A Tale of Two Cities Supporting Xinjiang

Since Zhou Yi successfully completed the hospital's first "right-sided small-incision mitral valve repair", his judgment has been completely confirmed: the hospital's existing equipment and conditions are fully capable of supporting the performance of this type of minimally invasive surgery.

As he emerged from the operating room, he had only one thought in his mind: whenever he encountered a patient who met the criteria, he would recommend this minimally invasive and quick-recovery surgical procedure to them.

But as soon as this idea began to emerge in the department, it was immediately dampened by Director Nurbahati.

When a patient came to inquire about mitral valve surgery, Zhou Yigang had only explained half of the advantages of minimally invasive surgery when Nurbahati happened to pass by. "Listen to me," he said, "I am the head of the department and I have performed this kind of surgery for more than ten years. I still recommend choosing traditional open surgery."

When it comes to heart-related matters, being safe and steady is paramount, and the patients have all recovered very well.

Those fancy little incisions may look less invasive, but the risks are just as high.

We had a case like that in our hospital before, and the postoperative complications were very serious…”

The patient became flustered by what Nurbahati said and immediately changed his mind.

Zhou Yi stood aside, knowing that there was no point in continuing to argue with Nurbahati.

However, when he encounters patients like this again, he prefers to communicate with them individually about the precautions for the surgery.

To keep his skills sharp and to accumulate more data, Zhou Yi spent all his spare time in the laboratory, practicing the right-sided small incision mitral valve repair procedure again and again.

Once, Nurbahati passed by the laboratory and caught a glimpse of Zhou Yi operating a laparoscope. The instruments moved nimbly in the confined space, and the suturing and knotting were done very quickly.

But instead of praising him, he scoffed, "So what if the wound is small? Heart surgery is a life-threatening job; you have to rely on real skills to get through it."

What kind of proper surgeon relies on equipment to fill space? What if the equipment malfunctions during surgery, or the lesion is missed due to limited visibility? Who will take responsibility then?

Zhou Yi was a quiet person who didn't like to argue. He also knew that Nurbahati had a deep-seated prejudice against his skills, so it would be a waste of breath to say anything more.

But Nurbahati had no intention of giving up.

During departmental meetings, Nurbahati repeatedly hinted, "Some young comrades shouldn't always be thinking about taking shortcuts. If you don't lay a solid foundation, you'll stumble sooner or later."

Heart surgery is no joke. If something goes wrong on the operating table, who will be responsible for the patient's safety? Who can bear the consequences for the department's reputation and the hospital's image?

The underlying meaning of the words was clear to everyone present.

Zhou Yi simply sat in the corner, pretending to be nonchalant.

To hone his surgical skills to the point where he could perform procedures with ease on the operating table, Zhou Yi decided to practice more.

However, ever since Nurbahati discovered his simulations of this kind of training in the laboratory, he has taken control of the facility and now requires Nurbahati's personal consent to use it.

That day, Zhou Yi pretended to be nonchalant and went to Nurbahati.

"Director, I'd like to apply for access to the laboratory."

"The lab prioritizes preparations for routine surgeries, why are you getting involved?"

Zhou Yi immediately spoke frankly, saying, "I want to practice minimally invasive surgery, but I'm worried that my skills might become rusty if I don't practice in this area for a long time."

"Your fancy techniques are still immature. You still have some time to strengthen our traditional surgical techniques to avoid medical accidents, in which case the department will have to cover for you."

Zhou Yi reluctantly turned and left, holding the application form in his hand.

As soon as he left, the door to Nurbahati's office was pushed open, and his trusted confidant, Xiao Li, peeked in. Seeing that no one was around, he approached the desk and advised, "Director, I specifically asked him for the animal experiment videos of Zhou Yi's minimally invasive surgery before, and they're really not just for show."

It's much less invasive than the open abdominal surgery we do now, and the recovery is much faster. How about... our department gives it a try?

"Try? Try what!"

