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

Chapter 173 Time is the best wine!
"Mom, I've started cooking the rice, and I've already cut the meat and put it in the fridge. You can cook it yourself when you get back..."

"I'll text you again after I receive Nan Shu to see if you're coming back for dinner." Lu Cheng texted Tian Hui as he drove to Zhang City.

"I'm back, so I can cook for myself. You should get some rest." Tian Hui's reply was slightly reproachful, knowing that Lu Cheng had worked the night shift yesterday.

"There weren't many cases in the emergency room yesterday, so I took a nap in the examination room. I also bought you a case of soda water, remember to take it and drink it."

"There's almost no room left at home." After sending the message, Lu Cheng started the car and set off.

Tian Hui's voice message came back: "You haven't finished drinking the ones you bought before, why did you buy more? Actually, the water you mentioned doesn't taste good, it's a bit sweet."

"Whether it's sweet or not is another matter. When you had your last checkup, the doctor said you have chronic gastritis, so you'll have to take medicine and recover slowly."

"Drinking slightly alkaline water is good. Remember to eat breakfast in the morning; you can't let your health suffer. I'll be counting on you to help me take care of the kids in the future..."

"When?" Tian Hui asked, her interest piqued.

Lu Cheng didn't reply to her again, firstly because they had already officially set off, and secondly because he wasn't sure about the matter.

……

At 4 p.m., Lu Cheng got back on the highway near Hehua Airport in Zhangjiakou.

Mu Nanshu glanced at Lu Cheng: "You're planning to starve if I don't bring you any steamed buns?"

Lu Cheng replied with a smile, "Doesn't Mayor Zhang have a dish called 'Sanxia Guo'? I was originally planning to take you there to try it."

"How did you feel about your trip to Henan Province?"

Lu Cheng had only heard of the Universe's Number One Hospital, but had never seen it.

"It's just so-so. The weather there is very dry. I'm not used to it. And I don't think I brought back any local specialties."

"Do you have any other plans later? My dad said if you don't have any other plans, he wants you to go directly to Jilin City."

After listening, Lu Cheng remained silent for a while: "Professor Tong Yuan'an called this morning and asked me to go see him this afternoon."

"But you can push it."

Lu Cheng didn't try any tricks with Mu Nanshu, mainly because he didn't know if Uncle Mu Leng had something important to discuss with him.

The night shifts in the emergency room are so irregular that there is always a day off after a night shift.

"Then let's find another time. My dad and the others will be back around the 20th."

Mu Nanshu adjusted his seatbelt: "I tried contacting Zhang Xibei last night. After hearing about our situation, he hesitated, mainly because he felt our team was too weak."

Lu Cheng glanced at Mu Nanshu: "Professor Tong Yuan'an from Xiangya Hospital is leading the team, and you call that weak?"

"Professor Tong is not well-known in the scientific research field. The research team that Zhang Xibei used to be in was much larger than the team that Professor Tong was in."

"Even Professor Tan's research team at Xiangya Hospital is about the same as the team he was in before."

After explaining, Mu Nanshu added, "However, he didn't explicitly refuse. The climate in Ning Province is worse, so Dr. Zhang probably wants to move to the south."

“If you have the chance, we can go and visit him. He is now a general surgeon, and you should have some common ground with him.”

Lu Cheng then joked, "You invited me to Ning Province, are you sure it's just to visit someone, and not to bring back local specialties?"

"What local specialty?" Mu Nanshu didn't react for a moment.

Lu Cheng replied, "Goji berries."

Unexpectedly, Mu Nanshu did not blush. Instead, after a moment of silence, she said quite generously, "If you have something you can't say, I can go with you to see it."

Lu Cheng was instantly defeated. He was certain that this Mu Nanshu was much more mature than the Mu Nanshu of the past.

She is not only an expert in scientific research, but also holds her own when interacting with Professor Chen Song and others, and has already developed her own distinct style.

……

In Longxian County, near the You River, an open-air barbecue stall is bathed in the gentle autumn breeze. The lights are warm and inviting.

Lu Cheng and Tong Yuan'an each had four bottles of beer in front of them! Lu Cheng was using a bottle opener to open the bottles.

Mu Nanshu took a bottle of soda water, took a slow sip, and said, "Professor Tong, what do you think of my suggestion just now?"

"A technique can only be called a technique if it can be promoted. Otherwise, it is just personal operation and talent."

"If Lu Cheng really wants to personally take charge, the data he publishes will be something that no one else can replicate."

"But if a beginner's operation is of a certain level and can be repeated by other peers, it will be more convincing."

Tong Yuan'an's chubby face was furrowed, his gaze sweeping over Mu Nanshu, his expression inscrutable, and he did not answer.

Mu Nanshu continued, "Of course, if it's inconvenient for you, Professor Tong, to call someone, I can arrange for someone to come over. This won't affect the overall progress of the experiment."

