top student at medical school

Professor Wang Ou looked at Liao Jia's current state and said with a narrowed eye, "The main driving force for individual progress is desire, while the main driving force for collective progress must be the desire for knowledge and the courage to admit one's own ignorance."

"Why are people so strange?"

"We can build things like airplanes and cannons, but the human body weighs only a hundred pounds. After so many years of research, I feel like we haven't even opened the door."

Wang Ou's words were a bit discouraging and not suitable for the current atmosphere.

Zhang Ziqian from the Department of Urology said in a deep voice: "Professor Wang, regardless of whether the door was opened or not, we have opened a small door today, and it is a door that no one else has ever opened before."

Mei Bin, who was in charge of monitoring, probably noticed a positive trend and said happily, "Professor Fang, there are occasional signals being transmitted, but I don't know if they are signals from above the cerebral cortex."

Fang Ziye was not overly pleased upon hearing this. Instead, after thinking about it carefully for a while, he suddenly clapped his hands.

Fang Ziye said, "Professor Mei Bin, do you think it's possible that even if the pathways are temporarily disrupted after a spinal cord injury, these circuits can actually be restored as long as microcurrent stimulation is maintained?"

"Our bodies have this self-healing function, but to stimulate and activate this function, continuous microcurrent stimulation is needed?"

"What I mean is that in old spinal cord injuries, some electrical pathways are definitely degenerated, but in fact, these degenerated pathways have the opportunity to regenerate within a period of time after the injury."

"In other words, spinal cord injuries that have undergone emergency microcurrent stimulation will retain more function than those that have not been treated."

"Of course, it's also possible that it will be even less..."

Today, every step forward in the study of spinal cord injury involves a combination of theoretical exploration, speculation, verification, operation, and ideas.

First, replicate each person's ideas into reality, then reproduce those ideas through operation, and finally correct those ideas and revise the experimental plan based on actual reactions.

This is scientific research, and it's a highly in-depth kind of scientific research.

It's very boring and tasteless.

Outsiders might find this boring and boring, but those involved will find it fascinating.

"It's hard to say. We've only considered positive feedback before, and never negative feedback."

"If microcurrent stimulation is not suitable for the acute phase of spinal cord injury, then what about our procedure today?" Mei Bin instinctively said this, then quickly corrected herself.

"But that's okay. Clinical trials are supposed to have two sides to them, right? Because this isn't a confirmatory trial, but an exploratory one."

"Generally speaking, the probability of that is very small, right?" Professor Wang Ou is a spinal surgeon, so she also has some knowledge of neurosurgery.

Some treatments are not suitable for the acute phase but are suitable for the chronic phase. This contradiction seems a bit abnormal, doesn't it?
But reality is often like this.

After the scene fell silent for another three or four minutes, Mei Bin saw that the lower limbs, which had already begun transmitting signals, were showing increasingly weaker electrical signals with a lower frequency.

These results confirm Fang Ziye's most extreme conjecture about this topic.

For patients who are paralyzed after spinal cord injury, microcurrent stimulation can be used to repair closed potential pathways.

However, for fresh spinal cord injuries, microcurrent stimulation will not only fail to repair the spinal cord pathways in the acute injury phase, but will also accelerate the damage!
Fang Ziye immediately said, "End the microcurrent stimulation immediately!"

"Microelectrodes and bridging electrodes were embedded for internal fixation of lumbar vertebral fractures and open reduction and internal fixation of pelvic fractures!"

When Fang Ziye gave this instruction, the circulating nurse immediately pressed the switch on the electrical stimulator.

The excitement, "happiness," and "anticipation" of everyone were shut down along with the electrical stimulation device!
Mei Bin murmured, her mouth opening and closing, "Why is this happening? The frequency and current magnitude of the microcurrent stimulation are both within the absolutely safe range!"

Fang Ziye looked at Liao Jia and said, "Brother Liao, in the animal laboratory, in order to ensure that the spinal cord injury of the rabbit model is also in a stable period, we have undergone at least a week of cold treatment."

"Perhaps, after a week of 'cold treatment,' the local electrical pathways in the spinal cord have already been reconstructed."

"Our current understanding of the electrical pathways within the spinal cord is still relatively superficial."

