Chapter 74: Challenging the Dojo

Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Challenging the Dojo

Yu Zhiming was assigned a consultation room on the second floor of the Outpatient and Emergency Department. It was the westernmost and most remote room, and thus relatively quiet.

The entire second floor of the Outpatient and Emergency Department had fifteen consultation rooms arranged in a single row.

In front of the consultation rooms was a wide-open space filled with row after row of chairs—hundreds of them in total—for registered patients and their families to rest while they waited.

To Yu Zhiming, the scene was quite a spectacle. He would never have seen a sight of this scale back at the county hospital.

Most of the consultation rooms here had "Expert Consultation" signs on them. They were mainly staffed by the associate chiefs and Chief Physicians of the hospital’s various departments, who took turns holding clinics here.

Yu Zhiming had already learned that Qi Yue had to come here to hold a clinic for at least one day every month.

The consultation room assigned to Yu Zhiming didn’t have an "Expert Consultation" sign. It just had a large number "15" on it.

Yu Zhiming knew that with his current abilities, he couldn’t yet live up to the title of "expert."

But just the thought of holding his own independent clinic in a nationally renowned hospital made him feel a bit emotional, and even a little proud.

’Two months ago, who would have thought that I, Yu Zhiming, would have such a massive change in fortune...’

Inside the consultation room, there was a desk, a computer, an examination bed, some disposable medical supplies for physical exams, and a first-aid kit, among other things.

The Outpatient and Emergency Department had also assigned a young nurse named Wang Li to help him call patients’ numbers and handle miscellaneous tasks...

Yu Zhiming’s first patient was a local man in his sixties or seventies.

He walked into the consultation room supported by his wife, saying that he had felt a sudden, severe pain in his lower abdomen while on his morning walk.

When Yu Zhiming lightly pressed on his lower abdomen, the old man cried out, "OUCH! OUCH!" without stopping.

When asked about his diet, the old man’s wife replied that he had only eaten plain congee and soup dumplings for breakfast that morning.

Last night, he ate quite a bit: half a duck, shiitake mushrooms with bok choy, scrambled eggs with tomato, and a wood ear and red date soup.

The main staple was rice.

"Let me ask, did the red dates you ate have pits...?"

After assigning the department’s tasks, Zhao Shan, the director of the Outpatient and Emergency Department, began his routine patrol of his "territory," looking for problems.

A moment later, he heard a DING.

It was the notification sound he had set for his work dashboard, alerting him that an item he was monitoring had appeared.

Zhao Shan took a tablet from the pocket of his white coat and lit up the screen. It turned out that the kid, Yu Zhiming, had issued his first diagnostic report.

The diagnosis was a suspected small intestine perforation by a date pit, with a referral to General Surgery for emergency surgical treatment.

What surprised Zhao Shan was that the diagnostic report also had a photo attached—a simple diagram, hand-drawn on paper.

Zhao Shan enlarged the image to fill the screen and saw that the diagram depicted the intestinal system in the lower abdomen, marking the location of the problem in the small intestine.

He also noticed that although the diagram was hastily drawn, it accurately depicted the relative positions of the various parts of the intestinal system within the lower abdomen with just a dozen or so strokes.

Even a medical intern could use this diagram to accurately locate the exact site of the problem.

An expert’s touch is unmistakable.

This seemingly casual sketch, in Zhao Shan’s expert opinion, was concise, clear, and remarkably skillful, fully displaying a deep foundation of knowledge.

It didn’t look like something an attending physician could just casually sketch out.

’No wonder Old Qi was so damn calm about this. Turns out he has absolute confidence in this kid.’

’This kid is interesting...’

The "interesting kid" in question, Yu Zhiming, was now seeing his second patient.

Yu Zhiming looked at the patient registration information on his computer screen. The man’s name was Xuda.

He knew at once that it was likely a made-up name.

To protect patient privacy, the hospital didn’t require patients to use their real names to seek medical treatment.

As a result, all sorts of strange names often appeared on the hospital’s calling and notification screens.

Many were the product of patients with either too much imagination or too little, just randomly making them up.

Of course, seeking treatment without using one’s real name meant you couldn’t use the medical insurance program; all expenses had to be paid out-of-pocket.

Yu Zhiming sized up the man before him: twenty-seven years old, with a fair complexion and standing just over five-foot-seven.