"Actually, if you just want to learn how to operate it, you can call someone from Xiangzhou People's Hospital. It just takes a little longer."

Mu Nanshu's voice wasn't loud, but his tone was rather aggressive.

Mu Nanshu not only asked Tong Yuan'an to call a few graduate students from Xiangya Hospital to help, but also asked Tong Yuan'an to get some funding.

They also provided a fallback option: if you have no money or connections, you can simply say so, and I'll make arrangements.

The implication is that you don't have to do it, but I, Mu Nanshu, can plan everything before and after the project.

However, to make the research more convincing, the initial data should not be too high, so as to avoid the situation where someone tries to replicate the research but cannot reproduce the data in the paper.

Tong Yuan'an glanced at Lu Cheng, and although he didn't say anything, his resentful gaze and expression completely revealed his aggrieved feeling.

I'm an associate professor, how come I'm at such a disadvantage when discussing research topics?

You, my girlfriend?

Lu Cheng could understand Tong Yuan'an's situation at this moment, so he said, "Professor Tong, I don't know much about scientific research, but I think what Xiao Shu said makes sense. When I went to Peking Union Medical College Hospital to study before..."

"Professor Zhong also expressed a similar idea to me."

If Lu Cheng didn't have Mu Nanshu, then it would be great to cooperate with Tong Yuan'an, with Lu Cheng providing the effort and Tong Yuan'an providing the money.

But with Mu Nanshu, Mu Nanshu can get money, he can get people, and he even has his own research funding.

If Mu Nanshu provided the money and applied for research grants, and Lu Cheng provided the manpower, then what is Tong Yuan'an here for?
This statement is direct, even somewhat snobbish, but it is an unavoidable topic in the field of scientific research.

It's impossible for units at the same level to take credit for each other. No matter which hospital is more prestigious, Peking Union Medical College Hospital doesn't need to cater to Xiangya Hospital, and vice versa.

The main thing is that Lu Cheng is currently in control of the core technology. You, Tong Yuan'an, can take your own methods back and do it yourself. That's fine. Everyone can do their own thing.

However, one thing that cannot be ignored is that Tong Yuan'an was Lu Cheng's teacher, and had taught Lu Cheng some techniques before.

However, for Tong Yuan'an, there is another thing he cannot avoid: it is now difficult for him to get along with Lu Cheng as a teacher.

What should we teach?
Functional reconstruction? Longxian People's Hospital doesn't have that level of expertise; none of their anesthesiologists have senior professional titles, so it's a veto.

flap transplantation?

In the emergency department, skin defects are elective conditions and are not within the scope of emergency surgery.

Tong Yuan'an sighed: "Xiao Mu, you're too ruthless. It sounds like you're trying to get something for nothing."

"So, in this sense, I've contributed money, manpower, and effort again."

Mu Nanshu said, "Teacher Tong, you've misunderstood. Currently, functional reconstruction in hand surgery is a highly competitive area for all hand surgeons. It's a technique that's been mentioned but not yet perfected."

"Of course, the key point is the series of procedures related to nerve suturing, but tendon suturing is also an important component of functional reconstruction."

Whether improvements to tendon suturing techniques can advance the development of functional reconstruction remains to be seen.

"This is a topic worthy of long-term discussion and research. Professor Tong, you are also a professional researcher, so you certainly don't want to just dabble in this field, do you?"

"No matter which team it is, if they can develop their own unique characteristics in a small aspect, that is enough to establish themselves in the domestic and even the world."

Even if it's just tendon stitches.

Mu Nanshu had never been to the hand surgery department, but she had spent many years at Stanford University and was very clear about the current direction of medical development, which is the specialization route.

If you build a brand in a particular field, even if it's just about being the best in the country at tendon suturing, you'll have a constant stream of patients.

"Professor Tong, please don't forget that there is currently no universally accepted standard for tendon revision surgery."

"Besides standard trauma, tendon rupture can also occur through elective procedures such as tendon fusion and tendon contracture..."

Mu Nanshu didn't say anything lofty or sophisticated, but her strength lay in her solid foundation in various fundamentals. After reading relevant literature for a period of time, she quickly found a breakthrough.

Tendon rupture is an emergency, but not all tendon ruptures occur only in emergency trauma cases.

A glint flashed in Tong Yuan'an's eyes: "Okay...that's fine."

Currently, in the field of hand surgery, no matter how well you replant a severed finger, it's just a cliché.

There are probably at least eighty, if not a hundred, professors nationwide who are good at limb replantation. If you put this kind of thing at a hand surgery academic conference, people won't even bother to listen. How good can you be?

However, regarding some rare diseases, opinions are generally divided, resulting in a highly contentious debate.

Therefore, in this situation, if you want to stand out, the only way is to explore 'niche' technologies, turn them into your own benchmark, and make them the benchmark of the industry.