"Today, the conclusion we can draw from our experimental results is that electrical signals inside the spinal cord can be transmitted through bridging electrodes, and bridging electrodes can conduct electrical signals bidirectionally."

"However, the experiment still produced the worst effect we expected: the physical and biological properties of acute and chronic spinal cord injuries are completely different."

Liao Jia narrowed his eyes upon hearing this and said, "In that case, we can only use the backup plan, which is to administer microcurrent stimulation again after the patient has completed other surgeries, and find a relatively suitable time point for microcurrent stimulation."

"Currently, the various electrical channels within the spinal cord are quite active, and the damage has caused these channels to become disordered. If microcurrent stimulation is applied at this time, it could lead to local short circuits or similar issues..."

"Short circuits like this are the main reason why some patients cannot feel in their lower limbs during the spinal cord concussion period, but after rehabilitation, patients can recover most of their functions."

"According to a physics professor consulted by Song Yi, circuits can interfere with each other!"

"The ability for so many electrical signals within our bodies to be transmitted one-to-one is truly a miracle of human creation. The underlying fundamental principles of physics are difficult to explain..."

According to the physiological definition, various electrical currents are being conducted almost constantly in our bodies, and these conductions can be carried out in an orderly manner without interfering with each other, which cannot be simply analyzed by current physics and biology.

Spinal cord injury is difficult to treat in its early stages, and Fang Ziye has found one of the treatment methods. Now, to treat it even better is an even more difficult task.

"Since we have already determined that continuing microcurrent stimulation will be detrimental to the patient's prognosis, we should stop."

"Professor Wang Ou, thank you for your help in stabilizing the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae."

"Professor Zhang Ziqian, I'm afraid you've made a wasted trip," Fang Ziye apologized to Zhang Ziqian.

Zhang Ziqian shook his head and said, "It wasn't a wasted trip. At least we witnessed that our bridging electrode pads can be used in clinical practice!"

"Logically speaking, if the material of this electrode pad can be used in the heart, then it shouldn't cause any special reactions when used in the spinal cord, right?"

"Electric currents also frequently pass through the heart muscle."

The stimulation intensity of cardiac electrostimulation can be much stronger than the electrical signals in the spinal cord.

……

At 3:20 a.m., Fang Ziye led his team to complete the open reduction and internal fixation surgery for the pelvic fracture. He then handed over the internal fixation device implantation surgery for the other two small fractures to Lan Tianluo and his student Feng Junfeng.

Emergency Internal Medicine!

When Fang Ziye saw Luo Tingzhu, she had already finished her IV drip and looked much better.

Her slightly pale lips had regained some color, and she was also hungry, with a bottle of eight-treasure porridge beside her.

"Sister Yutong, I'm really sorry, but your best friend's situation is still too complicated. She may still be paralyzed after the surgery."

"However, after we performed the surgery on her, she may retain some functions. We'll see if we can recover some of those functions later."

"But Sister Yutong, there's one thing you still need to explain to the family: the spinal cord is a very crucial anatomical structure for motor control. Once it's injured, it's impossible to recover to a normal state."

Huang Yutong herself studied medicine, although not spinal surgery, and she knew how terrible spinal cord injury was.

However, Huang Yutong was very calm and clear-headed at this moment: "Professor Fang, is my best friend really that badly injured?"

Fang Ziye nodded: "Yes, there are two fractures, one in the lumbar vertebra and one in the thoracic vertebra. It is possible that only one fracture occurred when he was hit, and the other fracture occurred after he fell to the ground."

“Since the spinal cord is already damaged, we can only accept our fate. I’ll go see her later; we’ve already done our best.”

"She has two children, right, her children..." Huang Yutong hurriedly started making a phone call.

Fang Ziye then turned and walked towards Luo Tingzhu. After glancing at the still-excess medication in the IV drip, he said, "Mom, let me take you home first. I can manage here..."

Upon hearing this, Liang Xia said, "Tingzhu won't be working later. She needs to take leave because of her situation, so I'll definitely go back with her."

"Tingzhu knows how to take a taxi. Today is your surgery day, so you should go and rest for a while."

"You're a deputy chief physician now, so you still have to be responsible for your patients."

