Path of Medicine With a System - Chapter 307

Translator: imperfectluck  Editor: Kurisu

At any workplace where skills were king, the people working there would have slightly simpler relationships with each other. That was because there was a hard standard at such a workplace known as skill level. Since everyone working there was in the same field, they would all know each other’s skill levels.

Although Zhang Fan had performed several special surgeries while he was a rotation doctor, not many people had paid attention, because he hadn’t been permanently assigned to a department yet. However, things were different now that Zhang Fan was permanently assigned to orthopedic department #1. Zhang Fan’s successful completion of this closed intramedullary fixation surgery was basically his way of establishing himself.

Zhang Fan had successfully completed a surgery that none of the three orthopedic directors could! They all had known that Zhang Fan was amazing before, but they had no exact idea of how amazing he was. Now, however, they knew that Zhang Fan’s skill level in orthopedic surgery was already better than any of the three orthopedic directors’.

Anyone who could become a doctor or nurse wouldn’t be an idiot. Zhang Fan instantly attracted lots of attention overnight. Zhang Fan’s current status would be the equivalent of a local mafia leader or a clan leader in a xianxia novel!

Xue Fei was even happier than Zhang Fan because of the latter establishing his status. Before, Xue Fei hadn’t really cared what was going on around him, but now he had more patients, which directly led to a rise in his income. Not only that, he didn’t have to do much for the surgeries. Of course he would be happy. Xue Fei was on cloud nine every day.

Thus began Zhang Fan’s daily work. The hospital’s outpatient services were separated into three types: normal services, expert doctor’s services, and special needs services. Zhang Fan’s skill level was excellent, but his official rank was lacking, so he could only serve in the normal services section and charge three yuan per patient to see him. Most ordinary patients would gather during the morning. Things would slow down a lot more in the afternoon. The expert doctor’s services section would always be busy whenever it was open. As for the special needs services, maybe that was the hospital’s way of trying things out.

Zhang Fan’s medical team was the team with by far the most patients. There was no helping it. The emergency department was both openly and secretly supporting him. Director Gao also favored him. There were also many people who sought him out for treatment. Since the weather was getting warmer, people were staying out more often, which meant more car accidents. The construction sites also began work, so there were more orthopedic surgery patients than during winter.

Vice Director Wang asked the hospital administration for several additional rotation doctors to help out in orthopedic department #1. Of course, these rotation doctors that came were all undergraduate students as graduate students wouldn’t come unless they had the correct master’s degree specialty. This generation of undergraduate students was different from Zhang Fan’s generation. Chasu City Hospital was no longer hiring undergraduate students. The requirement was now graduate student at the very minimum. Even so, there were still undergraduate students who had been hired due to connections.

Three new rotation doctors arrived—two men and one woman. Zhang Fan’s medical team had the most patients. The other doctors in the department weren’t able to say anything about it, but there were plenty who were unwilling to accept the situation, as patients equaled money. Yet, there was nothing they could do to compete against Zhang Fan, because he worked far too hard. Even though Zhang Fan’s medical team had the most patients, the vice director couldn’t favor Zhang Fan’s team, as that would cause rebellion from the other doctors.

All three rotation doctors wanted to join Zhang Fan’s medical team because Zhang Fan actually paid money to rotation doctor Little Li. Of course, the vice director would never agree to this. In the end, just like last time, Vice Director Wang gave Zhang Fan’s medical team the female rotation doctor, whose name was Jiang Nini. She was a local from the border province. Apparently, an ancestor of hers had been a high-ranking member of the military during the Ming Dynasty. Her family had deep roots here, and was said to have been quite powerful back in the time right after the end of the Qing Dynasty.

Jiang Nini’s family was still quite powerful in the modern day. It seemed that she had relatives in just about every government system. She was mixed-blood and really tall for a Chinese woman, at around 1.72 meters. She had large eyes, thin lips, long hair which reached her shoulders, and white skin. It could be said that she was far prettier than the average woman.

When Jiang Nini arrived in the department, every single man, Zhang Fan included, took a long look at her. It was difficult to conceal her beauty even though she wasn’t wearing any makeup. She had a special aura around her as she wore a new white doctor’s coat and stuck her hands in her coat pockets. Her large blinking eyes seemed like they could speak.

