This doctor is already middle-aged, and he's only just started practicing medicine.

Chapter 53 Oh no, he's learned some real skills!
The faucet in the sink was pouring water like a torrent, with water droplets splashing and flying up onto the large mirror above the sink, the drips meandering like flying snakes, leaving wet streaks.

At 10 a.m., Lu Cheng stood in front of the sink washing his hands and glanced at Zeng Huanqi. Upon closer inspection, he found that Zeng Huanqi's features were actually quite handsome.

However, Zeng Huanqi's fair complexion concealed all of this, which was the opposite of the saying "fair skin covers a hundred flaws": "Brother Zeng, Professor Chen is off today, and Director Lin just got off work. So, you will be the one to guide me in this cholecystectomy."

Zeng Huanqi smiled, revealing his white teeth, with a kind expression and a calm tone: "Xiao Lu, although I know you have a good talent, you were able to untangle multiple tendons in your entire upper limb in less than a month with your tendon suturing technique."

"But cholecystectomy and tendon suturing are quite different. You still need to learn this surgery patiently."

Zeng Huanqi quickly added, "What I mean is that cholecystectomy may be more suitable for long-term use."

"After all, Peng Kun, an orthopedic surgeon, will eventually learn tendon suturing."

Tendon rupture is a standard orthopedic condition. The county hospital is just a county hospital with a limited number of patients, so it cannot generously assign such cases to the emergency department like Xiangya No. 2 Hospital.

Lu Cheng can take advantage of a temporary lull to monopolize the "surgical authority," but he can't live off this surgery for the rest of his life.

Cholecystectomy was a procedure that Lin Qianlong had taken from the specialist department, and now it is under the jurisdiction of the emergency department. It is an uncontroversial procedure.

"Yes, I understand, thank you, Brother Zeng. I'll need your help to cover for me later..." Lu Cheng understood this, but that wasn't what he was really thinking.

There are many sections for tendon suturing, and Peng Kun can certainly learn them gradually, but that will be at least a few years from now.

By the time Kun Shao has mastered tendon suturing, I will have already learned other surgical techniques, and I won't bother competing with Peng Kun for tendon suturing.

The routine procedures for cholecystectomy, such as disinfection and draping, are similar to those for appendicitis, except that the focus of disinfection is different.

After disinfection and draping, the circulating nurse connected the electrosurgical unit and adjusted the current. Lu Cheng then asked only one question: "Brother Zeng, can I use the right subcostal incision (Kocher) to enter the abdomen?"

“Yes, that’s fine!” Zeng Huanqi nodded. As an attending physician capable of performing cholecystectomy, he naturally understood the English terms Lu Cheng used.

This is one of the more commonly used incisions for cholecystectomy, and it is also a basic skill that must be mastered to perform this kind of surgery. Professor Chen Song assessed that Lu Cheng was capable of performing cholecystectomy, and he would do his preliminary reading and preparation.

Without much hesitation, Lu Cheng used a round knife to cut open the skin until he reached the abdomen. His movements were smooth in some places, but his overall operation was not very skillful.

Zeng Huanqi knew that this was because Lu Cheng's basic skills were good enough, but he had never performed a cholecystectomy.

I know the concepts, and I'm skilled enough, but I've never actually done it before, so I lack overall proficiency...

“Pinky promise!” Lu Cheng said, and Zeng Huanqi followed suit.

"The gallbladder position remains unchanged."

"Right-angle pliers!"

"Hem-o-lok clamp, cystic artery."

"Hem-o-lok clamp, cystic duct."

"Drainage tube..."

Zeng Huanqi's expression froze. From the beginning of August to the 6th of today, in just six days, Lu Cheng not only learned the Tajima suturing technique that Professor Tong Yuan'an said was very difficult to learn, but his proficiency in gallbladder removal was also extraordinary!

Zeng Huanqi's gaze lingered on Lu Cheng, noticing that Lu Cheng's procedures were meticulous, and his localized operations, such as hemostasis, incision, and wound cleaning, were superior to his own...

However, Lu Cheng needed to think a little during the transition between steps, which was clearly just memorizing.

This was indeed Lu Cheng's first time learning this technique, but by virtue of his 'proficient' basic skills in back surgery, Lu Cheng was able to advance the surgery in a way that even Lu Cheng could not find any flaws in.