Fang Ziye looked at Luo Tingzhu, who was secretly smiling. It was obvious that the lines Liang Xia had spoken were taught to Liang Xia by Fang Ziye.

Luo Tingzhu said, "Senior brother, I feel much better here. From now on, I just need to take medicine."

"It's okay, I can take the day off. You can't cancel the surgery that's already scheduled, can you?"

"Then I'll go upstairs to sleep." Fang Ziye thought for a moment and decided that he should go to the director's office to rest for a while.

Although Fang Ziye certainly had the right to cancel the surgery, he only needed to report it to the medical department.

However, Fang Ziye's current situation is not that special, so it certainly cannot be reported on this basis.

"Senior brother, you've been gone for so long, how did that surgery go?" Luo Tingzhu thought for a moment, still quite curious.

Upon hearing this, Fang Ziye shook his head and sighed, "I'll chat with you on WeChat later; it's not easy to explain clearly here."

"It can only be said that the worst outcome we least wanted to happen has happened."

Luo Tingzhu said, "Oh, okay, then Senior Brother, you should go and rest first..."

……

After Fang Ziye left, Liang Xia asked, "Tingzhu, what were you talking about just now? What was the worst possible outcome?"

Luo Tingzhu replied, "It's from my senior brother's research project. The worst-case scenario has emerged from the experiments."

Liang Xia's eyes flashed: "Research topic? Tingzhu, don't tell me it's the same research topic as last time. We've been working on it for three or four months and still haven't come up with anything?"

"Isn't the spine just that section of a pig's large bone? Why does it take so long to study?"

Luo Tingzhu's heart clenched upon hearing this, and she shook her head: "Mom, you don't think that my senior brother is still deliberately embezzling funds, or that he's just wasting time and stalling for time, do you?"

"Let alone three months, even if it takes three years, my senior brothers and their colleagues may not be able to bring this project to a satisfactory conclusion."

"The topic of spinal cord injury corresponds to paralysis..."

Liang Xia never imagined her son would engage in corruption. She just used to think that many researchers were deliberately dragging their feet, asking the government for huge sums of money without making any real breakthroughs.

Many people believe that money can guarantee results, and if money is given but no results are achieved, then it's considered embezzlement...

October 3th, Sunday.

The new campus of Zhongnan Hospital, Department of Trauma Surgery, Director's Office.

Fang Ziye was slightly bewildered when he saw the publicity department of the hospital and a group of reporters walk in from outside. However, when he remembered the text message he had seen on his phone yesterday, he suddenly realized that the provincial science and technology channel had come to conduct an interview.

This trip is mainly to conduct an exclusive interview and report, where Fang Ziye will talk about his scientific research journey.

The core theme is the research journey related to CAA papers.

"I'm sorry, the conditions here are rather basic. These teacups were just bought yesterday. I hope you leaders and reporters will make do with them," Fang Ziye said with a smile.

Hu Qingyuan and others were going in and out preparing tea.

Director Ma Qingsong of the Publicity Department said, "Professor Fang, actually, reporter Long from the Provincial Science and Technology Channel has wanted to come and do an exclusive interview with you for a year now."

"We consulted with our superiors, but they didn't agree. After all, Professor Fang's workplace wasn't even confirmed at that time. This interview was only finalized on Thursday, and I sent you a message on Friday..."

Reporter Long asked with a curious smile, "Director Ma, you just said that Professor Fang's workplace is uncertain? What do you mean by that?"

After hearing this, Ma Qingsong took a deep breath and said, "Reporter Long, to avoid this interview failing the censorship, let's not go into such depth."

“Emphasizing this word is very interesting.” Ma Qingsong used a word as a code; if Reporter Long could understand it, he could listen, and if not, he could ignore it.

Then, reporter Long began interviewing Fang Ziye.

"Professor Fang, I heard that you are only thirty-one years old today and are already an associate professor and associate chief physician. Do you know anything about your professional titles?" Reporter Long asked.

Fang Ziye smiled and nodded upon hearing this: "Of course I know about it. In fact, associate professors are quite common at my age, but associate chief physicians are not so common at my age."

"However, it is quite rare to see the two combined."