For example, the perforator flap, which is highly recommended by Professor Tan of Xiangya Hospital, is the foundation of Professor Tan Zhongyuan's expertise.

There's also the nerve suturing technique, which is strongly promoted by some professors at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. That's the foundation of Peking Union Medical College Hospital's consistent approach to pedagogy.

Limb replantation and its derivative techniques at Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital and Huashan Hospital...

“Professor Tong, I am not a professional hand surgeon, but I have heard Lu Cheng say that the suturing technique in hand surgery is actually to rebuild the order of life through suturing.”

"This is the fundamental point that all suturing techniques must be based on. Since this is the fundamental point, the evolution of suturing techniques is nothing more than based on this."

"Tang suture already has its own professional learning and recommendation process. Our team's suture techniques should also find these things so that other colleagues can learn them in a way that is traceable, rather than relying purely on personal talent."

“Once a surgical technique is developed, we also need to develop its learning pathways so that it can be disseminated.” “After it is disseminated, not only patients will benefit, but we ourselves will also benefit.”

"Professor Tong, you can also apply for a teaching research project based on this while you are bringing people here."

“There’s no need to pursue provincial-level research projects; school-level projects are sufficient. Teaching research projects are the most compelling evidence for teaching titles…” Mu Nanshu said.

Tong Yuan'an's expression changed drastically: "You want to treat learning this sewing technique as a research project?"

"why?"

Mu Nanshu replied incisively: "Technology can be eliminated, but the essence of teaching will never be eliminated."

"I think that currently in China, research in this area is almost non-existent, and people are just superficially learning about things like flipped classrooms from abroad."

"Moreover, my own abilities and qualifications are not good, so I encountered a lot of obstacles when learning professional skills. I thought deeply about how to learn this thing better."

"Of course we didn't get an answer... it's just that we happen to be working on this kind of research, and it's a good opportunity to bring the teaching topic along with it..."

"This research topic, based on the study of tendon suturing techniques, is unique because our research group's techniques are newly developed, and no other team besides us can focus on this."

"The issue of absolute competitiveness is something we must definitely overcome."

"You're not worried about having too much funding for your research project, right..."

After finishing his sentence, Mu Nanshu continued, "The programs I learned in the past were mostly based on technical training courses, but whether the teaching effectiveness of these courses was actually good or not is still debatable..."

"Currently, the training courses held in China are generally short-term and mainly focus on observation with little hands-on practice."

Is it possible to reverse these two approaches and achieve better results?

Tong Yuan'an replied, "How do we practice? On patients?"

Mu Nanshu: "Use animals for practice. Establish standard animal testing models."

"It has a more clinical feel than on inanimate materials like pig's trotters."

Tong Yuan'an was silenced again.

All things considered, Mu Nanshu had actually been planning this all along.

Clinical research projects are necessary, but standard animal experimental models must also be established.

Mu Nanshu has developed his own systematic understanding of scientific research.

This is something all researchers should consider, but in reality, many research teams around the world skip this step.

It's not that we don't want to do it, but it's troublesome and fraught with difficulties, which would make the already long research cycle even more complicated...

Mu Nanshu, that little girl, has big ambitions.

Tong Yuan'an then glanced at Lu Cheng. Lu Cheng was still the same Lu Cheng, but with Mu Nanshu by his side, it was hard for Tong Yuan'an to predict what Lu Cheng would become in the future.

How did he end up with a girlfriend like that?

……

Integrity Square, the walkway surrounding the residential area.

Lu Cheng asked, "You were so harsh with Professor Tong today. Won't that make him think something else?"

Mu Nanshu stood with his hands behind his back, quite confidently: "How could that be?"

"If Professor Tong wants to take a more advanced teaching approach, as long as he has this idea, he can't help but act on it."

"If he really doesn't want to leave, then forget it, we'll just expand the business ourselves."

"Our main task for the next period of time is to find a way to bring Dr. Zhang over here."

Upon hearing this, Lu Cheng nodded slowly: "If that's the case, then our team does indeed need a more professional animal model researcher."

"Such talent is hard to find. Anyone with even a little skill will be directly booked by major teams."

Mu Nanshu sighed: "Our team isn't very competitive, so we can only look for loopholes."

Lu Cheng glanced at Mu Nanshu: "Is it easy to find someone like this abroad?"

"They're not easy to find, but once you do, the pay is very high, and they're treated like royalty by various medical device companies. Their annual salary is something that clinical doctors can't compare to." Mu Nanshu shook her head.

"Of course, I can't go down that path. Such talent requires exceptional surgical skills to create a standard animal model."

"Even more extreme cases can directly replicate a certain disease or symptom in clinical practice on animals, allowing clinicians to practice recklessly and boldly until they become proficient and skilled. Then, when they return to clinical practice, they can dominate the field."