Xue Fei was stunned to the point of only being able to smile foolishly when he heard that Jiang Nini had been assigned to their medical team. He told her in a sycophantic manner, “I’ll lead you. Rest assured, I definitely won’t let you work overtime with writing medical reports.”

“Thank you, Teacher Xue. I’m here to learn, so of course I should write medical reports. Nice to meet you, Zhang Fan, Doctor Wang, and Li Yunhua.” Jiang Nini greeted them in turn with a sweet voice. She was the type who would naturally be the center of attention in any crowd. Even Wang Yanan wasn’t as pretty as she was.

As a side note, Li Yunhua was the full name of rotation doctor Little Li.

Xue Fei was going to suck up even more to her, but Wang Yanan became unhappy with him. Originally, they had been discussing how to handle the medical report workload. Little Li and Wang Yanan really weren’t able to finish the medical reports by themselves. Zhang Fan said he would write medical reports as well, but Wang Yanan wouldn’t agree. Thus, they were currently teaming up against Xue Fei. “Look at how you’re acting. I’m going to call your wife if you keep acting like this!”

“Hey! You’re being dishonorable here. What’s wrong with me?” Xue Fei immediately stopped acting like an oaf after hearing this.

“Doctor Jiang, would you prefer to participate in surgeries or to write medical reports?” Wang Yanan asked. Very few women actually liked orthopedic surgery. Wang Yanan was a rare exception, which was why she asked.

“Doctor Wang, I can do anything that you want. Feel free to arrange the work for me. It would be better if I can participate in surgeries,” Jiang Nini answered with a smile.

“Alright, Zhang Fan, you arrange the work.”

“Brother Xue, pick one out of changing the patients’ medicine, writing medical reports, and participating in surgeries. We’ll pick after you.” Zhang Fan need to first deal with the laziest member of his team. Otherwise, Xue Fei would refuse to do any work.

“Then I’ll change the patients’ medicine. Let me say now that I’m not going to do anything else apart from changing the patients’ medicine!” Xue Fei immediately chose the easiest task for himself.

“You’re so lazy!” Wang Yanan sneered at him.

“Hey, it’s what I deserve for being the oldest!”

“Alright, let’s not argue. Little Li, you don’t like participating in surgeries, so you can write medical reports instead. Little Jiang, when our team writes medical reports—”

Zhang Fan was interrupted by Jiang Nini as she chuckled. “You pay 30 yuan for every medical report, is that right? All of us rotation doctors have heard about it already, which is why we all wanted to join your team.”

“Haha, that’s good, then. That’s how things are here. Alright, you can join surgeries whenever it’s not too busy, and you can write medical reports when it’s busy since you’re not interested in orthopedic surgery in the future.”

“Hey, you never know!” Jiang Nini answered with a laugh.

“Oh!” Zhang Fan broke out in a sweat. He felt like he couldn’t understand women. He recalled from her paperwork that she was already chosen for the endocrinology department in the future! “Alright, it’s fine if you want to join surgeries.”

“Rotation doctors need to work overtime on night shifts as well. How about letting Little Jiang work night shifts with me?” Xue Fei started acting shameless again.

Everyone else directly ignored him. Zhang Fan simply continued, “We were really busy over the past few days. Little Li is really exhausted from working with the three of us. Let’s do this. You two rotation doctors can work night shifts together with Doctor Wang. That should be more convenient as you’re all women.”

“Okay!”

Wang Yanan was more and more obedient to Zhang Fan these days, as well as more and more protective of him. This was because Zhang Fan would let her be the primary surgeon for any easier traumatic injury surgeries. He would act as her primary surgical assistant, which really helped Wang Yanan to improve rapidly. Although she had observed many surgeries over the past year, nobody had taught her step by step. Now that Zhang Fan was here, Wang Yanan could feel her surgical skill level improving at a visible pace. She was quite energetic every day because of this.

