Great Doctor Ling Ran

At six in the evening, the fourth surgery was completed. Ling Ran examined everything and took off his gloves. “I’ll grab dinner first.”

Lu Wenbin, who was acting as the assistant, immediately hummed in acknowledgment. He had acted as the chief surgeon of two M-Tang surgeries today, and he was feeling extremely energetic.

Ling Ran nodded and exited the operating theater without bothering to wait for his assistants. This had always been the way things were in operating theaters. The chief surgeons enjoyed more freedom and better treatment. They did not have to do that many miscellaneous tasks. At the end of the day, it was because the chief surgeons’ time was the most precious.

To patients who were waiting to receive surgery or even those who were waiting to receive surgery but did not get a chance to, they only cared about being operated by top-notch doctors using cutting-edge equipment. They did not want junior doctors to touch them, because they were not skilled and attentive.

After Ling Ran left, Lu Wenbin did not carry on with the surgery either. He took a step back and said, “I’ll leave this to you guys.”

Qu Xiaolian the houseman was a junior doctor among junior doctors, and he charged toward the patient whose abdomen was open with a delighted expression. Ren Qi who was in Yun Hua Hospital for in-service training hesitated for a moment. He was neither proactive nor passive.

Naturally, Ren Qi did not care much for abdominal closure. However, since he knew that Lu Wenbin wanted to see him in action, he said nothing and got started.

If a doctor from another hospital was in the provincial hospital he worked in for in-service training, Ren Qi would have done the same. Abdominal closure was a simple procedure, but it showcased a surgeons’ habits and basic capabilities. Even though not all surgeons who could perform abdominal closure well were good surgeons, doctors who were supervising them could test on more difficult procedures in the future or even let them perform certain maneuvers on their own. If the surgeon failed to perform abdominal closure well, senior doctors would at most give them another chance or two to prove their worth. If they failed to do that, it meant that they were shitty doctors.

Qu Xiaolian stood opposite Ren Qi and helped him out by holding the surgical thread. He was watching Ren Qi work with widened eyes, and he imagined himself being the one who was doing it instead and tried to remember every single step.

Meanwhile, Lu Wenbin watched them with his hands clasped behind his back.

If abdominal closure was not done well, it could bring about plenty of consequences. For example, some patients’ wounds would get infected repeatedly and take a long time to heal. This caused a great deal of pain.

There were no neurons in most of the organs such as the stomach and the liver. So, even though half of them were removed, which caused a lot of damage to the body, the patients themselves would not know, because they could not see it. However, even though the damage caused by surgical incisions was minimal, if a patient’s wound were to get infected with pus flowing out from it right before his eyes, he would feel a lot of pain. Even though it was a minor, non-fatal issue, this would make the patient extremely sad, and he would grumble about it.

Since Lu Wenbin was the doctor in charge, he placed a lot of emphasis on the abdominal closure being performed well. He watched Ren Qi like a hawk and was prepared to order him to stop at any moment.

To large tertiary Grade A hospitals like Yun Hua Hospital, doctors who were there for in-service training were seen as cheap labor. Even though those in the hospital would be happy if they were skilled, they would not be that happy. After all, they would be gone a few months later. If they were mediocre or even lousy, those in the hospital would not mind either as long as they did not cause major trouble. They got to enjoy free labor anyway, but there were times where they would not use them at all.

No matter how stupid a surgeon was, he could be put to good use. He could even replace someone on a night shift.

Hence, Lu Wenbin only cared about whether Ren Qi could suture the patient’s incision well. He did not mind ordering Ren Qi to stop should the situation call for it even though it would affect Ren Qi’s learning progress.

Ren Qi was anxious but skillful as he performed abdominal closure.

A few minutes later, he was drenched in sweat.

“Please wipe off my sweat for me.” Ren Qi did not want his sweat to drip onto the operating table. This was a low-level error that would only be excused if it were to happen with medical interns. If an experienced doctor like him were to make such a mistake, he would become the brunt of many jokes.

One of the nurses picked up a cotton gauze with a pair of forceps and wiped the sweat off Ren Qi’s forehead carelessly.

“Thank you very much.” Ren Qi thanked the nurse profusely.

Back in the provincial hospital, he scolded nurses all the time. However, now that he was going through in-service training in the large hospital, Ren Qi knew that nurses and junior doctors were the people that he should avoid offending the most.