"As you know, the volume of surgeries is the fundamental weapon of a surgeon. The difference between the proficiency gained from 10,000 surgeries and the proficiency gained from 1,000 surgeries is immense."

"Actually, I think the key to bringing Dr. Zhang here is probably my junior colleague."

“But she went to Zhengzhou University Affiliated High School again, and it gave me a headache.” Mu Nanshu rubbed his temples.

Lu Cheng comforted him, "If you have a headache, don't think about it. Take it slow. According to you, this kind of project can have a timeline that can be extended to three to five years."

"This is just the beginning."

Mu Nanshu said, "We could have been in no hurry, but you really need this stepping stone right now, so it would be best if we could get the provincial-level research project before the end of the year."

"Time is running out... Preparing the tender documents isn't easy..."

"You'll be very busy for the next while."

"Didn't you tell me the day before yesterday that there were too many participants in this year's microsurgical skills competition, and the organizers simply couldn't accommodate them all, so they changed the rules?"

"Except for staff from top teaching hospitals who can participate directly, everyone else needs to be recommended from across the province to participate."

"Otherwise, the sheer number of teams from prefecture-level city hospitals across the country rushing over there would be enough to paralyze the organizers in Shaanxi Province."

Initially, there weren't many participants in the microsurgery competition, so it was an application-based system.

Basically, once you register, you can participate, since this competition is just for 'entertainment'.

The initial intention was entertainment, but this is, after all, a national official competition with official backing. If you achieve good results here, you can be in a class of your own, if not in the whole province, but at least in the whole city.
The number of patients in prefecture-level city hospitals is limited, so how can the hand surgery departments of various units not rush to compete for patients?

With so many participants, the organizers couldn't keep up, so they had to resort to a recommendation system, with the hand surgery professional committees of each provincial capital recommending a number of people to participate.

Controlling the number of participants makes the competition more high-quality and easier to manage.

"The selection exam for the state hospital is in November, and now there's an additional provincial-level competition in between."

“Our research proposal is useless now,” Lu Cheng said, biting his lip.

Plans obviously can't keep up with changes!
Mu Nanshu said, "It's alright. With Professor Tong and Professor Chen Song here, your selection exam shouldn't be a big problem."

"At least in the areas of hand surgery and emergency medicine, once they asked around, the examination process became much less likely to be unfair."

“If no one pays attention to something, you can be bolder, but if someone is paying attention to it, why do you have to do all sorts of unnecessary things?”

"Then we have no choice but to submit. Everyone in the provincial party committee compound has taken action; what else can we do?"

Lu Cheng frowned: "Would Professor Chen Song be willing to ask him?"

Mu Nanshu nodded: "The project you and Professor Chen collaborated on is at least ten times more meaningful than Professor Tong's project."

"Actually, if you want to go to hand surgery, it's quite easy."

"In the emergency department, it's a bit more difficult because hand surgery is a subspecialty, and its capabilities are readily apparent."

"But the competitive exams in the emergency department test your comprehensive abilities," Mu Nanshu said.

Lu Cheng said confidently, "I'll go to the emergency department. There are more surgeries I can be involved in there, which is more advantageous for me."

Mu Nanshu suddenly said, "Today, my dad actually wanted you to go to Jilin City to see the head of the emergency department."

Upon hearing this, Lu Cheng immediately glanced at the time and said with a slightly reproachful tone, "Why didn't you say so earlier? I should have gone."

Getting acquainted beforehand, even without needing connections, can still build rapport.

Mu Nanshu said, "You said you made an appointment with Professor Tong, and I think it's good to see Professor Tong first. We can also see Director Xiao of the Emergency Department in a few days."

Seeing the slight doubt in Lu Cheng's eyes, Mu Nanshu said, "This Director Xiao is actually related to my family."

"Although it's a bit far, we ended up talking about the same thing."

"You don't need to worry about this for now."

“Oh…” Lu Cheng nodded.

Xiangzhou is large, but not that large. Sometimes, personal relationships can even backfire and end up affecting you.

"Are you coming to Shashi with me next week, on the 24th or 25th?" Lu Cheng asked.

Because the competition format for the microsurgery competition changed, the Hunan Provincial Hand Surgery Association had to temporarily add a provincial competition.

The announcement was sent yesterday, and Lu Cheng registered immediately.

Making money isn't shameful.

The competition will be held on October 24th and 25th, a very short period.

"We'll see..." Mu Nanshu thought seriously for a moment, then gestured with her right index finger to Lu Cheng, her voice clear and crisp: "We'll see when the time comes..."

Mu Nanshu is not young anymore, and so is Lu Cheng.

This time, she really agreed to go with Lu Cheng, and Mu Nanshu knew perfectly well what might happen.

I wouldn't say I was nervous, but I was definitely a little apprehensive.

……

(End of this chapter)