Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Feng Zhixiang slowly sized up the operating theater. He was not in a rush to start operating.
Nowadays, he took a long time preparing for surgeries. This was especially true when it came to major surgeries like cholecystectomy in patients with gallbladder cancer, unlike plenty of young doctors who were in a rush to start operating whenever they got to carry out a demonstration surgery or live-stream surgery because they were worried that the audience would get impatient and leave.
A doctor of Professor Feng Zhixiang’s age and status did not care about this at all. He would not withhold his expertise if other doctors intended to learn from him, but if those doctors were unwilling to do so, he was not interested in giving them the time of day either.
It was not that doctors nowadays were unwilling to learn. There were still very few resources for doctors when it came to honing their craft. Hence, this chance to learn from an excellent surgeon was hard to come by, and plenty of people crowded inside and outside the operating theater.
“The patient is ready.” The resident doctor, who was in charge of the patient reported excitedly.
He was extremely lucky to be able to participate in this surgery. Even though he would merely be operating the retractor, the opportunity to watch the surgery from close quarters and have minimal interaction with Professor Feng Zhixiang was already perfect in a junior doctor’s eyes.
He only got this chance because Feng Zhixiang preferred to work with junior doctors who would operate retractors quietly as it would be easier to order them around. Hence, he would rather have the resident doctor in charge of the patient as his assistant compared to an attending physician who did not know what was going on.
The assistant merely needed to operate the retractor anyway. Moreover, junior doctors had more strength.
The second assistant was naturally Xu Wen again. He was one of the best associate chief physicians working in Beijing University Sixth Hospital anyway. Even though he was a man of few words, he learned his craft from many teachers and was skillful. Hence, he was always given plenty of opportunities.
Feng Zhixiang turned to look at Ling Ran who was standing outside the window and said with a smile, “Are you ready? I’m getting started.”
“I’ve started washing my hands.” As Ling Ran spoke, he craned his head through the window and said to the junior doctors who were watching the surgery inside the operating theater. “Are any of you free? Can you hold my book for me?”
“I’ll do it!” A young female doctor raised her hand so high that it accentuated the curves of her body. Even though she was wearing a large white coat, her ample breasts and curves were still visible.
“Sorry to trouble you, then.” Ling Ran passed the book to her and gestured for her to hold it up in front of him. He then started washing his hands.
All surgeons had the bad habit of ordering other people around. In other words, they liked treating other people as tools. For example, the assistant who operated the retractor was merely a tool that made retracting the patient’s skin easier. Of course, whenever the chief surgeons were in a relatively good mood, they would tease these retracting tools and ask them a few questions so that they could have a grasp of the depth of their tools’ knowledge. The assistants who were tasked to aspirate the patient’s bodily fluid were also treated the same way. This was especially true before mechanical aspirators were commonly used, as the assistants had to operate the aspirators by stepping on pumps. At that time, these assistants were even more necessary.
What Ling Ran needed right now was a bookshelf.
The female doctor from Beijing University Sixth Hospital held up the book before her bosom and looked at Ling Ran with a smile. She looked like one of those “trophy girls” you see in award shows. However, Ling Ran paid no attention to her and merely watched his hands as he read his book. He said, “Please turn the page, thank you.”
“My name is Liu Yilin.” The female doctor introduced herself in a soft voice.
“Nice to meet you.” Ling Ran was acting extremely politely, and he merely glanced at Liu Yilin.
Even so, Liu Yilin still looked very elated. She was secretly pleased with herself. ‘I knew that Doctor Ling would need help from one of us. I’ll continue to keep my guard up after this.’
“I’m sorry to trouble you.” Ling Ran nodded at her and dried his hands. He then turned and entered the operating theater.
Behind Ling Ran, Liu Yilin clenched her fists tightly and followed him. Ling Ran emanated such a powerful aura that all the male doctors in the operating theater felt bad about themselves and quietly took a few steps backward.
Feng Zhixiang snorted and said, “A man like Doctor Ling is seriously an existence worthy of envy.”
