Surgery Godfather

Chapter 155: Chapter 0149: Doctors Gathering Together

Professor Su took up Professor Zou’s words: “Yes, we must believe in our academic work!”

He always emphasized the independence and confidence of academics and didn’t blindly follow foreign practices. He had his own judgment. As Professor Zou just mentioned, he just felt it necessary to emphasize it again.

Seeing Su Qingyun picking up his argument so quickly, Professor Zou had a fairly clear idea. It wasn’t a sure thing, but it was very close. A small smile appeared on his face. Dean Su, you are still too principled, worrying about reputation in everything you do. When Su Nanchen joined the hospital, you followed all the standard procedures without cutting corners.

Close but not quite there, Professor Zou thought, this matter requires caution. It won’t be too late to take action once the situation is clearer.

“I think this surgical method has excellent advantages. It breaks away from the conventional methods. Although the heel bone is quite special, with cortical bone on the outside and spongy bone on the inside, extracting the Achilles tendon anchorage point is tricky. We originally wanted to extract an intact bone plug, but in the end, it might crumble. Drilling a tunnel in the calcaneus is also difficult, and if not done correctly, it could cause heel bone collapse. This increases the complexity of the operation, but the outcome is clearly better than the conventional methods.” Professor Guan Sheng’s analysis was comprehensive, he spoke with objectivity and balance.

Professor Huang resonated heavily: “I oppose using an unproven surgical method without statistical evidence on professional athletes. If there are harmful results, it will not only harm the patients but also damage the reputation of the hospital. When dealing with such patients, we should be conservative and not reckless!”

Professor Huang was direct by nature and sometimes publicly contradicted Su Qingyun. However, Professor Huang was honest and diligent in his work, and his surgical academics were top-notch. He spoke out without ulterior motives, and Su Qingyun didn’t take it personally, but instead respected his views. Once, Professor Huang offended someone due to his temperament, almost ruining his career. Su Qingyun lent him a helping hand, and he managed to survive. This man was like Wei Zheng: loyal but did not hesitate to speak the truth.

“Oh, Old Huang, we are here today because of the strong promotion by the big headlines. How can you always stick out like a sore thumb, and publicly contradict the main storyline? You should consider the occasion.”

Professor Zou, sitting beside Professor Huang, gave him a nudge with his foot. Professor Huang glared back, unable to voice his curse, but inwardly he was scolding, “You brown-noser!”

Professor Zou involuntarily flinched. Who is the brown-noser? He knew what Professor Huang meant, despite not speaking aloud. They’ve been colleagues for over 20 years, and he knew him inside and out.

Professor Zou shook his head. This guy never changes. If not for me, the real brown-noser, trying to balance the situation with the main headlines everywhere, this stubborn ox wouldn’t have his position of influence today.

The doctoral student standing by the back wall raised his hand and asked for the microphone: “This surgical method does not actually carry much risk. It is a variation of the traditional method, with a solid theoretical basis. It only uses a slightly different approach to shorten the Achilles tendon, even if the methods used are different, the goals are the same. I support this method. Patients come to us looking for better approaches. The traditional method! It is also suggested by the British. Why don’t we bravely try a new surgical method? Even if it fails, at most, we have tension regulation inaccuracy, nothing too serious, and it won’t be worse than it is now.”

The director of the joint orthopedics department said quietly: “This places a great test on the surgeon’s precision. Controlling the shortening length of this method is more difficult than traditional methods. Traditional methods control the length in a straight line, while this method controls the length on a curve, increasing the complexity significantly. Without absolute certainty, do not attempt this lightly. With traditional methods, at least controlling tension isn’t problematic.”

A master’s student raised his hand, noticeably lacking confidence, but Professor Su encouraged him: “Speak boldly. It’s okay to be wrong! There’s always a chance you will be correct.”

Everyone was amused by Professor Su’s words.

“I’d like to ask how the Achilles tendon anchor sinking works? Does it involve removing the bone plug, drilling a deeper tunnel where the bone plug was extracted, and then reinserting the bone plug with the Achilles tendon?” The master’s student turned slightly red, and his voice shook slightly. This was all brought on by nervousness.

“Correct, you’ve got it completely right!” Yang Ping affirmed the student’s idea.

The master’s student was exhilarated. Engaging in a professional dialogue on equal terms and being correct was a significant boost to his confidence.

“Thank you!” The master’s student sounded slightly emotional.

“How about fixation? How do we fix it?” Another postdoc asked directly, without asking for the microphone.

Yang Ping answered: “We can do cross fixation or use compression screws for fixation, referring to the fixation used in ACL reconstruction.”

“I understand now, Dr. Yang, stop being modest. You must have performed this before and it was not just one. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have such profound insights. Perhaps for reasons related to research secrecy, Dr. Yang denies having done it before.”

It’s easy to distinguish whether someone has experience in clinical matters. Dr. Yang must have done many cases already. A clinician’s self-confidence is based on experience. If you don’t have experience, you can’t be confident.

The discussion continued for a long time until someone reminded everyone about the time limit, and they reluctantly moved on to the next case.

“Thank you, Dr. Yang, for your innovative opinion!” Su Qingyun did not come to a conclusion just yet.

Yang Ping and Su Nanchen returned to their seats, and Dr. He brought two bottles of mineral water. Su Nanchen was delighted and had forgotten to get water for everyone.

“That knee instability case is also my patient. If you’re interested, do you want to come and together perform the surgery?” Su Nanchen was eager to see him reconstruct four structures and balance them all at once.

