Chapter 84: Care!
Lu Cheng drew back the curtains; the setting sun slanted in, lazily and with a certain charm.
Looking out the window, the gentle breeze swayed the green plants in the residential area back and forth.
After Lu Cheng leaned against the window and finished reading the message, a smile spread across his lips, and he called Professor Chen Song back.
“Teacher Chen, my parents said they’d like to invite you to dinner at our place tonight.”
“I bought some matsutake mushrooms, and paired with our homemade cured meat and a few pounds of beef marrow bones, they’ll be perfect with drinks,” Lu Cheng invited.
Chen Song said, “I won’t be able to come today. I already had plans with someone.”
“Xiao Lu, yesterday’s incident, you shouldn’t have such a hopeful mindset in the future. If your hospital’s rules weren’t so ruthless, you would have suffered.”
Hearing Chen Song mention yesterday’s matter, Lu Cheng nodded: “Teacher Chen, I didn’t have a hopeful mindset. Didn’t you say that?”
“When treating illnesses, one cannot rely on a hopeful mindset. You need sufficient theoretical depth, absolute cognition, and solid techniques to back you up, only then can you be at ease.”
“I have memorized these words well, and it is based on these principles that I performed manual reduction for the patient.”
“It’s not about recklessly waiting for others to make mistakes or anything else,” Lu Cheng replied very naturally and steadily.
The essence of Lu Cheng performing manual reduction for a patient is that he himself can do it, and he has a certain degree of confidence!
To be able to save the patient money and achieve the treatment goal, while also developing the practice.
What’s wrong with that?
If there’s anything wrong, it’s only that Lu Cheng doesn’t understand social graces and doesn’t care about the ‘performance metrics’ of doctors like Xiang Kuihua who deal with fractures.
But Lu Cheng felt that if he truly understood these ‘social graces’, his career as a doctor would be meaningless.
Powerless, he dared not say much more.
When one has the ability and everything is within the rules, even if it offends others, it does not offend one’s own conscience.
Chen Song reviewed Lu Cheng’s character and knew that Lu Cheng was not as simple and honest as he appeared on the surface.
He studied diligently and was very steady, but he was also a “carnivore”!
Lu Cheng once asked him, Chen Song, that Tong Yuan’an said his tendon suturing technique was inferior to Lu Cheng’s. Therefore, if the Director of Orthopedics, Peng Haibo, or Tong Yuan’an were to block Lu Cheng’s access to tendon rupture cases, Lu Cheng would not stand for it.
“Yes, with such a mindset, I can rest assured.”
“Mainly, I don’t understand manual reduction for fractures myself. The information I find online is also mixed, and I don’t always feel it’s reliable.”
“That’s why I’m reminding you. But I still suggest, Xiao Lu, that you find a teacher in this field and learn diligently. Break down the cases you’ve handled, just like before, and ask them for their opinions. That’s how you can improve.” Chen Song was truly concerned about Lu Cheng, offering specific guidance.
After listening, Lu Cheng smiled and said, “Thank you for your guidance, Teacher Chen. Teacher Chen, since you’re not coming here for dinner tonight, I’ll stir-fry some tomorrow morning and bring it to the department for us to enjoy together.”
Chen Song quickly replied, “No need, no need. It’s too much trouble to cook in the morning…”
“It’s not trouble, Teacher Chen. I’ll wash and clean it tonight and put it in the refrigerator. It will be quick to stir-fry tomorrow morning…”
After hanging up the phone, Lu Cheng pursed his lips.
He understood Chen Song’s implied meaning. Even after Chen Song returned at the end of the month, Lu Cheng could still ask him for guidance on subsequent surgical learning.
In this way, he could somewhat be considered Professor Chen Song’s nominal disciple, couldn’t he?
“I’ll go practice hemostasis…” With his mind clear, Lu Cheng went to the training room at home and began preparing the sets and materials for practicing hemostasis.
Some items still needed to be purchased online and would take time to arrive, while others Lu Cheng already had.
…
In the training room, while Lu Cheng was enjoying the air conditioning and taking notes, his WeChat message chimed.
Lu Cheng thought it was one of his senior colleagues from the department, but it turned out to be Mu Nanshu: “The 17th of this month is a workday, and I just got here, so I really can’t get leave.”