People who were really popular would always be busier. This saying was absolutely correct. As Zhang Fan’s reputation spread in Chasu City Hospital, he also slowly became better known in Chasu City. More people started coming to him specifically to get treated.

“Zhang Fan, are you busy?” Zhang Fan received a phone call from Shao Hua. The people at her bank were slowly learning that her boyfriend was quite famous in Chasu City Hospital. Today, the bank’s major account manager came to find Shao Hua for this matter.

“I’m not busy. I’m currently having lunch. What’s up? Have you eaten lunch yet?”

“Yes, I’ve eaten. My bank’s major account manager would like to have you treat her relative’s son. Help set things up for her with me as the connection!” Shao Hua chuckled as she glanced at the major account manager who was standing right next to her. The major account manager was a stocky middle-aged Mongolian woman named Baiyintibu.

“What’s the matter? What’s the disease?” Zhang Fan asked.

“I’ll have Manager Bai explain to you.” Shao Hua handed her phone to Manager Bai.

“Hello, Doctor Zhang. Sorry to trouble you.”

“It’s fine, this is nothing. What’s the matter with the child?”

“It’s like this. It’s my younger sister’s son. She and her family lives in the nomadic district. Recently, they noticed that one of her son’s shoulders is high, while the other one is low. They had him checked at the local city hospital, which told them that it was a spinal deformity. That’s why I’m troubling you through Shao Hua.”

“How old is the child?”

“He’s six years old, almost seven already!”

“Alright. Please bring the child to the hospital. I’ll check things out.” Zhang Fan felt that this was inconceivable that the parents hadn’t noticed such a deformity until the child was almost seven years old.

If this had happened in even a smaller city, this child’s problem likely would have been discovered earlier. However, in the nomadic district, especially since the nomads didn’t live at fixed locations, prenatal examinations, newborn health, and so on weren’t very good, so many diseases would be discovered particularly late.

“Alright, Doctor Zhang. I have the X-ray. Should I bring it to you right now?”

“There’s no rush, since the child’s not with you. Feel free to give the X-ray to Shao Hua. I’ll be able to see it tonight.”

“Alright, Doctor Zhang. Thank you so much. When do you have free time? I’ll treat you and Shao Hua to a meal. I have a really good relationship with Shao Hua,” Manager Bai told him politely.

Later that night, Zhang Fan returned home and saw the X-ray that Shao Hua brought to him. Zhang Fan immediately commented, “This is congenital scoliosis.”

“How is it? Is it severe?” Shao Hua was slightly worried as she looked at Zhang Fan. Actually, she was really worried about others specifically asking for Zhang Fan’s treatment. It would be good if Zhang Fan could treat the patient successfully, but what was he supposed to do if he couldn’t treat the patient? That was why Shao Hua preferred that Zhang Fan remain ordinary so that nobody would especially ask him for treatment!

“Yes, it’s severe!”

“Will surgery be necessary?”

“Yep!” Zhang Fan was still examining the X-ray. He was already establishing a surgical plan in his mind. This was all due to his addiction to surgeries.

“Is surgery absolutely required?”

“Yeah!” Zhang Fan looked at Shao Hua with some confusion. This was the first time that someone had contacted Zhang Fan for treatment through Shao Hua. He noticed that Shao Hua seemed to be worried.

“I’m worried that you won’t be able to treat it successfully!” Shao Hua said in a small voice. She wasn’t afraid of losing face. She was more worried that something would happen to Zhang Fan. After being with Zhang Fan for so long, she now had a much better understanding of Zhang Fan’s profession.

“Haha, it’s fine, rest assured.” Zhang Fan was unable to console her. He could only hope that as time passed, maybe Shao Hua would be more reassured or numb to this type of thing.

“Should I talk to Manager Bai about this tomorrow?” Shao Hua spoke softly while embracing Zhang Fan.

“Yeah. Tell her that she should have her sister bring the child to Chasu City Hospital as soon as possible.”

On the next day, Zhang Fan performed surgeries all morning. However, his medical team had no patients that afternoon at all, since it wasn’t their turn to receive patients. After he finished his surgeries, Zhang Fan immediately brought the child’s X-ray over to orthopedic department #2’s Director Wang.