Before Xiao Li could reply, Nurbahati's voice rose eight octaves, his anger flaring: "I've worked in cardiac surgery for over ten years, performed hundreds, if not thousands, of surgeries, and saved more lives than I've ever seen cases! Am I really less capable than some greenhorn who's only been in the department for a few days?"

"His technique is just sensationalism. It hasn't even undergone extensive clinical trials. Who knows if problems will arise later? If something goes wrong with patients, who will take responsibility? He'll be finished sooner or later!"

"Yes, yes, Director, you're right. I didn't think it through."

Xiao Li was so angry at the shouting that he didn't dare to breathe. He nodded repeatedly in apology and quietly retreated.

Zhou Yi soon heard about these things from other colleagues in the department.

Some people sympathized with him, while others were amused and exaggerated Nurbahat's words.

If it were anyone else, they might have already started arguing with Nurbahati, but Zhou Yi didn't utter a single word in rebuttal.

He knew perfectly well that saying anything more at this point would be useless; empty words would only make people think he was a sore loser and was making excuses.

Back in his office, Zhou Yi locked the door and pulled out experimental data from minimally invasive surgeries he had performed at his former workplace.

He meticulously reorganized the success rate, postoperative complication rate, and organ function recovery indicators for each of the thirty experiments, fearing even the slightest mistake.

Furthermore, he created a comparative chart, listing his minimally invasive surgery data against the data from traditional open abdominal surgeries commonly used in the department.

It's easy to tell at a glance which has less trauma, which recovers faster, and which has fewer complications.

Looking at the numbers on the chart, Zhou Yi secretly struggled in his heart: if he wanted to convince Nurbahati, gain the approval of the people in the department, and even benefit more heart patients, talking was useless; he had to produce tangible results.

One day, he will let the data speak for itself and shatter everyone's prejudices.

Since the laboratory was unavailable, Zhou Yi simply spent all his rest time in the office, continuing to practice simulating surgical procedures.

Zhou Yi's persistence didn't take long before a turning point came.

The higher-level health commission organized a team of experts to come to the hospital to carry out mentoring and training programs. The leader was none other than Professor Cao, a leading authority in the field of cardiac surgery in China.

Even more coincidentally, Professor Cao was also Nurbahati's mentor during his advanced studies.

Upon hearing the news, Nurbahati immediately began to have ideas.

He knew that Professor Cao valued clinical results the most. If he could perform well at the presentation, he could not only show off in front of his mentor, but also consolidate his position in the department. More importantly, he could completely hide Zhou Yi's right-side small incision technique to avoid any unforeseen complications.

After thinking it over, Nurbahati hurriedly ran to Dean Zhang Jianguo's office.

As soon as he entered, he beamed and bent over slightly: "Dean, I heard that Professor Cao is bringing a team of experts. This is great news for our hospital!"

"What, you have ideas?"

"you do not say!"

Nuerbahati quickly stepped forward and said, "I have worked in the cardiology department of our hospital for more than ten years and have accumulated a lot of solid clinical cases, especially in the area of ​​traditional open mitral valve surgery. Our hospital's success rate is among the best in the region."

I'd like to take this opportunity to speak at the briefing and give a proper overview of our department's achievements in cardiology, so that Professor Cao and the experts can see our capabilities!

Fearing the hospital director might disagree, Nurbahati quickly added, "Don't worry, I will definitely prepare the materials carefully, focusing on the typical cases we've handled over the years, and make sure to explain our advantages thoroughly. I absolutely won't let the hospital down!"

Zhang Jianguo felt that Nurbahati was indeed a senior member of the cardiology department with rich clinical experience, so it was reasonable for him to report on the results. He nodded and said, "Okay, then this reporting task is assigned to you. Remember to highlight the results, combine them with actual cases, and don't make things up."

"Yes, thank you for your trust, Dean. I guarantee I will complete the mission successfully."

On the way back, Nurbahati was already planning how to exaggerate his own contributions and take all the credit for the team's efforts.