Fang Ziye then went on to provide a detailed analysis, stating that as long as one makes sufficient scientific research contributions, there are many people who can become associate professors by the age of thirty.

Even if many medical students start working after graduating with a professional master's degree, it takes them two years to become an attending physician and five years to become an associate chief physician. They are usually around 32 or 33 years old and rarely become associate chief physicians at the age of 31.

However, if you pursue a doctorate, you won't have such an opportunity unless you graduate with your doctorate and complete your residency training at the age of 26.

Unless it's the legendary exception that allows you to freely choose a supervisor from a different major, complete a one-year residency training program, and become a lead surgeon in three years...

Upon hearing this, reporter Long smiled and said, "Professor Fang, so you were able to obtain this professional title because the National Health Commission personally opened a back door for you?"

"Would such a back door be easy to open?"

Fang Ziye touched his nose, a half-smile on his face, and said, "I can't answer that question. If you're interested, you can ask the relevant leaders at the Provincial Health Commission." "Actually, these weren't applied for by me personally. My workplace and school helped me apply, so I really want to thank these leaders."

"This is a thank you with a cause-and-effect relationship, not just a simple thank you in words."

To be fair, Fang Ziye was able to get special approval from the National Health Commission to apply for the position of associate chief physician, and I really have to thank the leaders for that. With the limited influence of Fang Ziye's own mentor, they couldn't even get Fang Ziye's application submitted to the National Health Commission.

"That must be extremely difficult. I heard from Director Ma of your hospital that for your hospital's exceptional promotion application, one needs very strong clinical skills and research output to have a chance of getting a special promotion."

"And now it's getting curlier and curlier."

"Professor Fang, what's your secret to being so outstanding?" Reporter Long asked.

Reporter Long meticulously designed his approach to these questions, delving into everything from Fang Ziye's professional title to the difficulty of obtaining it, and finally to the tricks of the trade. His explanations were layered and thorough, not haphazard or disjointed.

The interview continues!
About three hours later, the interview felt like a real face-to-face conversation: "Professor Fang, do you mean that your team is currently exploring treatments for patients with paralysis caused by spinal cord injuries, and that it is possible that you will enter the clinical trial stage?"

"Why haven't we heard anything before?"

Fang Ziye smiled and said, "We were in the basic research stage before. As the saying goes, we can't open the champagne halfway through. If we publicize it before we have any truly valuable results, it would be malicious propaganda."

"Right now, we are hoping that some patients will be willing to participate in our clinical trials. If there are any patients who meet the criteria for clinical trial selection, we hope they can contact our team."

"You can search for our lab online to find our contact information. Our lab's name is the Trauma Surgery and Materials Laboratory of Zhongnan Hospital, Seoul National University..."

Reporter Long asked, "Professor Fang, as far as I know, there are quite a few teams currently conducting research on spinal cord injuries."

"Huashan Hospital in China recently announced that it can use brain-computer interfaces and robots to enable patients with spinal cord injuries to stand up and walk again."

"I wonder, Professor Fang, is the technology you mentioned such a high-end application?"

Fang Ziye shook his head: "The application direction of the Huashan Hospital team is quite different from that of our team. We should be arriving at the same goal by different paths."

"We use a relatively traditional surgical method, which involves making an incision in the spinal cord to stimulate it with microcurrents..."

Reporter Long then asked, "Professor Fang, I heard that your team has done many large-scale projects, and many of these projects are ones that even many of the top experts in Hubei Province could not complete."

"But Professor Fang, your team has done at least four more. Professor Fang, you are still so young, do you have any experience and skills in this area?"

Fang Ziye took a deep breath: "There were no special techniques involved, it was all thanks to my great teammates!"

"I want to emphasize here that there are really no skills or experience required to do such a big project; it all depends on my teammates!"

"Don't even think about doing big projects if you don't have good teammates, that's the truth."

Fang Ziye was very clear that his personal abilities were already at their maximum, but the amount of work he could accomplish on his own was very limited.

A genius can be a good leader, but not an all-around super jack-of-all-trades who can handle everything perfectly.

A genius without a team is a madman, just a fool.

Even those geniuses who haven't found their niche are nothing more than mediocre 'talents'!

