Surgery Godfather

Chapter 71: Chapter 0069 The Trip to Shipo

Sunday, heading to Shipo County.

Song Zimo’s BMW is very comfortable. Yang Ping sits in the passenger seat, with Director Tian behind the driver’s seat. The car is stocked with a few snacks and bottles of water.

Yang Ping has been too tired these past ten days, he reclines his seat and sleeps.

Although he’s physically exhausted, he feels reassured at heart, a sense of relief that makes him completely relaxed.

It’s his first time assisting in a surgery. He’s working with Director Tian, who is technically all-rounded, reliable, and dependable. However, if he hasn’t independently performed a pelvic acetabular surgery, some technical shortcomings may remain, which could make him feel uncertain.

Just in case, he fears the off-chance he’ll need to operate independently, even though the likelihood is almost zero. But having been a doctor for so many years, he’s used to preparing thoroughly without leaving anything to chance.

Had it not been for this surgery, he would not have felt this sense of urgency in Sanbo Hospital. The moment he heard about the surgery, remedying his shortcomings became a top priority.

It’s similar to making sure you fill up your gas tank before getting on the highway for peace of mind.

Fortunately, he pushed himself these past ten days, earned the points, and completed the system’s training on pelvic acetabular fracture surgery. Now he’s finally reassured, there’s no weakness in traumatology anymore.

Shipo County is a remote area in Nandu Province, located at the junction of three provinces. Even though it’s only a county hospital, the patient source is extraordinarily rich, making it a quasi-third-grade-A hospital.

This reasoning is interesting: Because it’s remote, patients rarely travel elsewhere for treatment. Unless they have a major illness, they will most likely seek treatment locally.

In recent years, their hospital dean has made substantial reforms, attracted and retained talent, as well as upgraded the facilities. Hence, the hospital has been growing incrementally each year, attracting patients from neighboring counties and cities.

The highway snakes through mountainous terrain with numerous tunnels, the longest of which takes about ten minutes to pass through. Song Zimo wears polarized sunglasses and a Bluetooth headset. His driving skills are impeccable, extremely smooth.

“Doctor Yang, I hear you’ve been working on research and collecting surgery cases. What kind of research is this? Why hasn’t there been much progress?” Tian Yuan asks Yang Ping.

They need to find a topic to talk about during the several hour-long journey, or it will be too dull.

Tian Yuan thinks: He’s responsible for the research in his department, yet this guy has not given him any hint. What secret plan is he working on?

“Research? What research?” Yang Ping is confused.

Song Zimo, worried that Yang Ping might spill the beans, quickly interjects: “It’s nothing special, actually. After our last seminar, Professor Zhang Zongshun suggested we collect cases and write a book – ‘Internal Fixation Structure’. We just want to perform more fracture surgeries on the limbs, and follow up on the biomechanical performance of different internal fixations.”

Yang Ping turns to look at Song Zimo, wondering what he’s talking about.

Song Zimo, who is driving, tries to signal him with his eyes. Damn it! The rearview mirror is reflective, it’s not a good place to signal with his eyes.

“Your research cases… Little Five and Zhang Lin got some from Director Tian for you.” Song Zimo is smart and reacts quickly.

Yang Ping finally realizes what he means and promptly replies, “Right, I thought you were talking about some kind of research. It doesn’t count as research. There’s no official project yet, we are just preparing the preliminary data.”

“What do you mean ‘digging for patients’? Don’t make it sound so serious. Really, if you need anything, just let me know. We’re all brothers.” Director Tian chats happily with them, not acting superior because he’s an associate attending physician.

“Thanks, Brother Tian!” Song Zimo says immediately.

“Little Five and Zhang Lin asked me for surgery patients, saying it’s for your research. They bumbled around when asking about the specific topic. I thought you guys might have something confidential that I figured I wouldn’t ask too much about, so that’s what this is.” Tian Yuan takes out a pack of chewing gum, gives two to Yang Ping from behind. Yang Ping keeps one for himself and gives one to Song Zimo.

