisely the time that deprives us of for scientific research output."

"I don't have time to go into the lab at all, and my clinical experience is just a fleeting glimpse. Every academic year is filled with heavy academic tasks, so there's simply no way to do any good research."

"All the articles I'm publishing now are reviews, which don't meet the requirements for graduating with a PhD. And to get into a lab? I don't have enough basic knowledge."

Even after graduation, it's still an academic doctorate, and you still have to undergo residency training.

“Everything that’s done in one step will eventually come back to haunt you.” Luo Tingzhu finished speaking with a wry smile. After thinking for a moment, she took out two small bread rolls from her canvas bag and asked Fang Ziye and Li Yuanpei if they wanted them.

Both of them shook their heads.

"Junior Sister Luo, now that you mention it, the eight-year program seems to be a bit of a disadvantage?" Li Yuanpei asked in a low voice as he invited Luo Tingzhu to sit down next to Fang Ziye's workbench.

"It's not that we're at a disadvantage. Graduating earlier means we can start earning a salary sooner. Secondly, we have more time to get into postdoctoral research stations earlier, which gives us some breathing room to find a job and allows us to build up our basic research skills."

"After all, at Zhongnan Hospital, you have to be well-prepared for every step before you can make it through. Otherwise, even if you get a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) for young scientists or even a general grant, what's the point if you can't even finish the project?"

Luo Tingzhu sighed again as she finished speaking, "So I can only practice the operation first, and then I have to start from scratch in scientific research."

"I estimate that when I'm looking for a job, I'll avoid the same opportunities as my two senior classmates."

What Luo Tingzhu said was true; the eight-year system does indeed face such a predicament.

On one hand, there are books thicker than those for a five-year program; on the other hand, students must meet the standards for doctoral graduation within eight years; and on yet another hand, they face the pressure of finding a job well in advance.

However, if others have more research output than you during your doctoral studies, you won't have much of an advantage. You must go to a postdoctoral research station and do research diligently for a period of time.

"How did you decide to come to trauma surgery, Junior Sister Luo? I remember your program is eight years long, and you can choose any major you want?" Fang Ziye asked.

Trauma surgery subspecialty is not a good department.

Within orthopedics, sports medicine, and joint surgery are less strenuous and less tiring than trauma surgery. "Is it because trauma surgery offers the best job prospects?"

"Joint surgery is a prestigious department within orthopedics. To stay and work at the hospital, the standards for retention and research output must be at least half that of trauma surgery."

“Sports medicine is difficult to produce articles on, unless you specialize in sports medicine and then focus your research on bone tumors. Research and professional studies are completely separate.” Luo Tingzhu answered very honestly.

Indeed, among the subspecialties of orthopedics, joint surgery is the most lucrative. It is full of talented people, and the work is so demanding that anyone who has even been involved in orthopedics wants to go into joint surgery.

The group chatted for a while longer.

Fang Ziye was really going to the department, so he got up to say goodbye.

Meanwhile, Luo Tingzhu continued to inquire with Li Yuanpei about the precautions and things that could be done for master's and doctoral students in trauma surgery.

When Fang Ziye walked out of the practice room, he was stunned for a moment, as if he had seen a high and mighty white swan suddenly tainted by the air of the mortal world. The unapproachable iceberg academic genius was not as high and mighty as he had imagined.

But this authenticity made Fang Ziye feel that this new female doctoral student in trauma surgery was even more real.

Top-tier teaching hospitals are most lacking in talent, but not in general talent.

Everyone faces their own set of pressures.

But there aren't many shortcuts in life, and reading is the only, and the fastest, shortcut.

Until the next day.

When Li Yuanpei finished his training and returned to his department, Fang Ziye learned that the reason Luo Tingzhu had asked the two of them yesterday was because Luo Tingzhu wanted to go into the laboratory to do basic experiments.

Otherwise, given the current direction and quality of her writing, which is mostly analytical and instrumental rather than academic, she will definitely be at a disadvantage when looking for a job in the future.

Fang Ziye sighed upon hearing this: "Brother Pei, didn't I tell you? What are we compared to real academic geniuses?"

"Junior Sister Luo already has four SCI papers, which is the first practice room standard we benchmarked against during our master's studies. She does it with ease, yet she still has a long-term vision. She is still in the midst of fierce competition."

"Hey, it's true what they say, comparisons are odious, and comparisons are worthless."

"Otherwise what?" Li Yuanpei looked at Fang Ziye, his eyes showing a hint of envy, but it was limited.

"Anyway, Brother Ye, you've achieved a kind of transcendence in the short term, at least you don't have to worry too much about the opportunity to study. As for me, it's still just a matter of time before it even begins."

"I wonder what kind of person that guy is."

"If he's at about the same level as Junior Sister Luo, I'd better just wash up and go to bed early."

"By the way, Ye-ge, are you applying for the doctoral entrance exams at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Fudan University?" Li Yuanpei asked.

"Is registration about to start? I thought it was mid-October?" Fang Ziye was surprised and quickly looked at his memo.

Before receiving confirmation from Professor Deng Yong that I could stay at our institute to pursue a doctorate, I knew I should seize every opportunity. Taking a desperate gamble regardless of the consequences is not something a mature adult should do.

"Not yet, I was just asking casually." Li Yuanpei's gaze turned slightly resentful.

(End of this chapter)