Travels of a Female Physician in the Ming Dynasty

Ever since the Emperor became more and more satisfied with my "acupuncture therapy", my life has become less turbulent, but has also had a lot of troubles.

The emperor asked me to give him acupuncture every now and then, and I almost became the "royal masseur".

However, this trouble is not too bad, at least I can still live in peace.

However, trouble soon came - this time it did not come from the emperor, but from the "logistics force" within the Imperial Hospital, that is, the female doctors and the medical professionals.

That day, I was sorting medicinal materials in the Imperial Hospital when Zhu Yuan came over mysteriously.

"President Yang, have you heard recently? The female doctors and nurses in our Imperial Hospital have been making quite a fuss lately!" Zhu Yuan said with a wink.

I was stunned. "Female doctors and female doctors? What could they possibly be doing? Aren't they usually just quietly preparing and decocting medicine, and at most chatting with the young eunuchs?"

Zhu Yuan blinked. "Don't underestimate them. Recently, some young masters in the palace have complained that the medicines prepared by the female doctors are always 'strangely bitter'. Some even said that the female doctor prescribed the wrong medicine and almost caused a young master to have diarrhea for a whole day."

"What?" My face darkened when I heard that.

It is understandable that the medicine tastes bitter, after all, Chinese medicine is not tasty, but prescribing the wrong medicine is no small matter!

If anything goes wrong, the blame will be on the Imperial Hospital!

And in the end, I, the "head of the family", will have to take the blame for the Imperial Medical Service!

"President Yang, you have to think of a solution. Otherwise, if this matter gets out of hand, the reputation of our Imperial Hospital will be ruined." Zhu Yuan looked at me worriedly.

I sighed and smiled bitterly in my heart: It seems that I have to take care of these women doctors. Otherwise, sooner or later, they will "trick" me to death.

So, I decided to hold a "general staff meeting".

The Imperial Medical Service is not just staffed by imperial physicians. In fact, the female doctors and nurses are the backbone of the service who silently support its operation.

They are responsible for decocting and dispensing medicines, caring for patients, and sometimes even helping to deal with minor colds and flu.

Normally, everyone gets along well with each other, but it seems that there have been a lot of mistakes in their work recently.

I stood in the lobby of the Imperial Hospital, looking at a group of female doctors and nurses-in-law sitting in a row, each with a nonchalant expression on their face.

"Everyone," I cleared my throat, trying to maintain a friendly tone, "recently, the young masters in the palace have reported that our medicine is a bit... abnormally bitter."

As soon as he finished speaking, an elderly doctor stood up and put her hands on her hips. "President Yang, this can't be entirely our fault! Traditional Chinese medicine is inherently bitter, and patients find it bitter. How can we help them?"

I felt helpless. Of course I knew Chinese medicine was bitter, but the problem was, this one was too bitter!

However, I don't intend to argue with them directly. After all, in my experience, reasoning is the most useless thing.

So I smiled and changed the subject: "Everyone is right, it's normal for medicine to be bitter. However, can we pay a little attention to the heat and time when decocting and preparing the medicine? Sometimes, if the heat is not right, the medicine will become extremely bitter, and even the efficacy will be affected."

The doctors looked at each other, clearly unconvinced. A young doctor muttered, "The temperature? We all boil medicine according to the old rules. How can there be any problem with the temperature?"

I sighed inwardly, it seems that the "old rules" are really stubborn.

However, I decided to approach this problem differently.

"How about this," I said with a smile, "let's not talk about 'rules and regulations'. Next, I will personally teach you a few new methods of decoction. I guarantee that not only will the medicine taste better, but it will also retain its efficacy. How about that?"

When the doctors heard this, curiosity showed on their faces.

After all, who doesn’t want to make the job at hand easier?

In particular, it can reduce patients' complaints and save you a lot of worry.

"President Yang, we'd like to listen to what you have to say." The elderly doctor still didn't quite trust her.

I smiled and said, "Just listen to it, and then we'll say it after everyone has tried it."

In the next few days, I began to personally lead the female doctors and their mothers-in-law in "professional training".

First, I started with the decoction time of Chinese medicine.

In the past, they only cared about the length of time when decocting medicine, but I told them that the decocting time for different herbs is also important. If it is too long, the efficacy of the medicine will be weakened and it will become too bitter.

"For example, this ginseng soup. People used to cook it for too long, and the essence of the herbs was boiled away. Now, we shorten the cooking time and pay attention to the heat. As a result, the medicinal effect is better and the taste is not so bitter." I explained while demonstrating.

The doctors were a little skeptical at first, but after several attempts, they gradually discovered that this method was indeed effective.

Not only is the medicine less bitter, but patients' feedback has also improved a lot.

"President Yang, your method is really good!" A young female doctor couldn't help but praise, "We really didn't know these details before!"

I smiled and said, "These are just some little tricks. As long as everyone pays more attention, the decoction will be better."

Then there’s the issue of “prescribing the wrong medicine,” which is a big problem.

I investigated carefully and found that although the doctors were responsible for prescribing some common prescriptions, their medical knowledge was not solid and they often relied on experience to do things.

In addition, they are old and their memory is often wrong, so problems are inevitable.

So, I decided to arrange a "retraining" course for them.

"Dear doctors, today we are not going to talk about any advanced medical theories. Let's just review the most basic medicinal materials and prescription combinations." I said with a smile, taking out a thick atlas of medicinal materials.

The doctors looked miserable, but they had no choice but to listen to me.

I patiently started from the most basic medicinal materials, especially focusing on those prescriptions that are often used incorrectly, and explained the combinations and contraindications one by one.

I also asked each of them to prepare a small notebook and write down the important content.

"President Yang, this is really troublesome. We are old and have poor memory." A female doctor said helplessly.

I smiled and said, "You have to remember it even better when you get older. If you make a mistake and harm the patient, we will be in big trouble."

After hearing this, the doctors sat up straight and began to take notes seriously.

The effects of the training were quickly apparent.

After a few weeks, the doctors and nurses in the Imperial Medical Service had become noticeably more professional.

The taste of the medicine soup is no longer so bitter, and the patients' feedback has also improved a lot.

More importantly, the doctors never made the wrong prescriptions again, and the work efficiency of the Imperial Hospital improved significantly.

Seeing how busy I was, Zhu Yuan couldn't help but jokingly say, "President Yang, you've become an 'educator'! You've trained all the doctors and nurses to be obedient!"

I sighed. "It can't be helped. If something goes wrong at the Imperial Hospital, I'll still be blamed. Why not solve the problem from the root?"

Zhu Yuan chuckled and said, "You've accomplished a great feat this time! The doctors and nurses are all in awe of you!"

I waved my hand. "Merit isn't important. What's important is that our Imperial Hospital doesn't get into any more trouble. The palace is full of unpredictable situations, and we little people are lucky to be safe and sound."

However, just when I thought everything was stable, new challenges quietly emerged...