“Director, are you busy?” He knocked on the door and entered to find that Director Wang was currently resting. Director Wang was slightly tired because he had also performed surgeries all morning.

“What is it? You’re such a vicious little brat. Although everybody stole patients from each other before, nobody did things as viciously as you. You even monopolized every single bone fracture from the emergency department. Can you even finish all those surgeries? Make your own tea if you want as I don’t feel like getting up.”

Director Wang didn’t get up, because he was too tired.

“It’s fine. How about you rest for now and I return later?” Zhang Fan had already sat down before he said this. He did this on purpose. It wasn’t like he had infinite free time. He wouldn’t just wait for Director Wang to have a nap first.

“Fart already if you have anything to say!” Director Wang rested in his armchair with his eyes only open slightly as he gave Zhang Fan a sidelong glance.

“Haha, Director, take a look at this X-ray.” Zhang Fan smiled as he turned on the projector and showed Manager Bai’s nephew’s X-ray.

“Congenital spine deformity! Where did you find such a patient? This patient is in really severe condition!” Director Wang became interested in this as he came over.

“This patient’s family contacted me. The boy is six, almost seven years old.”

“It won’t be easy to do! How about trying brace therapy?” Director Wang suggested after studying the X-ray for quite a while.

“That probably won’t be effective,” Zhang Fan said from the side.

“This truly won’t be easy to treat!” Director Wang muttered to himself while bending in front of the X-ray. He then seemed to suddenly realize something as he stood up straight, and asked Zhang Fan, “What, you want to perform surgery? You have a guarantee? This is a major surgery with a fairly high rate of failure.”

“Are you afraid?” Zhang Fan chuckled.

“Damn you! This is a person, not a toy. Of course I’d be afraid.” Director Wang then began to study the X-ray again. “This really won’t be easy at all. Most normal orthopedic appliances won’t fit in such a young child’s body.”

“Director, I’ll leave this X-ray here so that you can study it. We can discuss things together once the patient arrives.” Zhang Fan didn’t want to say too much, since the patient wasn’t here right now. He decided to let Director Wang have some fun. Zhang Fan then immediately left right after. Director Wang had originally wanted to take a nap, but he became addicted to studying the X-ray instead!

This was because Director Wang had figured out already that Zhang Fan had some method, which energized Director Wang’s competitive streak. “A brat like him can do it, so I should be able to do it as well!”

It was unknown what caused congenital spine deformities. It might be related to inherited genes, or it might be related to the mother’s condition during pregnancy. There was no obvious cause. However, there was one certain factor. The better the economy, the less common congenital spine deformities would be in the area. Perhaps congenital spine deformities were connected to nutrition, prenatal checkups, and a healthy immune system.

The earlier that a congenital spine deformity was detected, the easier it would be to treat. However, it usually wasn’t easy to detect congenital spine deformities early on. The symptoms were having shoulders of different heights and slight distortion for the chest bones. This wouldn’t hurt or itch. Not only would young parents not notice, even younger doctors wouldn’t be able to tell. There were two methods to treat congenital spine deformity: surgical treatment and non-surgical treatment.

America was the best in the world at surgical treatment. However, the best congenital spine deformity experts in the world were Korean doctors. Maybe Korean doctors were naturally talented at correcting deformities, no matter if it was in the spine or related to cosmetic surgery.

The non-surgical treatment method was a little cruel. What did brace therapy mean? It would be like tying a wooden board to a young tree that had grown crooked as a way to force it to grow straight. The human spine worked the same way. High density fiber materials would be used to construct a brace similar to a turtle shell with two boards that were tightly tied to the young child’s body. This would be incredibly uncomfortable. This would be the equivalent of forcing the spine to straighten.

The child would need to wear this shell for more than 22 hours per day. The treatment would also take several years, which wasn’t short at all. The treatment would be changed as the doctor made observations. The brace would be changed each year. The scariest part was that there was still a significant chance of failure. Basically, it was possible that a five-year-old child would be discovered to have congenital spine deformity, and then have to wear such a brace for five years, only to be told afterwards that the brace no longer worked and that a surgery would be necessary! That was how painful this was.