Chapter 630 - 286: The Trapped Doctor (Part 4)

Li Younan nodded: "Even after work, you don’t have time for yourself?"

Lu Zhiqing originally didn’t want to pour out his troubles, but at this moment, he inexplicably wanted to confide.

He took a couple of gulps of beer and said, "I really don’t want to complain, but honestly, working in a community hospital, there are too many frustrating things. My patients are mainly the elderly and children, as well as those with chronic diseases."

"The elderly are often very stubborn, they would rather believe in home remedies than the doctor’s words, and they tend to ignore medical advice, like that patient just now, sneaking high-salt food, stopping medication without permission, and when the blood pressure rose, they immediately called us."

"And some patients always like to compare us to specialized departments in big hospitals, I often hear them say, ’I didn’t have this test at a top-tier hospital, why are you making me do it’."

"I have no way to explain to them that general practice is a comprehensive assessment, not treating just one type of disease, but explaining until my mouth is dry doesn’t help in being understood."

Li Younan nodded silently, helping Lu Zhiqing refill his drink.

Lu Zhiqing drank several more glasses, then noticed that Li Younan wasn’t drinking alcohol but was instead holding a bottle of Vitasoy, and said somewhat dissatisfied: "Why aren’t you drinking some?"

Li Younan said: "Don’t I have to drive?"

Lu Zhiqing chuckled: "That’s true."

The two continued chatting, Lu Zhiqing wasn’t someone who liked to complain about life’s unfairness, after venting a bit to Li Younan, he shifted the topic to Younan, asking him how it felt to be an online video creator.

Li Younan told him how he initially chose this path, the things he encountered along the way, and some details about living alone in the wilderness in Canada.

"I really didn’t expect that you could rely solely on a bow and arrow to hunt a grizzly bear by yourself."

Lu Zhiqing laughed and said, "But, I don’t find these things surprising happening to you, since high school you were pretty athletic, even if you didn’t study, you probably could have been a sports athlete."

They then chatted about the experiences on Route 318, listening to Li Younan calmly narrate some interesting stories from his travels, Lu Zhiqing showed a look of longing in his eyes.

By now he had drunk two or three bottles of beer, his face flushed, as he downed another glass of cold beer, Lu Zhiqing genuinely said: "Your life is truly enviable."

Li Younan asked: "You can choose too."

Lu Zhiqing looked complicated and shook his head.

Of course, he also wished he could, like Li Younan, resign without hesitation to pursue poetry and distance.

But with the sunk cost of eight years of education, not only did he pay tuition and time, he was also carrying student loans.

Now his income is much less compared to specialist doctors in big hospitals, and after deducting rent and social security, his disposable income is even lower than peers who are in hospital residency training programs.

But even so, it’s not easy to dare to resign.

As a doctor, his professional barriers are very high, so employment is not a worry, but at the same time, leaving this job, he doesn’t know what else he could do.

So he actually doesn’t have much choice.

Like Li Younan, to resign and become a travel blogger?

Oh my God, as a doctor, what skills or conditions does he have to become a travel blogger? As for other jobs, it’s not even worth thinking about.

Although Lu Zhiqing did not explicitly express his dissatisfaction with his current job in words, Li Younan could still infer some things, and he felt a bit emotional, there is no easy profession in today’s society.

He also very much understood the dilemma Lu Zhiqing is facing now.

Besides the low patient trust and high communication cost he mentioned earlier, there is also the contradiction of a broad diagnostic range but very limited resources.

The career advancement ceiling is also very low.

This could be inferred, after all, general practitioners also need theses for promotions, but what research resources can a community hospital offer?

No laboratory, no team, and the work is so busy, relying on one’s own time to squeeze in basic theses like community chronic disease management, it’s really hard to produce high-quality results.

The look in Lu Zhiqing’s eyes revealed a kind of uncertainty about the future.

Think about it, after eight years of medical training, to only end up treating colds and fevers in a community, anyone would feel a huge gap.

Li Younan took a deep breath, ready to say something, when suddenly, Lu Zhiqing’s phone rang again.

Initially, Lu Zhiqing didn’t want to answer it, but after hesitating for a bit, he still picked it up.

Lu Zhiqing’s phone was an older model, slightly leaky, Li Younan could hear the voice from the earpiece: "Dr. Lu, really sorry to disturb you so late, there’s something we need your help with. My wife and I are both out of town right now, my mom’s leg is hurting again, can you possibly come and check on her?"

Lu Zhiqing was stunned for a moment, silent for a bit: "How could you... how could you both leave the elderly alone at home?"

"Ah, there’s really something going on, my wife and I had no choice, Dr. Lu, we can only trouble you a bit, we’ll treat you to a meal when we’re back."

Lu Zhiqing let out a long sigh and said: "You..."

Hanging up the phone, Lu Zhiqing looked at Li Younan with some apology: "I really apologize, buddy, you see, another situation has come up."

Li Younan shook his head and said: "You drank, is it okay?"

Lu Zhiqing was taken aback, hesitated for a moment.

Li Younan had already stood up, called over the waiter, and said: "The bill please." Then looked at Lu Zhiqing, "I’ll go with you."