"It seems Professor Fang values ​​your team members highly. Would you mind if Professor Fang could share more details?"

"What I mean is, Professor Fang, if you're not afraid of having your staff poached?" Reporter Long asked.

"There are quite a few, such as my good older brother, Professor Liao Jia, Associate Chief Physician Nie Mingxian, my good junior brothers, Dr. Jie Han and Dr. Lan Tianluo, and my wife, Dr. Luo Tingzhu..."

"And my classmate, Dr. Song Yi, and my student, Hu Qingyuan..."

"That's too much."

"As for what you said about being poached, of course I'm afraid, but if anyone dares to poach me, I'll fight back..."

"By the way, Reporter Long, may I place an advertisement through you?"

"Our team is severely understaffed, whether in basic research, clinical research, or niche areas related to medicine."

"If you have talent in this area and are willing to do something, please be sure to contact me. My email address is..."[email protected]......"

Fang Ziye was in a relatively good mood after the interview.

After politely having the publicity department staff see Reporter Long and his group off, Director Ma Qingsong stayed in his office for the time being.

Fang Ziye hurriedly asked, "Director Ma, you said before that reporters had wanted to interview me, but were not approved by the leadership. What happened?"

Director Ma Qingsong said, "Professor Fang, please don't make things difficult for me. I don't know the root cause of this matter either."

"In any case, the feedback we've been getting is that Professor Fang, your current workplace is undecided, so it's inconvenient for you to give a public interview."

"Actually, our hospital and school publicity departments have tried many times. Our hospital's publicity department has also wanted to publish a report about Professor Fang for a long time."

"The reason why we dare not make any major moves is mainly based on two reasons."

"One reason is that the leadership disagrees, and the other is that the teacher who won the highest award in our school last year chose to keep a low profile, which makes the rest of us even more hesitant to act rashly."

Even though Mr. Li received the State's highest science and technology award last year, he only made some news reports on a small scale and did not receive extensive coverage from the school.

Is it appropriate to casually praise Fang Ziye's achievements?

Fang Ziye actually did a similar interview last year, but it seems it wasn't broadcast. Perhaps Fang Ziye is now in a state of 'unbanning'.

"Judging from the current situation, I should thank those leaders. Can they agree to let me settle on a new workplace?" Fang Ziye took a deep breath, feeling quite frustrated.

Ma Qingsong knew that Fang Ziye might be angry, so he smiled and said, "Professor Fang, life is only a little over 30,000 days, don't be angry!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Ziye nodded and said, "Yes, don't be angry. What I need to do is make them angry one day, or make them feel powerless."

Ma Qingsong was taken aback upon hearing this and glanced at Fang Ziye.

After that, the two did not continue their conversation in any deeper way. Ma Qingsong simply gave Fang Ziye some more guidance and feedback on the interview, and told Fang Ziye to be careful to avoid some self-media outlets that are only interested in generating traffic.

After seeing Director Ma off, Fang Ziye sent a message on WeChat: "Master, I just finished my interview here, and it's already past 2 p.m. How about we get together again tonight?"

"I'm sure you've all eaten!"

"You decide on the time and place, Ziye! I'll ask Liu Huanglong later; he should be back by now, since he went to the countryside for surgery," Deng Yong replied.

Today, Fang Ziye planned to have dinner with several teachers from the orthopedics department, namely Deng Yong, Gong Jiahe, Du Xinzhan, and Yuan Weihong.

Liu Huanglong was supposed to come too, but he went out for a consultation today.

But now that the time has been adjusted to the afternoon, Liu Huanglong might have some time.

“Yes, Master,” Fang Ziye replied.

"Then I'll decide on the location."

"Are you bringing Tingzhu and your parents?" Deng Yong asked.

“Tingzhu has already returned to the sanatorium lab, and my parents are eating at home,” Fang Ziye replied.

It's inconvenient to bring Lao Fang and Liang Xia to this kind of work-related gathering.

……

At 6:30 p.m., when Liu Huanglong saw Fang Ziye, his first words were sarcastic: "It's getting harder and harder to get an appointment with Director Fang these days."

"We finally managed to arrange a meal together, and then an official TV station came to interview us. Do you think we dared to disagree?"

"Professor Deng, what do you think?"