Yang Ping would definitely not turn down such a great opportunity: “Sure, is it appropriate?”

“Why wouldn’t it be appropriate? It’s not someone else’s patient.” It seemed as if their friendship ran deep.

“Do you have a free afternoon? If not, let’s have a meal together after the meeting. As brothers, you can’t say no.” Su Nanchen was very enthusiastic.

“Sure! I came over specifically for this consultation this afternoon and I didn’t schedule any surgeries.” Yang Ping was also willing to befriend Su Nanchen.

The discussion of the next case began.

“Old Huang, Old Huang?” Professor Zou called quietly to Professor Huang.

Professor Huang pretended not to hear.

“After work, shall we sit down somewhere together?”

Professor Huang continued to pretend not to hear, leaning on his chair and watching the slides on display.

You stubborn old mule, fine, have it your way! Professor Zou crossed his arms and leaned back into his chair, focusing on the screen.

Yang Ping was invited for consultation, hence it’d be improper for him to stay on and waste other’s time. Su Nanchen leaned in to whisper a few words to Su Qingyun, and then led Yang Ping out a back exit early.

The younger doctors watched as the two left the scene, feeling a bit regretful. Some had hoped to chat a bit and take a few pictures after the meeting.

Upon leaving the conference, Su Nanchen took Yang Ping to sit for a while in the orthopedics ward, then called him into the duty room, offering him a consultation fee. Yang Ping hesitated for a moment before accepting the money. This was the first consultation fee he had ever received.

Afterward, Su Nanchen took Yang Ping to tour the hospital. He then asked, “Would your girlfriend mind if you stay for dinner?”

Yang Ping answered with a smile, “I am all alone.”

What he actually meant was that he lived alone, not that he didn’t have a girlfriend.

At this, Su Nanchen laughed: “Yes, prioritizing work is always a good idea.”

Yang Ping thought Su Nanchen had misunderstood him, but then decided that there was no need to explain further. Was he supposed to say that he had a girlfriend? That would just be a joke.

After strolling around and chatting for a while, it was already past five in the afternoon. Su Nanchen led Yang Ping to a pavilion in the hospital and began calling people to accompany them for dinner — all young talents from the hospital.

“Get off work and come to the restaurant next to the hospital, Shisan Chong. We have the same private room as last time!” Su Nanchen made several phone calls.

“Should I ask some people to accompany you? Do you drink?” Su Nanchen asked after finishing his calls.

Feeling somewhat ashamed, Yang Ping replied: “I don’t drink!”

In reality, he barely drank enough to count as a drinker.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“No worries, just have some soft drinks later.” Su Nanchen replied cheerfully.

One of his buddies who had arrived early came out: “Young Master Su, has your good friend arrived?”

“This is my good friend, Yang Ping from Sanbo, Doctor Yang!”

“This is Doctor Shao from neurosurgery, Shao Wei, Doctor Shao!”

“Nice to meet you!” The two shook hands.

“Sanbo, I know. A few months ago, your hospital made the turn. Professor Han from your orthopedics department performed a five-section replantation, impressive! It was all I could do to keep breathing.” Doctor Shao gave a thumbs-up.

Laughing, Su Nanchen said: “Only five-section replantation and Professor Han had to step in? It was my brother here who was the lead surgeon.”

“No way! I had no idea I was in the presence of such greatness! Come on, shake hands again.” Doctor Shao looked surprised as he vigorously shook Yang Ping’s hand once more.

“You guys also attend the orthopedic trauma conference?” Su Nanchen asked while waiting for others to arrive.

“We neurosurgeons, we focus on microscopic procedures as well, just like you orthopedics. It’s an essential skill for us. Our director showed us a video of Brother Yang’s procedures, saying — look at their level of proficiency under the microscope. Compared to them, you guys are just fooling around!” Doctor Shao himself laughed as he finished his sentence.

Wrapping his arm around him, Su Nanchen said: “Old Shao, if you want some real skills, you’re gonna have to drink a few more tonight.”

“Absolutely, Young Master Su’s friends are my friends too. Brother Yang, if you ever need anything, just let me know. Although I don’t have much else, I am top-notched at writing papers.”

“He has published over thirty SCI articles?” Su Nanchen added.

Yang Ping praised him: “You are the real genius here! Over thirty, are you wholesaling SCI articles?”

“Oh, it’s just a humble skill. Not worth mentioning.” Doctor Shao pretended to sigh helplessly.

“Old Zhou, old Zhou, why haven’t you arrived yet?” Su Nanchen asked.

Old Zhou, a doctoral student from the Thoracic Surgery department. Doctor Shao said: “Old Zhou plans to go to Germany to raise rabbits for a year. He said he wants to marry into the German gene pool.”

“Who’s badmouthing me? Oh, it’s you again, Shao Wei. I heard you this time.” Doctor Zhou was somewhat shorter than the rest.

Dean Su, who had a knack for picking out talent, had recruited this man who was not just skilled but also good-looking. However, Doctor Zhou had been chosen in spite of his lesser height, due to his unique abilities.

This guy was brilliant at research and procuring projects for his department — he was as prolific as popcorn.

“That’s what you said yourself, unprocessed raw data.” Doctor Shao rebutted Old Zhou.

“Let’s go, some of our gang are still on their way. We’ll start eating and save them a seat.” Su Nanchen rallied the group to leave.

In a setting like this hospital, doctoral degrees were common amongst staff. Those without one often felt intimidated to step forward.