“Can I make it up after National Day?”
Lu Cheng replied: “Oh, it’s fine. I haven’t made any arrangements for my birthday myself. I’m on duty for single days right now.”
“You’ve been so busy lately, what have you been up to? Writing applications?”
For someone like Mu Nanshu working at Xiehe Hospital, the competition was more about comprehensive research capabilities.
This kind of scientific research wasn’t a casual mention, nor was it statistical articles or virtual research papers. It was about solid clinical and basic research projects.
Applying for provincial and national natural science foundation projects with research proposals to secure funding carried significant pressure.
“I won’t tell you yet. I’ll tell you when I get back…” Mu Nanshu was being mysterious.
After reading it, Lu Cheng stared intently at this sentence for a while, lost in thought, and then scrolled up to the chat page with Mu Nanshu—
Mu Nanshu: “You’re in your fourth year as an attending physician now, right?”
Lu Cheng replied: “Yes, that’s right, fourth year! I passed my intermediate professional title exam in 2019.”
Mu Nanshu: “Then you’re about to be promoted to Deputy Senior. Where are you planning to go for further studies?”
Lu Cheng: “Probably the Second or First Affiliated Hospital. Most of us go there for further studies, but it might also be Zhou People’s Hospital.”
Mu Nanshu: “Can you apply for cross-provincial further studies?”
Lu Cheng: “It’s generally very difficult. Only if you have connections or have made the right arrangements.”
Mu Nanshu: “Oh, it’s just a resume item for promotion, it doesn’t matter. It’s better to get more exposure to practical disease types.”
“…”
Is Mu Nanshu planning something? Lu Cheng tilted his head and pondered.
If it weren’t for Professor Tong Yuan’an’s “sudden whim” to come to Long County, Lu Cheng wouldn’t have thought so much.
However, for doctors in large hospitals, it was not uncommon to leave the hospital to undertake research projects.
Because some research projects were not suitable for being conducted in large hospitals like Xiangya Hospital. For example, tendon injuries are typically not treated at Xiangya Hospital.
Therefore, if a tendon rupture occurred, the emergency services would not send the patient to Xiangya…
“Mu Nanshu, you’re not thinking of coming to our hospital, are you?” Lu Cheng typed directly.
Mu Nanshu was silent for a while: “How could I possibly come to your county hospital?”
Then he counter-attacked: “Do you want me to come?”
“Not at all. Our county hospital can’t accommodate a distinguished overseas doctorate like you. Medical doctorates abroad are quite difficult to obtain.”
“Our hospital’s bachelor’s and master’s graduates are sufficient; it would be a waste to have you here.”
“About the matter I consulted you on last time, have you made any progress?” Lu Cheng asked.
“No, Huazhong Xiehe Hospital generally only accepts doctors from within the province’s county hospitals and from prefecture-level city hospitals in other provinces for further studies. The quota for further studies is limited.”
“For county hospitals from other provinces, unless they are paired assistance units, they generally do not accept further study applications from county hospital doctors.”
“This is also to ensure the proportion of further study quotas for our province,” Mu Nanshu explained.
Lu Cheng sighed: “That’s a shame. The Emergency Department at Xiehe Hospital is quite good…”
The world is very realistic; if you don’t push yourself during your student years, there will be layers of barriers.
At thirty years old, pursuing a master’s or doctorate degree, with effort, one could strive to graduate a year early at thirty-five. However, at thirty-five, one is already considered old, and top teaching hospitals would not recruit them.
They could only go to prefecture-level city hospitals, which would be no different from directly pursuing the professional title route.
Scientific research, papers!
Lu Cheng looked at the two “unnamed suturing techniques” on his panel and began to ponder…
After thinking for a while, Lu Cheng put aside his thoughts and began to carefully review the list of learning materials sent by Professor Tong Yuan’an.
The materials were comprehensive, including basic skills for suturing techniques and learning tips for each stage of common surgical procedures in hand surgery at Xiangya Hospital.
The materials even included a comparison table organized by Professor Tong Yuan’an himself, outlining the approximate strength of doctors at different levels in hand surgery. This table was what Lu Cheng needed to benchmark himself against for the competition…