What senior doctors and leaders of the hospital thought of him, though, did not have much to do with him.

“Erm… I’m done.” Even though Ren Qi was rather nervous, he did not really make any mistakes. After all, abdominal closure was too easy for him.

Lu Wenbin hummed in acknowledgment and asked, “Did you forget something?”

“Forget…” Ren Qi was immediately on his toes and started thinking about it. A few seconds later, he said slowly, “I forgot to tell jokes just now.”

Lu Wenbin’s lips quivered a few times. He cleared his throat and said, “You can go for dinner after you help with cleaning up the operating theater.”

After Lu Wenbin said that, he left, leaving the houseman, Ren Qi and a couple of nurses in the operating theater. They cleaned the operating theater while counting how many pieces of gauze had been used during the surgery.

After everything was done, Ren Qi did not dare to take his time eating dinner either. He simply purchased a few steamed buns to fill his tummy before rushing back to the Operating Area again.

All the medical interns and housemen working under the Ling Treatment Group did this. Meanwhile, those working under other treatment groups sat down in the cafeteria and ate slowly.

This was because other treatment groups did not carry out as many surgeries. Aside from this, the number of opportunities other treatment groups gave to junior doctors to perform was different as well.

Treatment groups other than the Ling Treatment Group only carried out around twenty surgeries a week, and those were not even enough to go around the attending physicians and experienced resident doctors. Hence, junior doctors, as well as housemen and medical interns, got very few opportunities to perform. Even if those junior doctors were to charge back to the operating theater after their dinner break, they would not even get the opportunity to perform abdominal closure. Hence, it was natural that they were not as driven.

Aside from this, there could only be a limited number of people in the operating theater. When senior doctors did not need to carry out many surgeries, they naturally would not force junior doctors to be present. This was especially true for departments such as the Emergency Department. There were plenty of tasks that must be done every day. Senior doctors preferred to make those junior doctors carry out miscellaneous tasks.

Ren Qi, though, was a little tired. When he arrived at the operating theater, he realized that the surgery had already started. He walked over to the operating table to take a look. When he saw Zuo Cidian, he quickly greeted him and said with a smile, “Doctor Ling is operating on a patient again right after having dinner. He’s such a dedicated doctor. What time would we be done today?”

“This is the last surgery today.” Zuo Cidian smiled and said, “Lately, Doctor Ling has the habit of operating on a patient after dinner. He said that it’s a good way to unwind, just like how people take a walk after meals. He’ll head home after he’s done.”

Ren Qi nodded dumbfoundedly. “Operating on a patient after dinner?”

“Yes, it’s something along those lines.” Zuo Cidian smiled with his hands crossed before his chest. “You’re not needed here anymore. You can go back early and take a rest.”

“Oh, alright…” Ren Qi said, but he was reluctant to leave. “I’m not too tired yet, so I would like to take a look.”

He was not here in Yun Hua Hospital to get tortured. He had the intention of leveling up his skills. Hence, even though Ling Ran was only performing a cholecystectomy using a laparoscope, he did not want to give up the opportunity to learn.

Naturally, Zuo Cidian did not insist. He merely smiled and said, “Go ahead if you want to. If you have the energy, you can come to work earlier tomorrow morning.”

“Sure, no problem.” Ren Qi immediately agreed.

“Our working hours are long. Are you able to get used to it?” Zuo Cidian asked with a smile.

“It’s not a problem. Back in the county hospital I worked in, we would work until seven in the evening too.”

“Great, then. But when I said that we wake up early in the morning, I mean that we wake up super early. Just let me know if you find it tiring, and I can adjust your schedule.”

“Alright, I understand.” Ren Qi started laughing as he spoke. He said with a relaxed expression, “Back when I was a medical student, medical interns even had to wash toilets. It’s very normal for me to wake up early. Oh, by the way, what time do you guys usually come over in the morning?”

“About four or five. You just need to remember to come here half an hour earlier than Doctor Ling.”

“Four or five?”

“Sometimes, in extreme cases, you would need to come here at two or three in the morning. But this is quite rare. If you’re coming over tomorrow morning, you can come at three or three-thirty.”

Ren Qi finally started trembling. “So, our actual working hours are from three in the morning to seven in the evening?”

“Yes, something along those lines.”

Ren Qi looked around vigilantly and asked, “By the way, where is the toilet located in Yun Hua Hospital?”