The Surgeon’s Studio

Chapter 103: Dwindling Manpower In The Emergency Care Department

Abnormalities to one’s thyroid function would result in bulging eyeballs.

However, the pregnant woman earlier simply had a huge pair of eyes with double eyelids. They were far from what a person’s eyes would look like if they suffered abnormal thyroid function.

“Are you being serious right now?” Chief Surgeon Su began to sound impatient.

She had actually considered the possibility of a rare disease; if the patient’s eyes had actually been protruding, a thyroid function test would have been done long ago.

However, the patient had not shown any symptoms, and this man had the audacity to be so certain of his judgement. Had it not been for his huge contribution a few days ago, Chief Surgeon Su would have brutally kicked him out of her office.

At this moment, Old Chief Physician Pan walked in. Upon noticing the tense mood building up in the office, he began to ask for what exactly had happened.

When he understood it to be a disagreement over the patient’s diagnosis, he waved his hands and said, “The patient is getting an abortion soon, is getting a thyroid function test too much to ask? Chief Surgeon Su, we’ll be taking our leave now; there is still another patient waiting to be transferred over to the ICU.”

After he was finished, he left Chief Surgeon Su’s office with Zheng Ren in tow, and as usual, Su Yun followed closely behind Zheng Ren like a ghost.

“Chief Physician Pan…” Zheng Ren hesitated.

“Don’t worry, be a little stronger, alright? From your display of confidence, they will go through with the test.” Old Chief Physician Pan cracked a subtle, sly smile on his face.

This was the confidence of an experienced man. A single statement was enough to completely shatter any doubt or hesitation; saying anything more would be excessive.

Thus, Zheng Ren simply followed Old Chief Physician Pan to the ICU. On their way there, Zheng Ren felt nothing but pure admiration toward the single gesture earlier. The more he thought about it, the more he respected the man.

He was only a junior doctor and all he did was to offer the Chief Surgeon advice, nothing more. It would be a complete joke to expect a senior chief surgeon to take anything he said seriously.

The patient who had undergone liver restoration surgery and splenectomy yesterday was in the ICU, being prepped for extubation as he was now stable with a very mild fever.

It would not be an issue because as long as he was stable, the patient would be allowed to transfer out of the ICU.

Liver restoration and splenectomy were viewed as simple general surgeries, like appendectomies. This was merely a minor ailment.

The only problem was ICU Chief Qian bearing an extremely bitter look on his face when he noticed Su Yun.

Still, it was merely a stare of resentment and not one of betrayal.

However, when he looked at ICU Chief Qian, Zheng Ren could somehow feel… a significant, menacing aura directed at him.

Zheng Ren wanted to explain to ICU Chief Qian that he, too, never wanted Su Yun to shadow him like a ghost.

‘You assumed I accepted that willfully?’

However, ICU Chief Qian could not read his mind.

Su Yun seemed completely oblivious to ICU Chief Qian’s glare as he casually tailed Zheng Ren, his bangs swaying back and forth.

After a single inspection, the trio returned to the intensive care ward at the same time as the nurses. Chang Yue was busy typing her progress notes for the day at a computer.

Upon noticing Zheng Ren and Old Chief Physician Pan’s return, Chang Yue cracked her usual smile, which was different to that she had whenever she was in a patient’s ward.

As he felt his heart strings tighten, Zheng Ren knew for a fact that it was impossible that her smile was directed at him. He wondered what exactly this little moth was planning.

As he recalled everything Su Yun had told him, he assumed that being a persuasive speaker, Chang Yue was responsible for convincing Old Chief Physician Pan to demonstrate the surgical method of interventional embolization for hepatocellular carcinoma.

However, before Chang Yue could speak, Old Chief Physician Pan revealed a piece of hard, red paper that resembled a wedding invitation card.

“Zheng Ren, this is for you, just prepare for it later.” Old Chief Physician Pan gave Chang Yue a gentle nod before handing the card to Zheng Ren.

“This is…”

After accepting it, he realized it was not an invitation; written on that paper was ‘National Preachers of Emergency Care Tour. Sea City Stop’.

