Chapter 37: First time showing off in the new place

Translator: imperfectluck  Editor: Kurisu

Chasu City Hospital had many patients. Chasu City was too far away from the provincial capital, so individuals who became ill could only come here rather than visit the even better provincial hospital. After Zhang Fan started working here, Gao Shijun arranged for him to work as a team with Li Hongtu. To be honest, Zhang Fan wanted to change departments to gain more experience in other surgical fields, but realized that it would be impossible for him to do so now with how Gao Shijun was.

Li Hongtu was the nice person type, and wasn’t bossy at all. Putting him together with Zhang Fan would be the best for the latter to use his skills to the fullest. Meanwhile, Wu Jinxi’s team no longer received any patients whatsoever. All he did every day was argue with Gao Shijun in the department’s daily morning meetings.

Li Hongtu received a patient who was a woman more than seventy years old who had broken her femur bone. Her overall health was alright. She had been mopping at home when she slipped and broke her femur. Now, she would require an artificial hip replacement surgery.

“How are you with hip replacement surgeries? Have you done them before?” Gao Shijun asked Zhang Fan in his director’s office.

“Not a problem. I often performed this surgery back when I was studying at Bluebird City Hospital.”

“Alright. You’ll be the main surgeon for this operation, then.”

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Artificial hip replacement surgery meant that a metal artificial joint would be implanted into a person’s body using surgery to replace the shattered joint. There were many advantages to using artificial joints, such as improved joint flexibility, being able to walk again earlier, and reducing the time elderly patients spent in a hospital bed.

“Okay, I’ll prepare for the surgery.”

“Yep. For the time being, you can use medical equipment from Li Qiong. You’re probably not familiar with the others’ equipment, and Mrs. Li is easy to talk to.” This artificial hip replacement surgery would require four doctors. Among orthopedic surgeries, this counted as a major surgery. Li Hongtu would be the primary surgical assistant, while Gao Shijun’s disciples Xue Fei and Zhou Chengfu would be the secondary and tertiary surgical assistant, respectively.

Although Gao Shijun was very confident in Zhang Fan’s abilities, this was still a major surgery, not to mention it was Zhang Fan’s first surgery here at Chasu City Hospital. Nothing could be allowed to go wrong, so Gao Shijun also personally watched over the surgery in the operation room.

Xue Fei and Zhou Chengfu exchanged glances. They could both tell that the newcomer doctor had great backing from Gao Shijun. Zhang Fan was only a resident doctor, yet Gao Shijun had told both his disciples to be Zhang Fan’s surgical assistants.

Could it be that Zhang Fan was Gao Shijun’s relative? Xue Fei sent some eye signals that Zhou Chengfu instantly understood. They wouldn’t help of their own volition, nor would they try to sabotage the surgery. Although both were Gao Shijun’s disciples, resources within a single department would still be limited. Now that a younger and more valued doctor had appeared, it put them in an awkward position.

The surgery began. Zhang Fan cut open the skin, then the fascia, and followed with blunt dissection of muscles. He then connected and socketed the bones. The medical equipment was brought by a girl working for Li Qiong. All the medical equipment required had been prepared beforehand.

Next was operating on the bone marrow. Zhang Fan did everything calmly. Although Xue Fei and Zhou Chengfu didn’t volunteer any assistance, they also didn’t dare to mess anything up. Li Hongtu, as the primary surgical assistant, paid close attention to Zhang Fan’s surgical procedures.

‘He’s quite experienced and precise in the movements. There are no unnecessary movements whatsoever. Truly amazing.’ Li Hongtu was secretly astonished. Where had Gao Shijun found such an expert doctor? Although Zhang Fan was still quite young, he was truly skilled. In fact, to be quite blunt and honest, Li Hongtu felt that not a single person in their orthopedic department apart from Gao Shijun and Wu Jinxi was more skilled than Zhang Fan.

“You’ve improved significantly yet again. You’re becoming even more precise in the details.” Gao Shijun could only exclaim over Zhang Fan’s surgical skills. It had only been half a year since he last saw Zhang Fan, yet Zhang Fan’s surgical skills had improved by several noticeable levels. Before, his skills could be considered surprising for his age, but now they were truly astonishing.

Xue Fei and Zhou Chengfu both had depressed expressions as they held different portions of the patient’s legs. For a major surgery like hip replacement surgery, it would be quite difficult for them to even take the role of primary surgical assistant. They wouldn’t even be able to dream of being the main surgeon in such a surgery with their current skill level. It was obvious that Zhang Fan was still quite young, yet he was already the main surgeon during such a difficult surgery? What would even be left for them to do in the future?

