Lu Wenbin operated on the patient at a moderate pace.
Even until the end of the surgery, Zhu Qianli did not detect any obvious problem. There was a part where Lu Wenbin had to perform the end-to-end anastomosis of blood vessels, and he only took seven or eight minutes for it. After he removed the vascular clamps, no blood seeped out at all. Zhu Qianli was secretly astonished.
In the field of surgery, the end-to-end anastomosis of blood vessels could be said to be a mid-range basic maneuver. Surgeons would usually hook a surgical thread around the blood vessels and slowly tighten it until the blood vessels were closed.
Ordinary doctors would take around ten minutes to perform end-to-end anastomosis of large blood vessels. But like how people talked about how an ordinary Chinese citizen earned 10,000 RMB, this figure was neither the average nor the median. It was merely a figure everyone could accept.
It was a figure used for conversational purposes, and doctors could talk about how end-to-end anastomosis of blood vessels took around ten minutes just like how people talked about ordinary salarymen earning about 10,000 RMB a month.
Doctors who took a longer time to perform end-to-end anastomosis of blood vessels would naturally keep quiet during these discussions. Sometimes, they might talk about how their department director only took five minutes to perform end-to-end anastomosis of blood vessels just like how people talk about having a friend who earned 30,000 RMB a month just to feel better about themselves.
However, unlike people’s monthly salary, which was a more private topic, it was easy for doctors to find out how long other doctors took to perform end-to-end anastomosis of blood vessels.
For example, from what Zhu Qianli knew, in Qiu County Hospital, only several experienced and excellent associate chief physicians, chief physicians, and department directors could perform end-to-end anastomosis of blood vessels in ten minutes. It was normal for other doctors to take thirteen to fourteen minutes or even fifteen to sixteen minutes.
Zhu Qianli himself usually took more than fifteen minutes to perform end-to-end anastomosis of large blood vessels. Moreover, after he was done with it, there would usually be plenty of blood seeping out of the blood vessels after he removed the vascular clamps, and he would have no choice but to make one or two figure-eight loops to solve the problems.
Zhu Qianli might not fully understand all the maneuvers of the surgery Lu Wenbin had just performed, but watching the latter perform end-to-end anastomosis of blood vessels was thrilling for him.
Truth be told, ordinary doctors only performed ordinary surgeries, and there were only several basic maneuvers involved. Hence, doctors like Zhu Qianli were easily impressed when harder basic maneuvers like end-to-end anastomosis of blood vessels were done well.
After the surgery ended, Zhu Qianli watched as Lu Wenbin extended his hands and tore off his scrubs, and he immediately went forward. “Doctor Lu, this surgery of yours is really well done.”
Ren Qi, who was standing behind Zhu Qianli, suddenly recalled the way Zhu Qianli licked his lips and praised the owner of the barbeque restaurant, “This skewered meat you’ve made is really delicious!”
Zhu Qianli’s tone of voice and movements were basically the same in both instances.
Even though Lu Wenbin had been the chief surgeon for quite a few surgeries lately and had gotten used to being watched, he was very thrilled that someone was praising him in such a straightforward manner.
“Thank you so much,” Lu Wenbin quickly replied humbly.
“I should be the one thanking you. I didn’t expect to witness such an excellent surgery the moment I stepped foot in Yun Hua Hospital. Oh, by the way, my name is Zhu Qianli, and I am an attending physician from Qiu County Hospital. I’m Old Ren’s colleague.” Zhu Qianli made use of his connection with Ren Qi without hesitation.
“Ah, nice to meet you, Attending Physician Zhu.” The fact that Zhu Qianli was a fat guy with the surname “Zhu” [1] left a deep impression in Lu Wenbin’s mind.
“You’re too courteous. Just call me Young Zhu.”
“That wouldn’t do. I’m younger than you,” Lu Wenbin said and glanced at Ren Qi. “Doctor Ling will be helping out in my next surgery, so I have to start getting prepared now.”
“Sure, go ahead, then,” Zhu Qianli quickly said, and he watched as Lu Wenbin left the operating theater. He could not help but say to Ren Qi, “Is he really younger than us? He’s quite a humble person.”