After he said this, he waved and continued, “Now that everyone’s here, let’s get started. I’ll open the abdominal cavity first, and we can take a look at what’s going on inside there.”
Whether it was an MRI scan or ultrasonography, information obtained through medical imaging technology could never be as adequate as what could be gathered through direct observation. Of course, this was also because surgeons were better equipped to deal with information they obtained through direct observation.
Back in the days, the core problem the medical industry faced in making laparoscopy widespread was the fact that doctors were too used to direct observation.
This was where doctors were different from pilots or soldiers. If an airline wanted to purchase new planes, the pilots would have to try their best to get used to them. The airline would only think of an alternative plan if the pilots were really unable to get used to the new planes no matter what. It was the same with soldiers. If they received orders that they had to start using new equipment, even soldiers working on a front line did not have much say in it.
However, doctors naturally had a lot of say in what kind of machinery or equipment they used.
There were doctors who only used certain scalpels or endotherm knives of certain models. Even if those models were no longer widely used, as long as the doctors did a good job with them, other people would not care at all. After all, the results seen in patients speak for themselves.
In comparison, they could not be as rampant when it came to drugs. However, it was very common for doctors to not prescribe drugs according to their uses or to prescribe more than the recommended dosage.
And a doctor of Feng Zhixiang’s age was naturally stubborn about obtaining information through direct observation.
Ling Ran was vastly different compared to him when it came to this.
“Scalpel.” Feng Zhixiang’s smile was hidden by his mouth face mask.
He had always liked to offer guidance to junior doctors. This was perhaps why he was such a prestigious figure. As he aged, this quality of his became even more obvious. And unlike the General Surgery Departments of other hospitals that were divided into seven or eight, or even seventeen or eighteen tiny departments, his Center of General Surgery had remained as one. This could be attributed to the fact that the Center of General Surgery was extremely large scale as well as Feng Zhixiang’s personality.
Ling Ran stood opposite Feng Zhixiang and looked downward at the operating table. He was still thinking about what he read in the book just now.
After being the chief surgeon for such a long time, for some reason, Ling Ran felt kind of relaxed to act as an assistant.
“Hmm… let me take a look.” Feng Zhixiang swiftly opened the patient’s abdominal cavity and said, “Even though the opening of the patient’s abdominal cavities is a simple step, we have to do it carefully. Besides, this is a step that helps surgeons get into the zone, making them conscious of the fact that they are dissecting a human body and treating the patient’s illness. This accentuates the human side of medicine.”
Ling Ran hummed in acknowledgment, as though he was part of a class.
Feng Zhixiang asked for an endotherm knife in a relaxed manner and said, “Nowadays, certain young doctors put a lot of emphasis on speed. I don’t really advocate this, as when you’re doing things too quickly, the need to be fast diverts your attention. It’s not a good habit…”
“Maybe they have too many surgeries scheduled,” Ling Ran said as he assisted Feng Zhixiang.
Feng Zhixiang froze for a moment. He then hesitated for a while and said, “Oh, if this is what you think… I never put that into consideration… Hmm, it seems like young doctors understand other young doctors more.”
“It’s because I spend all my time in the operating theater,” Ling Ran said.
“Don’t you find your workload too huge?”
“I like operating on patients.” Ling Ran gave a very simple answer.
Feng Zhixiang took even more of a liking toward Ling Ran as he gazed at him. “You understand how young doctors feel like, but you have your own way of doing things, haven’t you?”
Ling Ran glanced at Professor Feng Zhixiang and said nothing.
Professor Feng Zhixiang’s smile became so bright that it could be seen even though he was wearing a mouth face mask. “There’s no need to be embarrassed. There are very few young people who are as successful as you, and you’re really doing great things. Young people are supposed to be bold, though, so you can tell me anything that’s on your mind.”
After Professor Feng Zhixiang said this, he looked at Ling Ran with an anticipatory expression.
Ling Ran said without hesitation, “You’re too slow.”