“Doctor Zhang, you’re truly amazing at performing surgeries. You’ll be able to lead your own team once you obtain your medical license.” Although it sounded like Xue Fei was praising Zhang Fan, he was actually pointing out to everyone that Zhang Fan still hadn’t obtained a medical license yet, and that you would have to be at least be the second-highest level certification to lead a team. Basically, he was warning everyone else to be on guard against Zhang Fan.

Nobody here was an idiot, so everyone understood what Xue Fei meant. It would be impossible for any single person to complete all the work of the department by themselves. Since Gao Shijun had helped Zhang Fan gain so much face today, he would next need to assuage the feelings of his two disciples.

“Our work in the future can’t be like before, where everyone just picks what they want. We need to make an organized work assignment system. Joints and spine will be in their own category. Second-highest level certification doctors, attending physicians, and resident doctors will have priority in that order. We must strictly follow the three-tier hierarchical medical system. Anyone who has ideas can come discuss them with me privately,” Gao Shijun announced. [TL note: see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5566626/ and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5441056/ about China’s three-tier hierarchical medical system.]

Reducing internal conflict in his own department would also help Gao Shijun to manage the said department easier.

The surgery ended with surgical sutures and drainage. Zhang Fan had no intention of fighting anyone here over any resources. The only reason he came here to a bigger hospital was to level up his System as quickly as possible. As for income, he was fine as long as he made enough money to pay for his younger sister’s college tuition. He didn’t care one bit about trying to make illegal kickbacks for medical equipment or medicine fees, as he couldn’t be bothered spending the effort.

“Doctor Xue, you praise me too much. I’m just a new resident doctor. All of you are doctors ranked higher than me. I understand the rules.” Zhang Fan also needed to have a good relationship with them. He had to do it for the sake of leveling his System.

“Doctor Zhang, no need to be so polite.” Xue Fei saw that Zhang Fan was acting quite humble. Xue Fei would have to give face to his teacher Gao Shijun.

Li Hongtu was in poor physical condition, so he typically received fewer patients than the other doctors. This also meant that his income was less than the other doctors’. The fact that Gao Shijun put Zhang Fan and Li Hongtu in a team together was actually a way of rewarding Li Hongtu. This was because Li Hongtu had been a great supporter for Gao Shijun in becoming the new director of orthopedic department #1.

Zhang Fan had to personally give the patient his doctor’s advice and then write the medical report. Back at Kuake City Hospital, Chen Qifa and Li Liang would take care of these mundane tasks for him.

There were several medical specialist doctors in orthopedic department #1. Zhang Fan’s team also had a female doctor medical specialist who’d just graduated this year. She was clearly no ordinary person as she had been hired at a Class A hospital right after finishing her undergraduate studies. Since Zhang Fan was still only a resident doctor, he felt too awkward about asking her to do his work for him.

In the doctors’ resting area, Xue Fei was resting on a bed when he spoke, ” Zhou ¹ , what do you think? Old Gao is about to make new teams. Which team do you want to go to?” Spines and joints would bring about equal income, and the work was of roughly equal difficulty. Working on the spine was only slightly better in comparison.

“I want to work on spines, how about you?”

“I think I should just go work on spines as well. Look at our newcomer. He immediately performed a hip replacement surgery on his first day of work. Will I even have a future if I go to joints? Just how is he so amazing?” Although Xue Fei was a bit jealous of how Gao Shijun was helping give face to Zhang Fan, he was also truly impressed with Zhang Fan’s skills.

“Who knows? He’s probably just a recent graduate. He’s far too skilled. Old Gao is completely suppressing all possible routes for Wu Jinxi here. Old Gao can be in charge of the spines, and Zhang Fan can deal with all the joints. Old Wu won’t even have a position here for him if he wants to return.”

“Sigh! Each generation is stronger than the previous. I’ve heard that our hospital won’t even hire undergraduate students in the future. If some master’s degree students arrive in our department, life will become even more difficult for us.” Xue Fei was rather disconsolate.

“That’s why you shouldn’t try to bully Zhang Fan. Not only is bullying the wrong thing to do, you’ll also make him angry. Zhang Fan is also an undergraduate student, just like us. As long as we have a good relationship with each other, so what even if doctorate degree students come here in the future?”

“You have so many ideas. I figure that you probably already thought of all this just from watching him perform surgery today. Sigh, I’m the only stupid one here. I should stay away from smart people like you. I won’t even realize it if you sell me out.”

“Stop spouting rubbish. Are you free tonight? All of us count as Old Gao’s disciples, so let’s treat Zhang Fan to dinner. I don’t think Zhang Fan seems like the arrogant type. We should cultivate a good relationship with him.”