top student at medical school

Hospitals in the United States also have specialties, but unlike the specialties in China, in the United States there are only broad categories such as emergency room doctors, orthopedic doctors, and thoracic surgeons, without more detailed subcategories.

After graduating, medical students in the United States are required to enter a surgical residency program, which typically lasts 5-7 years. The first 2-3 years focus on general surgery, learning basic surgical skills and clinical knowledge.

Afterward, doctors can choose to become general surgeons directly, or further specialize in a particular field through 1-3 years of specialist training.

If it weren't for the better benefits and treatment others receive, a surgeon's career advancement path would actually be longer than that of a Chinese person.

Therefore, Professor Ryan, an orthopedic surgeon, also performs spinal surgery.

Fang Ziye had already completed the fixation of the acupuncture electrodes. All that remained was the suturing of the implantation and closing of the incision, which could be left to Li Nuo, Sun Shaoqing, and the others.

Tang Yi is now an associate professor, so naturally he can no longer use ordinary suturing techniques for practice; he doesn't have that kind of opportunity anymore.

So, after finishing the operation, Fang Ziye turned around and said in English, "Dear Professor Ryan, good morning, welcome to your long journey."

"However, I have surgeries scheduled and patients to manage this morning, so I couldn't come to pick you up in person."

There is also a distinction between inpatients and outpatients abroad. Ryan himself is also very busy every day and understands the responsibilities of a clinician: "Of course, Professor Fang, your patients will always be waiting for you in the ward."

Ryan didn't go on stage. Instead, he held his head in his hands and asked directly, "Professor Fang, this is unbelievable. The surgery you just performed is completely different from the treatment methods for spinal cord injuries that I know."

"Could you please explain the theoretical basis and principles to me in more detail first?"

"As far as I know, the current treatment for spinal cord injury mainly involves signal transduction via brain-computer interfaces and microcurrent stimulation of nerve roots."

"But you inserted the scalpel directly into the patient's spinal cord and opened the meninges. I just saw it!"

To reiterate, the reason why China's treatment level is not as good as that of the United States is not because the surgeons' skills are inferior.

On the contrary, because the number of patients in China is several times that in the United States, Chinese surgeons have extremely high skill levels and are well-known worldwide.

However, a hand is just a hand after all.

Compared to US hospital teams with better equipment, better facilities, better medical teams, more comprehensive medical systems, and their own rehabilitation therapist teams, even with better procedures, the same surgery may not achieve the same therapeutic effect.

This is a fact, and it must be acknowledged!
“Professor Ryan, what we are doing is using acupuncture electrodes to directly stimulate specific areas inside the spinal cord to activate closed neural pathways.”

"This principle is similar to microcurrent stimulation of nerve roots in order to retrogradely activate closed nerve channels, but it is of a higher quality."

"After nearly six months of preliminary animal testing, we have now received approval for clinical trials..."

"Based on this, we are also doing..." Fang Ziye explained all the work his research group had done.

This is purely a peer and professional exchange, not a show-off effort.

There's nothing to hide. Once you publish your paper, everyone will know what you're doing.

Professor Ryan nodded repeatedly, saying, "I have some knowledge of microcurrent stimulation therapy and chip signal transduction."

"However, we surgeons have never thought of sending microcurrents directly into the middle of the spinal cord; it's terrifying."

“The channels inside the spinal cord are complex and irregular; a slight mistake can worsen existing spinal cord damage.”

"Professor Fang, your team is truly insane—insane ideas, insane operations, insane experiments."

"But it was also a genius idea, a genius operation, a godlike thinking..."

"Professor Fang, is this your first clinical trial patient? Are there any other patients in your ward who have already undergone surgery?"

Fang Ziye nodded: "Of course there are."

"My surgery is finished. If you're interested, Professor Ryan, I can show you around my ward!"

Fang Ziye's answer followed Professor Ryan's custom; in American hospitals, the ward is the attending physician's room, or at least that's the prevailing view.

