Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Chief Physician Wang Haiyang was debriding the patient’s wound along with Yu Yuan, while Lu Wenbin and Ma Yanlin partnered up to debride the patient’s ring finger, which sustained the least serious injury.
Meanwhile, Ling Ran, along with two medical interns, Xiang Xueming and Zhengjun were debriding Shi Qiang’s thumb. They were getting prepared to carry out finger replantation surgery. Guan Fei had no choice but to stand on the sidelines and watch on.
Based on Ling Ran’s usual speed, Lu Wenbin and Ma Yanlin would probably only be done debriding the patient’s ring finger by the time Ling Ran had debrided and was almost done replanting the patient’s thumb.
Debridement for severed fingers had to be carried out extremely carefully. It was very normal for ordinary doctors to take thirty or forty minutes to separate the necrotized blood vessel tissues.
Things were naturally not so complicated for Ling Ran. There was no need for him to deliberately speed up either. All he had to do was to follow the procedure without stopping. As long as his maneuvers were accurate and in the right order, speed naturally followed.
It was just like putting together ready-to-assemble furniture. Those who knew how to do it merely needed to follow the steps, and even though they would not seem like they were doing it at lightning speed, they were always able to assemble a large piece of furniture within half an hour to an hour. As for those who did not know how to do it, or those who were not so skilled, they would often be stuck at one of the steps for a long time. They might also assemble it wrongly and end up having to dismantle the furniture and doing it all over again. In the end, they might even take ten times longer than those who knew how to do it to assemble a piece of furniture.
It was also the same when it came to surgeries, especially in the orthopedics field. Orthopedists were often known as carpenters, and those who engaged in microsurgeries were highly regarded. It required a lot of skill and physical strength, and beginners often had a very hard time with it.
Lu Wenbin had been practicing M-Tang surgery for over a year and even became the chief surgeon of an M-Tang surgery a while back. He had also grasped most of the basics when it came to finger replantation surgery. Even so, he had to put in a lot of effort to prevent damaging the patient’s blood vessels.
Xiang Xueming stole a glance at Lu Wenbin. He was a little envious of Lu Wenbin.
Lu Wenbin, who was also a medical school graduate, was only three years older than him. However, as Lu Wenbin was working in Yun Hua Hospital, he was at a very advantageous position compared to Xiang Xueming.
Moreover, Lu Wenbin was under Ling Ran’s guidance.
Xiang Xueming could also be said to be under Ling Ran’s guidance right now. This was exactly why he was envious of Lu Wenbin, as Lu Wenbin was a long-term recipient of Ling Ran’s guidance.
Even though Ling Ran was a man of few words, because he was extremely skillful, he knew how to allocate just the right amount of work to his assistants. As his assistant, a person would neither feel bored nor find things too difficult. Most of the time, the tasks allocated would match the assistants’ capabilities perfectly. Every now and then, though, things would get a little challenging. However, after completing those tasks, those assistants would experience the thrill of being a doctor. They would feel like they were useful indeed.
Xiang Xueming truly wished that this could go on forever.
He finally knew why Ling Ran was always surrounded by so many people back in university even though Ling Ran always acted indifferently. Whenever Ling Ran went, people would always crowd around him.
Xiang Xueming used to think that it was because people in his university were superficial, and they were that way due to Ling Ran’s looks. However, now that he thought about it, Ling Ran was a born star.
“Doctor Xiang, please don’t swing the other way.” Guan Fei was not a person who knew how to hold her tongue. As she was the only one in the operating theater who had nothing to do, she naturally spent all her time observing Ling Ran.
This was why she noticed Xiang Xueming’s gaze.
Guan Fei was very careful when it came to this.
Xiang Xueming came from the same university as Ling Ran, and Guan Fei was extremely worried that he would utilize this connection.
Xiang Xueming, who was being a little cautious, immediately became embarrassed and anxious when he heard what Guan Fei said.
“What? What are you even saying?” At that moment, Xiang Xueming did not know how to respond.
“I’m talking about the pair of forceps you are holding. What were you thinking?” Guan Fei started giggling.
The two nurses in the operating theater also laughed out loud.
Xiang Xueming got even more embarrassed. “We are in the middle of an operation.”
“It’s true that you shouldn’t swing your forceps the other way during an operation.” Wang Haiyang chose to join in the conversation at the perfect moment.
He liked it when the atmosphere in the operating theater was lively. Since people were hyping things up, he felt obligated to join in.
Everyone in the operating theater laughed even louder.
Xiang Xueming sighed in resignation.
“Apply some saline.” Ling Ran totally ignored the conversation.
Xiang Xueming immediately shifted his attention back to the surgery.
After he was done with the task, everyone had forgotten about the conversation they were having just now.
Xiang Xueming suddenly felt a little emotional. He could not help but ask Ling Ran, “Doctor Ling, you seem like you don’t really care about what other people say or do?”
“Eh, isn’t it the same for everyone? There’s no time to care about other things when we’re working on something.” As Ling Ran answered Xiang Xueming’s question, he did not slow down at all.
Xiang Xueming chuckled a few times. “I don’t think many people are like this.”