Deng Yong said with a half-smile, "We still have to give face to official TV interviews. We need to cooperate with positive publicity, which is also a good thing for us personally."

"Besides, this interview with Xiao Fang is actually of great significance. We won't have to worry about being poached anymore."

Upon hearing this, Liu Huanglong spoke in a meaningful tone: "I wonder if Ziye will regret this later."

Fang Ziye approached with a grin, then shook his head decisively: "No regrets, absolutely no regrets."

"You haven't even heard me explain why, and you've already chosen not to regret it?" Liu Huanglong asked with interest.

"I've actually been persuaded to act as a go-between before, but I didn't end up sleeping with you." Liu Huanglong maintained his risqué nature.

As the head of the ward, I have to maintain a certain demeanor in the department, and it gets tiring after a while. Now that I'm out of the ward, I naturally have to relax a bit.

Deng Yong asked curiously, "Liu Huanglong, why don't you tell me in detail?"

Liu Huanglong then recounted the conditions he knew. In fact, these conditions were similar to those Fang Ziye had heard on the phone last time; they were both very tempting, with only minor differences in some details, which were insignificant.

But to Deng Yong and others, such conditions seemed completely unbelievable.

The conditions that Fang Ziye is currently being courted are comparable to those of top-level national champions, or even academicians.

In other words, many places are not actually unable to recognize talent, including many leaders in Hubei Province.

However, for a long time before that, Hubei Province was in a power struggle with Kyoto.

People in Kyoto wanted to bring Fang Ziye there, people in Hubei Province wanted to keep him there, Fang Ziye wanted to stay, and there was also the help of the sanatorium...

Now, this struggle has finally come to an end.

"Ziye, then this contract isn't a servitude contract, it's a ticket to nobility!"

"Don't you feel tempted?" Deng Yong asked curiously.

Fang Ziye nodded: "I'm not interested, Master!"

"Why?" Deng Yong asked.

"Firstly, I've never considered developing my career in Kyoto, so nothing there appeals to me."

"Secondly, the inner joy and sense of accomplishment I have now cannot be replaced by what he gave me."

"Sometimes, self-affirmation can be self-indulgent, but in the end, self-affirmation is the greatest motivation for a person's pursuit!"

"Third, if I don't go, I won't get what they promised, so I'll go and get what they can't control!"

"Things related to admission tickets involve social etiquette."

"In truly high-level competition, personal connections and interpersonal relationships are completely useless."

"Even Moutai can't win a Nobel Prize, so how can someone who drinks Moutai and navigates the underworld win one?" Fang Ziye said confidently.

Of course, this was also the first time Fang Ziye had frankly admitted his ambitions in front of so many teachers and superiors.

Whether I'm an academician or not doesn't matter. As long as it doesn't affect my ability to be a doctor or a chief physician with the authority to perform surgeries, it doesn't matter. I'll be happy if I have it, and I won't starve if I don't.

But I do want an honor like the Nobel Prize in Medicine, which is based solely on merit and not connections.

Deng Yong said irritably, "Ziye, you should say these kinds of things less often, or you'll offend people."

Fang Ziye smiled mischievously and said, "Master, this is the kind of thing I say. If outsiders hear it, it must mean that one of my teachers doesn't love me enough."

Liu Huanglong noticed that after Fang Ziye finished speaking, everyone was staring at him.

Liu Huanglong was very uncomfortable: "Hey, why are you guys looking at me like that?"

"Teacher Deng, I'm also from Zhongnan Hospital! I've been working here since my day! Don't you trust my relationship with Fang Ziye?"

Yuan Weihong smiled and said, "Professor Liu, I trust you completely. You'll definitely say that you and Fang Ziye are master and apprentice, so you have to pay more, more than five times the amount!"

Yuan Weihong seemed to anticipate Liu Huanglong's prediction: "You are that kind of person."

Professor Du Xinzhan, who had been silent until now, spoke up: "Fang Ziye, I still don't understand the specific reasons for your choice."

Fang Ziye replied, "Teacher Du, this is a gift I'm giving myself. Why do I need so many reasons?"

"Freedom, familiarity, doing whatever you want—aren't those the reasons?" (End of Chapter)