In China, however, hospital wards actually belong to the departments, and even professors leading the wards are only using them on a borrowed basis; the department is responsible for them.

“This is my good fortune, I made the right decision to come this time!” Professor Ryan clapped Fang Ziye’s hand affectionately.

As you can see, Professor Ryan's palms are wider and the muscles are more powerful than Fang Ziye's.

However, bulging muscles are not necessarily related to actual strength.

Fang Ziye turned to him and instructed, "Li Nuo, Teacher Tang, you two take care of the final touches. Call me before the next surgery starts, and Hu Qingyuan, Qin Geluo, and I will take Professor Ryan to the ward."

“Okay, Professor Fang,” Tang replied naturally in English.

Here, English communication is not a barrier.

Perhaps only circulating nurses and scrub nurses might find the term unfamiliar.

……

"Professor Ryan, this is the surgery our team performed on May 14th. He can now get out of bed and walk with crutches, although his pace is very slow!"

"But he can indeed take steps on his own, and he can even go to the bathroom and sit on the toilet by himself."

"Professor Ryan, our team has some pre-recorded videos of the pre-operative conditions. Would you like to take a look?"

Hu Qingyuan explained in English.

"Of course!~"

After replying, Professor Ryan said, "Dr. Hu, I don't speak Chinese. Could you please convey a request to this patient, asking him to allow me to perform a very thorough examination on him later?"

“You can tell him that I am a very professional orthopedic surgeon. Although I am not a doctor at your hospital, my examination will not affect his condition or recovery.”

"I just want to know his current muscle strength and range of motion."

Hu Qingyuan took out his tablet, found the video he had saved beforehand, handed it to Professor Ryan, and then turned to explain it to the patient.

The patient was a little confused: "Where did this foreigner come from? Is he also a doctor?"

Hu Qingyuan smiled and said, "Yes, Uncle, this is Professor Ryan from the Mayo Clinic in the United States. He is also an orthopedic surgeon. I don't know if he is world-renowned, but his skill level is very high."

"He came to visit my teacher for an academic exchange, and happened to run into my teacher performing surgery in the operating room downstairs, so..."

The patient, around sixty years old, was in high spirits because of his excellent post-operative recovery.

The middle-aged man, whose complexion and overall appearance had improved by at least fifty percent since his admission, rolled his eyes and asked, "Is this the kind of surgery Professor Fang performed, one that even the Mayo Clinic abroad doesn't perform?"

"When I saw him like this, I suddenly thought of some scenes from TV series and movies."

During such a short period of time, those who can get into the hospital for spinal cord injury treatment are not ordinary people.

Because Fang Ziye has not officially announced that he can treat spinal cord injuries, and it is currently only in the clinical trial stage.

To get surgery now, you need inside information. And only a very few people can get their hands on this information.

Since there were already enough cases in the early clinical trials, Fang Ziye naturally wouldn't want to embarrass himself by prematurely publishing his clinical trials on his official website.

There are countless examples of people who opened champagne midway through a celebration, only to end up losing both their reputation and their honor.

Fang Ziye may not care about his reputation, but he would not voluntarily do anything to ruin it.

Avoid becoming arrogant halfway through.

Hu Qingyuan nodded: "Currently, the surgery my teacher performed is unique in the world, and you are the first batch of patients my teacher performed."

Hu Qingyuan's statement was cautious.

This isn't the first one; the previous patients were discharged long ago and are constantly scheduling follow-up surgeries.

However, they were from the same batch.

"Professor Ryan was surprised and wanted to see the patients who had already undergone the surgery to make a more professional comparison."

The middle-aged man chuckled and said, "That's fine, no problem, I'll cooperate perfectly."

There is never any doubt about the patriotism of the Chinese people and their desire to win against other countries!

Professor Ryan said, "Professor Fang, based on the results of this physical examination and the imaging data, this is a very typical lumbar spinal cord injury."

"Moreover, it is a patient with complete paralysis in a full-thickness injury."