“Emergency care doctors are dwindling and there are plenty of hospitals below the second grade that have closed their emergency care departments.” Old Chief Physician Pan continued, “Hence, the emergency care lecture pioneered by the old Cui Group has been implemented into a tour with a series of talks. This was spearheaded by a man famous around the country in order to teach everything about emergency care.”

Zheng Ren shook his head in response.

Could the main reason for the lack of manpower in emergency care be due to the lack of promotions?

No.

It was because of low wages and hazardous environments. There were emergency treatments almost every day, causing fluctuating adrenaline levels that were extremely straining and detrimental to a person’s overall health.

The low wages were also another factor. A single appendectomy cost two hundred and thirty four yuan even seventeen years ago. Zheng Ren could not be bothered to think about the pay stagnation that had happened since then.

In other words, how could two thousand yuan be reasonable? An extremely minor general surgery such as simple appendectomy would require two surgeons and at least one anesthesiologist, scrub nurse and circulating nurse respectively.

A total of five people working tirelessly for an hour for a meager two hundred and thirty four yuan.

There was a woman who had arrived in the middle of the night with her dog. A heated argument occurred after she was told that her dog was not allowed in a hospital.

The veterinary hospital near Sea City General Hospital had hung up their emergency contact number for later hours… Since this was an emergency, the starting fee would be around two hundred yuan. If a dog had eaten a sock by accident, surgical removal of the sock would cost at least five thousand yuan.

Hence, there was a time when Zheng Ren considered being a veterinarian.

However, after much deeper thought and knowing how much he had struggled to study all those years, simply ending up a veterinarian would be dissatisfying to him.

This was especially since there was now a wave of interest nationwide that reeled in plenty of professionals from everywhere between the northern and southern coasts.

The existence of medical personnel with much higher pay made Zheng Ren envious and bitter.

About half a year ago, a private hospital from another city offered Zheng Ren an annual salary of three hundred thousand yuan after tax. However, after contemplating it for a long time knowing he was merely a junior doctor, he decided to turn the offer down.

It was never about the wages, but his personal safety and wellbeing.

Within days of his arrival to the emergency care department, he had nearly been beaten twice. Luck had come to his aid later, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before he would be forced to endure abuse.

If he came across a “professional” who knew how to inflict pain without causing permanent harm, it would still hurt, but it would be manageable; were he to encounter an amateur, though… crippling injuries were to be expected.

The pediatrics department were significantly worse, as being a pediatric nurse was known to have the highest career risk in the entire medical field!

The pediatric emergency care department in Sea City General Hospital was currently half-crippled. There was a rumor that another pediatrician was transferred over but resigned immediately and headed straight for the southern coast.

In that moment, a wave of concerns flooded Zheng Ren’s mind as he pondered them all. Holding onto that invitation in his hands tightly, he felt its red color somehow assault his eyes.

Upon noticing Zheng Ren was completely lost in thought, Old Chief Physician Pan said, “Learning how to socialize isn’t that bad.”

“Alright.” Zheng Ren was like a patient who had just received a business card, taking it with a single glance. Since this was two months away, he proceeded to toss the invitation onto one of his shelves and would likely forget about it in a few minutes.

Chang Yue frowned as her oversized double eyelids twitched slightly; she was even more adorable than a cartoon character.

The old chief said, “I will take the wheel outside, take care of the patients here, alright?”

After that, he left with both of his hands on the back of his head.

Upon noticing this, Chang Yue chased after him.

However, after a moment, she returned with a strange look on her face.

“Hey, what on Earth are you planning?” Su Yun asked after noticing her troubled expression.

“I asked Old Chief Physician Pan about something earlier,” Chang Yue replied after contemplating her answer.

“About what?” Zheng Ren and Su Yun needled at the same time.

Both of them were exceptionally smart, the only difference being that one of them was indescribably, life-threateningly handsome, while the other was average-looking.

“Oh, you know, Sister Yun’s surgery.” Chang Yue was clearly troubled by it as her voice lowered. She continued, “Chief Physician Pan said he would think about it. Tell me, guys, what is there to think about?”