Chinese medicine: When you do things to the extreme

Chapter 1 Little Master

August 21st, Heng City, Hunan Province.

The heat in Heng City, scorched by the scorching sun, is hard to dissipate.

In the operating room of the Microsurgery Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Hengnan University, the thick cool breeze from the central air-conditioning dispelled all anxiety.

A skinny middle-aged man with a slightly dark complexion was lying flat on the operating table, his left hand was placed horizontally on the operating table covered with a sterile drape. He glanced at the handsome young man operating on him and asked:

"Doctor, you are so handsome, you don't have many girlfriends, right...?"

Zhou Yanqing shook his head and replied with a smile.

"Doing doctors still need academic qualifications? Is it because you haven't mastered the skills well enough?"

Zhou Yanqing replied in a calm tone.

"Doctor, you need to learn more skills. You can't make a living as a doctor by your looks... Of course, you can make a living by your looks. Rich women nowadays should..."

Zhou Yanqing was wearing a short-sleeved white lab coat, a mask on his face, and a sterile surgical glove on his right hand. He pinched the two ears of the needle holder with his thumb and ring finger, holding the suture upright. He replied in a serious and calm voice: "No more chatting! There are only two needles left!"

"You don't want me to be distracted by talking and sew an extra centimeter in, do you?"

One sentence suppressed the suspicious chatterbox of middle-aged people; Zhou Yanqing finished cutting the thread with the scissors held in his left hand.

The operating room is finally quiet!

Another minute later, Zhou Yanqing finished suturing, disinfected the wound again, covered it with sterile gauze, and then told the patient: "After the suturing is done, you can go to the emergency department to get a tetanus shot and then go home. After you go back, be careful not to let the wound get wet and change the dressing regularly."

The middle-aged man stood up, raised his left hand to look at the gauze, and nodded with satisfaction: "This gauze is as handsome as ours. Last time, one of my co-workers went to a small clinic, and the gauze he applied was a bit crooked."

"It's a bit like my co-worker... this son of a bitch, he hits really hard..."

"Try to talk less...to avoid conflicts with others." Zhou Yanqing, who was packing the debridement bag, paused with his right hand, turned around and carefully gave another 'medical order' that was not very related to medicine.

"Doctor...I talk a lot..." the middle-aged man turned around and asked as he got out of bed and walked out.

Zhou Yanqing ignored him - respect other people's fate.

After leaving the operating room in middle age, he began to have "freedom of speech" with the intern girls in the department.

The intern girl's voice was soft and youthful: "Of course, doctors in small clinics are usually undergraduates at most, but Dr. Zhou is a master's student in hand surgery. His undergraduate degree is also from Hengnan University."

"He is more professional than many surgeons in our hospital in treating minor wounds on his hands..."

"I do not believe…"

……

"Doctor Zhou, the patient who suspected that you didn't have good skills and didn't study hard has finally passed away! I'm so angry." The first words Xiao Jianli said after entering the operating room were to release her emotions, her eyes wide open.

"Doctor Zhou, you are obviously the most diligent, hardworking, and most outstanding professional master's student in our department."

Xiao Jianli is an intern nurse in our hospital and will be able to stay in the hospital after completing her internship.

After tidying up the debridement bag and the operating table, Zhou Yanqing took off his gloves and walked to the sink: "Xiao Li, it's ok for you to brag to the patient, but it's a bit unkind of you to flatter me in front of me."

"I'm just a junior master's degree student, and this is the First Affiliated University of Hengda!"

Hengnan University is a very good undergraduate institution in Hunan Province, and its clinical medicine major is one of its top majors.

Because it is an affiliated teaching hospital of an old university, the structure of the specialist departments is clear, with chief physicians, deputy chief physicians, attending physicians in a hierarchical sequence...

A professional master's degree can barely be considered a small clerk in the department.

There are six professional masters in hand surgery alone!

Xiao Jianli put her hands behind her back and said seriously, "I'm not bragging to my patients."

"I heard from my instructor that doctors who can suture in the ward all came from the training room."

"It's very difficult for ordinary surgeons to break into our hand surgery practice room!"

The practice room is a skill training room, which the hospital has invested heavily in building for its doctors and medical students to learn and practice operational skills.

Suturing is a core skill of hand surgery. To perform suturing in the hand surgery ward and on the operating table, the requirements are higher than those for general surgery.

"Every profession has its own specialties. Naturally, each surgical technique has different emphases. How can they be compared?" Zhou Yanqing washed his hands, dried them with a tissue, threw the tissue into the trash can, and walked out of the operating room. His tone was calm and he was very self-aware.

Watching Zhou Yanqing's angular face passing by, Xiao Jianli, who was still at the age where appearance was justice, breathed a little faster, turned around and followed, her voice soft and gentle:
"Doctor Zhou, I saw in the hospital's third batch of recruitment notice released last month that our hand surgery department has a master's degree recruitment quota. Did Director Dong prepare it specifically for you, Doctor Zhou?"

Director Dong is the administrative director of the ward and has the power over personnel recruitment!

It is now August, and Zhou Yanqing's second year of master's degree is about to end. He will soon enter his graduation year and face the issue of employment.

Zhou Yanqing paused, shook his head and sighed: "As a rule, our hospital only recruits doctors with a PhD."

"The occasional master's degree quota is only reserved for the 'moonlighting' masters from prestigious universities."

Xiao Jianli has a slim figure. The mask covers most of her face, leaving only a pair of big eyes that are very lively.

She ran out quietly and quickly, and after catching up with Zhou Yanqing, her ears slightly reddened as she whispered, "Doctor Zhou, what is a 'moonlighting' master?" She thought Zhou Yanqing was the senior doctor in the department and pretended not to understand.