“The Orthopedics Director of Shipo County, Director Miao, is good friends with Director Han and has referred many patients to us. Therefore, Director Han takes this case very seriously. If our hospital can expand its influence in the Shipo area, there will be a significant increase in our patient source. Don’t underestimate this area, it’s all mountains. It lies at the border of three provinces, concentrates the patients from the border of three provinces. Though it’s nominally a county hospital, it practically serves as a regional central hospital. Transportation here is inconvenient, it’s far from the provincial capital, there are no high-speed rails or trains. Patients here generally don’t travel elsewhere for treatment, especially now that they have medical insurance, they are even less willing to travel.” Director Tian has been working at Sanbo Hospital since completing his Ph.D. He has always been with Director Han and is very familiar with the situation. He used to frequently perform surgeries here with Director Han.

“This patient’s pelvic fracture is quite serious, quite tricky,” Song Zimo said while driving.

Director Tian reminded, “Focus on driving. This is a winding mountain road, keep your spirits up.”

“I’ve also checked the scans, it indeed looks tricky,” Yang Ping said.

“I’ve studied it for several nights, made a lot of plans. Director Han asked me to bring you guys here to ensure the absolute safety of the surgery because he was worried that their team wouldn’t be as skilled as ours,” Tian Yuan passed another bottle of water. Yang Ping opened it and took a sip.

Director Tian’s phone rang. It was Director Miao asking where they were.

Everyone chatted casually along the way, enjoying the rare leisure. Their usual work didn’t allow as much idle chatter as the conversation in the car right now.

When the sedan entered Shipo County, the houses along the roadside reminded Yang Ping of his hometown, another small county.

Yang Ping’s father was a rural doctor, the kind used to be called a barefoot doctor, who carried a medicine box and walked everywhere.

Nowadays, with the economic development in the countryside, living standards have improved, and health stations have been established. Adding to that, Yang Ping passed the university entrance exam and got a job after graduation. Life for Yang Ping’s parents is quite comfortable now.

“After I graduated from Huaxi, I worked in a county hospital, doing general surgery,” Director Tian began reminiscing after seeing the familiar scenery.

Yang Ping knew quite a lot about Director Tian from Zhang Lin. He’s a practical and low-key person, who blends in well with the young doctors without any airs. When there were graduate students who struggled financially, he voluntarily lent them some pocket money. Therefore, many young doctors aimed to be in his team.

After completing his undergraduate studies, he did general surgery in a county hospital for three years before getting into Huaxi for his postgraduate studies. With excellent grades, a knack for writing papers and doing surgeries, he was recommended by his advisor for a combined Master and Doctorate course. With the help of his supervisor, he was able to pass his attending physician exam during his study.

After graduating, he started working at Sanbo Hospital. After two years, he smoothly rose to the position of associate attending physician, advancing steadily at every step of his career development. At the age of thirty-something, he led his own team, capable of working independently.

Director Tian is from Shaanxi, where he had many siblings and grew up in a poor family. It’s said he even wore patched pants when he was studying for his master’s degree.

Later, he made his way through his studies by earning money from helping others write papers.

Now that he’s leading a team, he obviously has no financial problems. He owns a house and a car, and leads a happy family life. He hasn’t forgotten his roots and often provides financial aid to his siblings. Some of his siblings are even working in G City with his help.

He often helps his fellow villagers when he returns home.

I’ve heard from Zhang Lin that a primary school teacher in his hometown fell off a ladder, fracturing his femur. Unable to afford the medical bills, he had to endure the pain at home.

Director Tian contacted his former colleagues at the county hospital and had the teacher transferred there. He not only helped to pay the medical expenses but personally performed the operation as well. The teacher fully recovered afterward.

“We’re almost there. Director Miao asked us to park at their hospital’s parking lot. He’ll be waiting for us at the exit,” Director Tian reminded Song Zimo.

After leaving the freeway, Song Zimo slowed down, drove on a section of the cemented highway and the car entered Shipo County.

Following the navigation, they parked at the Shipo County People’s Hospital.

Director Miao was personally waiting for them at the parking lot exit. He was of average build, a bit chubby, and wearing a white shirt.

He recognized Director Tian and had seen him perform surgeries before, now that Director Tian was here, he felt reassured.

Director Miao greeted everyone warmly with a handshake, “Thank you for your hard work. Let’s go have lunch first? We can also rest a bit. Everything is arranged.”

Checking the time, Director Tian said, “It’s still early, no hurry. Let’s go to the department and see the patient first.”