"It's incredible." Professor Ryan looked at the patient's current condition again, deeply moved.

“Other research groups are currently working on projects that select patients who still have some function, but the function is very weak, to perform signal transduction and amplify the existing function.”

"I never dared to imagine that someone could help a completely paralyzed patient stand up through some means."

Fang Ziye said, "The other meaning of 'paralysis' is anesthesia, and I think this word best describes the patient's condition. It's not a loss of function, but rather functional paralysis. A paralyzed patient can wake up just like an anesthetized patient..."

Modern medicine originated in the West, so interpreting some theories in English would be more authentic.

However, Fang Ziye himself has a deep understanding of the subject matter and is able to offer a different interpretation of some translations that are not authentic enough, and even add his own understanding to form a new system.

This is the foundation upon which Fang Ziye's research group stands.

"Professor Fang, you are truly a learned scholar; your description is quite exquisite."

"paralysis! anesthesia!"

"A very insightful interpretation."

"Professor Fang, I have reviewed your preoperative physical examination and evidence fixation. It was done very well and allowed me to understand the patient's preoperative condition very intuitively."

"The state of paralysis cannot be staged, and the loss of muscle tone cannot be acted out."

Professor Ryan was very careful with his words; he didn't say that muscle tone was increased or lost, but instead used the word "loss of control".

"Professor Ryan, the patient has agreed to your request for a physical examination. He is ready, and you may proceed with the examination now."

"He also greatly admires the Mayo Clinic where you work," Fang Ziye said, adding a touch of worldly wisdom.

Actually, there's no need for social niceties.

The Mayo Clinic is synonymous with the pinnacle of medicine!

Professor Ryan's examination process was very meticulous, and he explained his purpose to the patient at each step.

It was as tedious as when he was seeing patients in the clinic, so tedious that even Fang Ziye felt a bit "annoyed"!
Dude, you're a doctor in the US too. If you were a doctor in China, at that rate of seeing patients, your outpatients would eat you alive!

In American clinics, there are only a few, at most a dozen, patients a day. They take their time and examine patients carefully, and patients can even look up information during the examination.

The patient is willing to wait.

But it's different in China. Forget about checking information; if you're even a little slow when you're seeing patients, and a patient hasn't come out for ten minutes, someone will start knocking on the door...

Another five minutes passed.

Fang Ziye was really annoyed and interrupted, "Professor Ryan, my next surgery is about to start again. Are you going to continue examining this patient?"

"Do you still want to come to the operating room with me?"

"I must perform the surgery on my patients."

Although we are guests from afar.

But you're taking way too long!

Fang Ziye's interruption was reasonable, and Professor Ryan immediately stopped what he was doing, smiling as he said to the patient, "Thank you for your cooperation, which gave me the opportunity to understand the postoperative recovery process."

Hu Qingyuan provided almost simultaneous translation.

Simultaneous interpretation is difficult for some people, but Hu Qingyuan can multitask and has a photographic memory, making his translations relatively accurate.

"I hope I haven't bothered you. I wish you a speedy recovery and discharge from the hospital so you can enjoy a more perfect life."

There are just as many polite phrases abroad as there are in China; they are just expressed in different ways.

Then, Fang Ziye led Professor Ryan down into the operating room.

Professor Ryan, with great interest, first carefully read through the patient's imaging data, and then consulted Hu Qingyuan and Qin Geluo about the patient's medical records.

The medical records were entirely in Chinese, which was like reading gibberish to him. Therefore, Hu Qingyuan and another person were needed to translate them.

After getting a general understanding, Professor Ryan went out to wash his hands, put on a sterile surgical gown, and came to the operating table to stand close by and observe.

Throughout the process, Professor Ryan's expression and demeanor changed many times, but each time he suppressed his doubts and very politely did not disturb Fang Ziye's surgery.

Putting aside the issue of blindly worshipping foreign things, the atmosphere in the US is better than in China because it shows more respect for others, especially the strong.

Especially when scholars and professionals communicate, they are more empathetic and can put themselves in others' shoes.