Xiao Jianli, who is 1.7 meters tall, is only about as tall as Zhou Yanqing's nose.

"The masters of moonlighting are exceptionally good graduate students! Most of them have the ability to take the doctoral exams at prestigious universities, but because the number of doctoral places is limited, they are forced to find jobs after failing the competition."

"Masters from Xiangya Hospital and Sun Yat-sen University Hospital... three brothers from our class?" Zhou Yanqing could only hesitate to speak.

Zhou Yanqing is a professional master in the department and has a mentor who is a chief physician in the group. He went to inquire about the announcement as soon as the hospital released it.

The result of just asking around is that you leave with high hopes but return with low hopes.

Xiao Jianli heard this, her small eyes moved around a bit, and she took the initiative to say, "Isn't that similar to how you, Doctor Zhou, failed the re-examination for a prestigious university and had to be transferred to our hospital for graduate studies? Can you be considered a moonlighting undergraduate student?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yanqing's expression turned serious and he turned to look at Xiao Jianli!
I didn’t reply, but went straight to the doctor’s office!
Very, very few people know that they were transferred back to Hengda No. 1 High School!
Xiao Jianli realized that she might have stabbed Zhou Yanqing's soft spot, and it hurt so much that she hurried to the doctor's office to explain: "Doctor Zhou... don't be angry, I didn't mean anything else, I just meant this."

"Yes, yes, our hospital still has special quotas."

"Director Dong also said that there is a ladder in the department. If you pass the level in the training room, you can stay in the hospital directly! Doctor Zhou, you still have many, many, many opportunities."

"I heard that you almost fainted from low blood sugar while practicing in the training room..."

"So, Dr. Zhou, I bought you some chocolates just in case. I put them in your backpack!"

Xiao Jianli spoke in a panic and illogical manner before focusing on the chocolate.

Looking at Xiao Jianli's anxious and honest expression, Zhou Yanqing's slightly rippling mood gradually calmed down.

Although I don't know how Xiao Jianli knew that I was transferred back to study for a master's degree, the fundamental reason for this result was not Xiao Jianli.

Zhou Yanqing pulled out a chair, sat down, took off his mask with one hand, tilted his head, revealing his handsome face, and smiled very steadily: "I'm not angry. I still need to write the operation record of this patient just now."

"You know, the department now stipulates that electronic operation records must be kept..."

At this point, Zhou Yanqing pursed his lips and said, "Recruitment for those who stay in the hospital depends on their own abilities. I need to find a job. There are not enough places for doctoral students. Masters from prestigious universities who failed the doctoral exam also need to find a job."

"Life is full of regrets, just try your best and don't regret it."

Then Zhou Yanqing chuckled: "Director Dong is the leader, he has to give us motivation."

"This ladder you mentioned is actually prepared for the doctors who come to our hospital to pay higher talent introduction fees. Doctors who graduated from Xiangya Hospital can't get through...our little master's degree?"

"Wouldn't it be better to dream more realistically and pursue a doctorate?"

Zhou Yanqing spread his hands: "So it is more practical and realistic to expect to stay in the hospital."

There are very few doctoral places in hand surgery, which are basically limited to top universities. If you want to study for a doctorate, you have to face the university bullies who have successfully passed the doctoral exam - the "moonlighting" master-making machine.

Xiao Jianli extracted the key words of Zhou Yanqing and was surprised: "Doctor Zhou, do you still want to study for a doctorate?"

Zhou Yanqing nodded naturally: "Of course I will go to study for a doctorate if I can! Education is the best stepping stone to find a job, and it is also the most direct shortcut."

"If you get a Ph.D. and then come to our hospital to look for a job, you don't have to worry about whether you are a moonlighting expert from a prestigious university, right? You can also get some talent introduction money, how great is that?"

"However, my current scientific research output is limited, and it is almost impossible to please my doctoral supervisor!" Zhou Yanqing sighed.

When I took the re-examination for my master's degree at Jishuitan University, I scored 412 points in the written test and was the first in the orthopedics department, but I was rejected because I had no scientific research results.

The doctoral program is based on an application and assessment system, or in other words, it is a system where one tries to please the supervisor by publishing the most papers possible.

Thinking of pursuing a Ph.D. with just one SCI paper in zone 3 and one meta-analysis?

Zhou Yanqing himself found it really funny.

Zhou Yanqing was even more aware that with his current scientific research achievements compared to those 'moonlighting' masters, it would be a humiliation for him to stay in the hospital!

In fact, according to the current unspoken rules of hospital recruitment, academic qualifications are given priority, followed by articles, relationships are third, and finally operations.

In fact, Zhou Yanqing didn't have many opportunities...

Xiao Jianli was so frightened when she heard this that she smacked her lips and left.

Zhou Yanqing was sitting in front of the computer in the office, pretending to look at the computer screen, but actually looking at a transparent panel that only he could see, as if he was thinking about something.

Green text on transparent background.

[Achieved 1000 sutures for patients (1000/1000). Suture experience points: 2 points, medal: sutures.]

[Medal (Thousands of Hammers): Unique effect. The first time you complete 1000 operations of all medical skills, you will gain 1 point of corresponding medical experience.]

[Suture skill improved from (Proficient 2/3) to (Expert 1/5)]

【Unlock daily tasks...】

Just after completing the debridement and suturing for this patient, the task of suturing the patient a thousand times was completed.

Zhou Yanqing clearly felt a warm current flowing through his hands, and murmured softly: "I don't know if it's true or just my imagination..."

(End of this chapter)