Lu Cheng has truly mastered this skill; he can't hold back anymore—

Some people can thrive with sunshine and turn into a riot with a little color.

Now that's great. Lu Cheng's skill in cholecystectomy has reached a high level. Even when he's seeing patients alone, he's not afraid of making mistakes. Even after Chen Song leaves, Lu Cheng can operate independently... The pressure from the county hospital doesn't mean they'll completely block you from having surgery! That's impossible. Everyone here is an adult, and no one would choose to work with someone who would offend them so badly.

The only thing I can control is that I can choose not to teach you or guide you!

Nobody's going to teach you anything... You can go and do whatever you want, like Director Peng from the orthopedics department. If you're willing to take all the responsibility, that's your freedom.

But technical skills are something that shouldn't be passed on to just anyone; operating without a superior's backing is suicidal...

"Brother Zeng, I think it's alright. What do you think?" Lu Cheng asked Zeng Huanqi, turning his head as he methodically completed the drainage tube insertion procedure.

Zeng Huanqi carefully examined the situation inside the abdominal cavity and found that after the gallbladder in the gallbladder area was removed, the field of vision was dry, there were no bleeding points or bile fistulas, and the drainage tube was placed in a fairly standard direction.

Zeng Huanqi couldn't find anything wrong with what he had done, so he nodded and teased, "Little Lu, you must be an amphibian."

Zeng Huanqi could only express the word 'pervert' in a rather elegant and subtle way.

……

There is a blackfish pond at the foot of Elephant Trunk Ridge, a place where many anglers in Long County were taken advantage of by bosses.

Zhang Tiesheng and Chen Song each set up a parasol and a complete fishing platform. Chen Song sat steadfastly, put down the bait, and waited quietly for the fish to bite.

He glanced sideways and quickly reached out to grab Zhang Tiesheng's fishing rod: "You've already dipped the float, aren't you going to pull it in?"

"They ran away," Chen Song said, sounding rather lonely.

Zhang Tiesheng only glanced at the message briefly before quickly putting down his phone, rebaiting, and giving Chen Song a "May Harmony Bring Wealth" cigarette before chuckling, "Professor Chen, I'm sorry, I was daydreaming."

"Zeng Huanqi just messaged me saying that Xiao Lu's gallbladder removal surgery was excellent. It was only his first time performing the surgery, so he found it a bit unbelievable."

"It seems like they're being unreasonable." Zhang Tiesheng's expression appeared relaxed, but in reality, he was feeling tense, with a vague sense of urgency being squeezed.

Chen Song pulled up his fishing rod and re-baited the bait: "This is normal. Xiao Lu has good basic skills, so he will learn specialized techniques quickly."

"Specialized surgery, in essence, is an organic combination of countless basic skills. All surgeries, when broken down to the last detail, can be reduced to the constituent units of these basic skills."

"In teaching hospitals, during master's and doctoral studies, students basically don't learn specialized surgical techniques; they just focus on mastering the fundamentals!"

"There are two purposes. First, basic skills are easy to learn but difficult to master. They are not easy to learn well and affect a person's clinical ceiling. Second, they represent a person's comprehensive potential."

"So, we usually start formally learning surgery in our thirties, but after five or six years, we can catch up with the majority."

Seeing that Zhang Tiesheng still seemed a bit confused, Chen Song used an analogy: "It's like how many majors welcome undergraduate students from the mathematics department to take the postgraduate entrance exam instead of their major."

"Is mathematics useful? It's hard to find direct connections in practical applications. But all science disciplines are essentially derived from mathematics."

"Basic skills are equivalent to mathematical proficiency in science."

"It got away again!" Chen Song tried to pull the float back as soon as it moved, but the fish in the pond were really cunning. It was just a slippery bite, and he pulled the rod back again in vain.

Chen Song sighed, "For most people, like Zhang Tiesheng and others, what seems like learning surgical techniques actually requires the simultaneous development of basic skills, professional skills, and techniques, which is why learning is relatively slow..."

"But if you first build a solid foundation in basic skills and theory, and then gradually learn specialized surgeries and techniques, you won't have to do both at the same time."

"Hmm." Zhang Tiesheng pushed up his glasses and nodded.

Although Zhang Tiesheng understood the essence of Lu Cheng's rapid progress, the root cause made him increasingly helpless.

(End of this chapter)