Ling Ran was immersed in the surgery once again, and he did not bother processing what Xiang Xueming was saying since his words had nothing to do with the surgery.
Ling Ran had been like this ever since he was young. Whenever he had decided on doing something, he would go ahead with it, and throughout the process, he would not let himself be disrupted by anyone, or else, he would never be able to get anything done, as people were always talking to him.
Huang Maoshi was also helping out.
He helped with assembling scalpels as well as passing doctors saline and medical consumables.
It was not a rare sight for pharmaceutical sales representatives to assist in the operating theater. Some of the larger hospitals even saw pharmaceutical sales representatives as contingent workers.
Some pharmaceutical sales representatives who used to be doctors even helped out by operating retractors. Sometimes, they also acted as assistants.
Pharmaceutical sales representatives who sold laparoscopes would assist by holding the laparoscope, while those selling surgical steel panels would help with bending them. All these were considered customer service.
Doctors, too, welcomed this help very much. This was especially true when the pharmaceutical sales representatives were skillful and experienced. Those pharmaceutical sales representatives would even train the doctors in using the new products they sold.
As Huang Maoshi who used to be a model could not participate in technical tasks such as operating the retractor or holding the laparoscope, he proactively assisted the nurses.
He had a pleasant smile, anyway, and this allowed him to survive in the operating theater.
In the blink of an eye, Ling Ran was done with debriding the patient’s thumb. After he double-checked the severed thumb, he raised his head and said without hesitation, “Zuo Cidian, you’ll be acting as the first assistant.”
A little reluctant, Xiang Xueming made way.
Zuo Cidian chuckled a few times and walked toward the operating table with his hands clasped together. He then glanced at Xiang Xueming and asked, “Little Xiang, have you found a hospital to do your housemanship in?”
The best path for a medical intern who had just finished his internship to take would be to work in a hospital and start his housemanship. He could also choose to do his housemanship in a teaching hospital before working in another hospital.
Whatever it was, ordinary medical interns would become a houseman after their internship period ended.
Zuo Cidian’s words immediately jolted Xiang Xueming back to reality. Coupled with the fact that he was no longer the first assistant of the surgery, he felt even more despondent.
“I want to stay in Yun Hua Hospital.” Xiang Xueming smiled a little before he lowered his head and continued. “But it doesn’t seem very possible…”
His original plan was to stay and work in Yun Hua Hospital. This was why he chose to do his internship there to begin with. However, only a very limited number of medical interns got to stay on in Yun Hua Hospital every year, and some of them did that through connections.
After those medical interns were done with their one-year internship, if Yun Hua Hospital did not take them in, it was not like they had a higher chance to go to other large hospitals either. This way why Xiang Xueming and the others had no choice but to go to smaller hospitals.
Zuo Cidian nodded. “Yun Hua Hospital isn’t letting many medical interns stay this year. But if you’re not one of them, you can see if your family members have any connection who can help you.”
“My family members wouldn’t be of any help,” Xiang Xueming said gloomily. As he was from the mountains, none of his relatives and friends could help him when it came to this.
Zuo Cidian nodded a little. He had seen many university students like this. Those who were in luck would get hired by larger hospitals, while the unfortunate ones had no choice but to work in people’s hospitals or county hospitals.
But whatever it was, it would still be better than working in town hospitals.
If a young doctor were to begin his career in a town hospital, it would be extremely hard for him to go anywhere in life.
If Zuo Cidian were not in the middle of a surgery, he would have started reminiscing about his past.
Everyone was pumped full of adrenaline, and one hour passed by in the blink of an eye.
Ling Ran carried out finger replantation on the patient’s thumb before moving on to the ring finger.
Meanwhile, Wang Haiyang carried out finger replantation surgery on the middle finger. He took almost as much time to operate on one finger as Ling Ran did to operate on two fingers.
Ling Ran double-confirmed everything before tossing the medical instruments in his hands away. “Chief Physician Wang, do go ahead with the ectopic transplantation.”
“No problem.” Wang Haiyang wore a relaxed expression. He pondered for a moment and said, “Let’s sew his index finger into his instep. This way, it would be convenient for us to remove it later. Besides, this child is not that young, and he might accidentally destroy the transplanted index finger if we were to sew it into his elbow or the back of his hand.”
Guan Fei trembled violently as she pictured what Wang Haiyang just said. “It’s quite a terrifying sight for there to be a finger on one’s feet.”
“An ordinary person has ten toes on their feet, anyway.” Chief Physician Wang Haiyang found teasing young women quite entertaining. He then said to Ling Ran, “We just have to identify a spot and create a flap there before sewing the index finger into the flap. It isn’t difficult if you know how to do it.”
When the medical interns heard what Chief Physician Wang Haiyang said, they craned their necks to look at the procedure.
Wang Haiyang smiled at them. “Even though I said that those who know how to do it wouldn’t find it difficult, it takes around five or six years of practice to master it. It’s quite normal for medical interns without much basic knowledge to take seven or eight years…”
Zheng Jun, Xiang Xueming, and Guan Fei looked at Ling Ran.
“I’m talking about ordinary medical interns.” Wang Haiyang added calmly.