“You mean Doctor Lu? He’s at most twenty-seven or twenty-eight. He’s still a resident doctor,” Ren Qi answered and smiled. “He looks pretty mature for his age.”
“Very.” Zhu Qianli decided to stop talking about Lu Wenbin. He asked, “He mentioned that he’ll be performing his next surgery with Doctor Ling. Can I go ahead and watch it too?”
Ren Qi nodded. “Yes, you can, but Doctor Ling will be the one helping out with the surgery instead. Lu Wenbin had been performing surgeries as chief surgeon lately.”
Zhu Qianli did not understand what Ren Qi meant. “What do you mean?”
Ren Qi could not hide the envy on his face. “Doctor Ling has been allowing Lu Wenbin and Ma Yanlin to act as chief surgeons these days, and he helps them out once a day as the first assistant.”
Zhu Qianli was so shocked that his mouth was wide open. “Doctor Ling is acting as the first assistant for resident doctors? Every single day?”
“It’s been quite a few days.” Ren Qi pursed his lips and said, “Why else would Lu Wenbin be doing so well?”
As a surgeon, there was a huge difference between acting as the chief surgeon for one, five, ten, and twenty surgeries.
Surgeries were just like mock examination papers. A student who had mastered all the relevant knowledge would become a lot more excellent after doing twenty mock examination papers compared to if he only did one, five, or ten.
Of course, while that student was doing those mock examination papers, he had to continue reading and learning.
During this process, if he had an excellent teacher who taught him everything step by step, he would be able to learn even more.
Zhu Qianli was so envious that he was almost salivating. “Doctor Ling acts as their first assistant in the entire surgery? How about his own surgeries?”
“He’ll perform his own surgeries after he’s done helping out. He said that we’re experiencing a shortage of hospital beds these days, but at the end of the day, he still practices preferential treatment…” There was a surge of jealousy in Ren Qi’s heart. “He’s even willing to forgo the opportunity to perform freelance surgeries. With the time he uses to help those two resident doctors out, he could have done two or three freelance surgeries. Sigh, there’s no helping it, those two are his direct disciples, after all.”
“Are all direct disciples in Yun Hua Hospital treated this way?” Zhu Qianli clicked his tongue. “My dad doesn’t even treat me this well.”
“That’s surely an exaggeration, isn’t it…?”
“Back when you were a student, did your dad spend all day helping you with your studies, forgoing all forms of entertainment such as watching television shows, reading newspapers, and reading novels? And did he do it week after week?”
Ren Qi thought about it for a moment, and his smile froze on his face.
…..
Ling Ran entered Operating Theater 1 a little later than Lu Wenbin, and he habitually read all the scans that were pasted on the wall first and memorized everything. He then walked toward the operating table and stood opposite Lu Wenbin.
Even though he was only acting as the first assistant, unlike other first assistants, he naturally did not have to be responsible for all the miscellaneous tasks. Aside from this, there were many doctors who were with the Ling Treatment Group for in-service training, and the group also had many medical interns. Those people were responsible for miscellaneous tasks.
Lu Wenbin waited obediently for Ling Ran to take his spot, and he only grabbed the scalpel when Ling Ran gave him the green light to get started.
The two of them quickly separated the patient’s Achilles tendon.
They had performed M-Tang surgery countless times, and they did not even need to speak to work together well.
There was a commotion in the visitation room upstairs, though.
It was not a very rare surgery, but it was considered quite difficult, as Zone II was involved. If Ling Ran were the chief surgeon, it would have been no surprise that the surgery was going so well. But the chief surgeon today, Lu Wenbin, was a nobody…
“I really want to have Doctor Ling as my godfather,” Zhu Qianli said emotionally.
Ren Qi tugged at Zhu Qianli’s sleeve. He shook his head slowly and pointed in a direction with his chin.
Zhu Qianli looked over and saw that a few doctors who were clad in large white coats had just entered the visitation room and sat down. Some were older, and some were younger. Even though they looked like ordinary doctors, Zhu Qianli immediately understood what was going on and stopped talking.
In the field of medicine, a doctor must not offend older doctors with subordinates.