’An embarrassing illness?’

"What seems to be the problem?"

Xuda gave a little chuckle. "Doctor, I’m not physically uncomfortable. I just wanted to ask for some advice..."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "Missing a rib or two isn’t a major health issue, right?"

’What kind of question is that?’

Yu Zhiming was taken aback for a second. "Our ribs serve two purposes: one is for support, and the other is to protect fragile organs like the heart and lungs."

"If you lose a rib or two in an accident, it’s not a huge problem. You just have to be a bit more careful in your daily life."

"You’re asking this because...?"

Xuda felt his own rib cage. "Doctor, I’m not missing any ribs. They’re all there."

"I just want to have one of my ribs removed."

He said excitedly, "Doctor, my girlfriend’s birthday is coming up. I love her. I love her so much."

"I’ve always wanted to give her a gift that could truly represent my burning love for her."

"And then, I thought of it."

"Doesn’t everyone say that woman was made from man’s rib?"

"So I thought I could have one of my own ribs removed and made into a ring and a necklace for her..."

Yu Zhiming stared at the excited Xuda, utterly astonished. It felt like he was looking at a rare species of animal.

’It really takes all kinds to make a world.’

’Are you sure your beloved girlfriend will be able to sleep at night after finding out her birthday-present ring and necklace are made from your bones?’

’You’re sick in the head. And it’s not a mild case, either.’

Although Yu Zhiming’s mind was racing, he maintained a doctor’s solemn expression.

"Xuda, first of all, let me tell you that no hospital in this country will perform a rib removal surgery for you for this reason."

"Also, in my opinion, compared to a ring and necklace made from your own rib, girls prefer birthday gifts like handbags, nice shoes, or regular jewelry."

"Finally, I strongly suggest you speak with a senior counselor at our psychological counseling center."

"You can learn from them what girls actually like..."

Yu Zhiming wrote a referral for Xuda to psychological counseling and instructed the young nurse, Wang Li, to personally escort him to the counseling center...

After Xuda, the next patients Yu Zhiming saw were much more normal.

At least their problems were related to their internal organs—heart, liver, spleen, lungs, or stomach—and not their mental state.

With every patient he diagnosed, Yu Zhiming would attach a photo of a hand-drawn diagram to the report, marking the location of the problematic organ and adding a brief description of the issue.

Because he had to draw these diagrams, Yu Zhiming needed more time with each patient.

He averaged about ten minutes to diagnose each one.

And that was only because Yu Zhiming had grasped the essence of the Outpatient and Emergency Department: triage and referral.

He only needed to clearly write down the diagnosed problem and issue a referral, sending the patient to the appropriate department for treatment or for further examination and confirmation.

Of course, for minor problems and illnesses that the Outpatient and Emergency Department could handle, Yu Zhiming would directly write a prescription and have the patient pick up medicine from the department’s pharmacy or go to the injection room for a shot.

From nine in the morning until noon, Yu Zhiming didn’t take a single break, seeing a total of twenty-three patients.

He discovered the biggest difference between holding a clinic here and back at the county hospital: the confirmation rate for major illnesses here was truly high.

At the county hospital, more than half the cases were minor issues like headaches and fevers, with only one or two out of every ten outpatients needing to be admitted for further diagnosis and treatment.

But of the twenty-three patients Yu Zhiming had diagnosed, aside from Xuda who was sent for psychological counseling and three others with minor issues who stayed in the outpatient department for treatment, the remaining nineteen were all referred to various departments for further examination and treatment.

Moreover, there were two patients whose initial examinations gave Yu Zhiming a very bad feeling, and he made special notes and warnings on their diagnostic reports.

At 12:05 PM, Yu Zhiming paused his clinic work and got up to get lunch.

The moment he stepped out of the clinic, he saw Zhou Mo walking up to him.

"Dr. Yu, a doctor came to our center this morning to lay down a challenge. He wants to compete with you in medical skill."

"A challenge?"

It took Yu Zhiming a moment to process this. He frowned and said, "Who has that much time on their hands? How pointless."

"He wants to make a name for himself by using you as a stepping stone!"

Zhou Mo replied with a grin, then took another step forward and grabbed Yu Zhiming’s hand.

"I brought you lunch. I still haven’t properly thanked you for my mom’s physical check-up..."