It wasn't until more than an hour later that Fang Ziye finished all the operations.

Professor Ryan then asked Qin Geluo, "Dr. Qin, has Professor Fang finished the surgery?"

“Yes, Professor Ryan,” Qingero said.

Professor Ryan then approached Fang Ziye: "Professor Fang, do you have any surgeries scheduled later?"

Professor Ryan learned that Fang Ziye had his own surgery days, with a considerable number of surgeries scheduled each day.

There's another surgery today, and Hu Qingyuan and the others can't guarantee that Fang Ziye won't be on the next one; it all depends on Fang Ziye's mood.

Neither Hu Qingyuan nor Qin Geluo dared to make a decision for Fang Ziye or answer Professor Ryan's question.

"Yes, I have another surgery, a limb-sparing surgery for diabetic foot. This patient's diabetic foot is very complicated, and it will be very difficult for the other doctors in our team to perform it."

"So I have to go."

Upon hearing this, Professor Ryan began to shake his head repeatedly: "Damn diabetic foot, my most hated case, bar none."

"It's not just its stench, but because I've treated twenty cases of diabetic foot and ended up amputating twenty-two of them."

“Severe diabetic foot was my nightmare. Since then, I have vowed never to have diabetic foot again…”

Professor Ryan's expression was somewhat unpleasant, as if he were back in the aftermath of one of his previous surgeries.

"Professor Ryan, if you don't want to watch, you can go and rest over there."

“We have a rest room in our operating room,” Fang Ziye said.

Surgeries abroad are by appointment only, and the surgeon has absolute control over the type of surgery they need to perform, deciding on the procedure based on their own circumstances.

If they say they won't do it, they won't do it. Complaints are useless!
But in China, if you file too many complaints, the medical affairs department will talk to you.

Unless you really have something particularly important to do like Fang Ziye, even someone like Deng Yong would occasionally perform a few procedures on fracture patients to appease public anger.

"no! no! no!"

"I still want to watch. I can tell that watching Professor Fang's surgery is a pleasure."

"It is not only technical and therapeutic, but also aesthetically pleasing."

"The time and effort that doctors in your country put into the operational aspects is still so admirable!" Professor Ryan gave a thumbs up.

Chinese people's handicrafts are basically unbeatable in any industry!
"Thank you for the compliment, Professor Ryan. I'll take it as a sincere compliment," Fang Ziye replied with a smile.

“Of course I mean it, Professor Fang. Now that we’re in a lull between your two surgeries, I have some important questions I’d like to ask you. They’ve been on my mind for a long time…” Ryan said.

“Professor, please speak,” Fang Ziye replied.

"The puncture technique you performed was quite remarkable. How did you determine the target point? How did you assess the depth of the puncture?"

“Please don’t tell me it’s ‘feel,’ ‘feel’…” Ryan emphasized.

Fang Ziye said with a look of regret, "Professor Ryan, that's true. I haven't found any other better objective metrics yet."

"Otherwise, we would have used it on the operating table."

"We are also reviewing the procedures we have already performed using artificial intelligence devices, striving to calculate a formula to guide the angle and direction of punctures..."

Professor Ryan's face turned from red to pale, losing even its original color!

"Are you the devil?"

"You dare to perform surgery on a patient without any objective indicators? Are you relying entirely on vague and unfounded feelings?"

“You shouldn’t have been born.” Professor Ryan was quite frightened, and his voice was loud and horrified.

Of course, after saying that, Professor Ryan added, "Professor Fang, my words were absolutely not meant to insult you, nor to question your professionalism. I believe that you have passed multiple biological trials before the clinical trials!"

"Even so, I still feel that your actions shouldn't exist in the human world..."

“These are hands kissed by God.” Professor Ryan looked at Fang Ziye’s fair and slender hands with fervent admiration.

Fang Ziye flipped his hand and joked, "Professor Ryan, we don't have a God in China. Our Chinese mythology doesn't allow God to enter." (End of Chapter)