This doctor is already middle-aged, and he's only just started practicing medicine.

Chapter 257 Bear Head and His Confidant!
"Let me ask you a question. Although I'm also a medical student and shouldn't be asking this question, I'm still curious."

"As the saying goes, even dogs don't go to the emergency room or pediatrics department, so why do you insist on going there?" Mu Nanshu asked this question when they were almost off the highway.

Seeing Lu Cheng's somewhat melancholy expression, Mu Nanshu added, "I was just curious. After all, if it weren't for the emergency, your schedule wouldn't be so full."

The compensation and workload in the emergency department are relatively disproportionate, while medical disputes in the pediatrics department are quite frequent, making them two departments that are very difficult to recruit.

Lu Cheng said, "To be honest, I'm too lazy to work hard in vocational colleges, because they are relatively seniority-based."

"Whether it was the Longxian People's Hospital where I worked before, or the state people's hospital where I am now, it's always the same."

"Even if you and the associate chief surgeon can perform the same surgery, the chief surgeon must write the chief surgeon's name first. It's all in vain until you lead the team."

"There are actually more opportunities in the emergency department."

Mu Nanshu said, "But vocational college is relatively easier, and the pressure isn't that great."

Yes!

Lu Cheng added, "But in our industry right now, people in their fifties are at the prime of their careers, while we're only thirty and haven't even started yet. How can we afford to take it easy?"

"The range of diseases I encounter in the emergency department is much wider, which makes it easier for me to find a direction that suits me and interests me."

Mu Nanshu didn't find many flaws in Lu Cheng's answer: "So what are your plans for the future? Do you intend to stay in the emergency department forever?"

Lu Cheng said, "Didn't you say that there's a trend of separating the emergency department from the specialist departments at Peking Union Medical College Hospital? In that case, a trauma center will be established."

"Emergency surgeries will be performed in the trauma center, while elective surgeries will be performed in the specialist department, so there will be no interference between them."

"Isn't this great?"

Mu Nanshu smiled and said, "It seems you have a plan in mind. Indeed, establishing a trauma center is an inevitable trend."

“Lu Cheng, I would actually recommend that you develop in this direction.”

"The overall development of medicine is now approaching a bottleneck. What does 'bottleneck' mean?"

"For elective diseases, whether it's cancer or others, the development of treatment has stagnated, and it's difficult to make any breakthroughs."

"Therefore, during this period, the focus of medical development has actually returned to the past, and we will pay more and more attention to the research and development of treatments for emergency diseases, in order to further reduce the overall mortality rate."

"This is the most direct approach."

"Currently, in almost all hospitals, the places with the highest mortality rates are the ICU, respiratory, cardiology, and emergency departments."

"It's not the oncology department, nor is it a specialty department."

The ICU is full of critically ill patients, the respiratory and cardiology departments are full of elderly patients, and the emergency department is for dangerous cases such as emergency trauma and aortic dissection.

With the development of specialized disease areas stagnating, a top-tier teaching hospital that wants to stand out must shift its focus to emergency diseases. This is a crucial path that must be pursued for decades to come.

“I’ve also seen the news that more and more hospitals are developing trauma centers. I think that in the next few years, China’s medical system will come closer to that of other countries.”

“Overseas emergency departments integrate patient admission and treatment, unlike the ‘advanced referral’ model in domestic emergency departments. More and more specialists will move towards emergency departments.”

"But I don't know how long it will be before that happens."

Lu Cheng then added, "By the way, take a look at the group chat. Someone just sent a lot of messages. See what they're saying?"

Mu Nanshu took out her phone, opened the messages in the group chat, and read them carefully.

The research group discussion group is relatively quiet at the end of the year, except for sending some New Year's greetings.

It's only the second day of the Lunar New Year, and work hasn't started yet. If others are talking about something, Lu Cheng and Mu Nanshu should join in.

Mu Nanshu looked at it for a while, then suddenly looked up, her tone slightly surprised: "Lu Cheng, it's a message from Dai Linfang. He said he can get eight million in funding and asked if we want it."

"Huh? What did you say?" Lu Cheng was so surprised that he immediately turned on his right turn signal, switched from the fast lane to the slow lane, and gradually reduced his speed to eighty.

“Dai Linfang said that there is currently eight million in experimental funding available, and asked us if we wanted to take this funding,” Mu Nanshu repeated.

"What's the deal with this Dai Linfang?" Mu Nanshu didn't actually know much about Dai Linfang.

Her understanding of Dai Linfang came from two sources: Lu Cheng's retelling and Xie Yuan'an's gossip!
"Actually, I don't know much about him either, but I could tell from our last dinner gathering that he's a top-tier second-generation rich kid."

"The only thing I don't understand right now is why he came to the oncology department of the state hospital."

“During his postgraduate studies, he squandered millions of yuan in funding.” Lu Cheng’s tone was a little reserved.

Tens of millions in funding?

There aren't many top professors and large teams at Peking Union Medical College Hospital with this level of funding.

Dai Linfang alone has burned through so much money.

Lu Cheng's team currently has a total budget of just over three million yuan.

"Ask him where this money came from. Funds can't be taken indiscriminately," Lu Cheng quickly said.

"Let's talk about it later. It's not safe for you to be driving right now."

"We're almost off the highway anyway. Let's grab something to eat first, then we can talk after we park..." Mu Nanshu suggested.

"Okay." Lu Cheng nodded.

……

After parking their car, Lu Cheng and Mu Nanshu went straight into Xinji Spicy Hot Pot, where Mu Nanshu went to get the ingredients.

After putting down his bag, Lu Cheng left the store and dialed Dai Linfang's number from the square.

"Brother Dai, are you joking about what's going on in the group?" Lu Cheng's voice was slightly sullen.

In summary, the research group is currently short of funds.

In the area of ​​animal testing alone, Zhang Xibei spent nearly 300,000 yuan on a month-long experiment.

The expenses incurred by Professor Chen Song and Professor Tong Yuan'an in practicing their skills have not yet been factored in.

But Lu Cheng knew that it was perfectly normal for a project like this, which involved creating original techniques, to cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

After all, the main goal is to promote its use in large-scale clinical practice. If safety cannot be guaranteed, it is better not to use it than to risk patients.

"Brother Lu, is there anyone else with you?" Dai Linfang asked.

"I'm outside, my wife is getting the ingredients." Lu Cheng glanced at Mu Nanshu, who was still carefully selecting the ingredients and checking if they were good.

"Brother Lu, the reason I asked everyone in the group instead of directly presenting the results is that I wanted to hear everyone's opinions."

"This funding came from my family when I went home for the Chinese New Year. They asked me what I've been up to lately, and after I told them about what our research group has been doing, an uncle kept asking me about it," Dai Linfang said confidently.

There was no intention to show off, but to Lu Cheng, it sounded a bit pretentious. "So, it's eight million?" Lu Cheng clicked his tongue in amazement.

Dai Linfang took a deep breath and then suddenly said, "Brother Lu, I said I need to know you better than the others, including Team Leader Mu. Do you believe me?"

Lu Cheng smiled casually: "Brother Dai? I believe you, but I think you're exaggerating a bit."

Dai Linfang said, "Lu Cheng, you are not suited to handle specific tasks. You are only suited to expanding territory and delegating more specific tasks to others."

"Don't rush to refute me. These can be deduced from the timeline. I won't repeat the specific deductions for you."

"I'll just ask you one question: how long have you been waiting?"

Dai Linfang's words really struck a chord with Lu Cheng, but Lu Cheng had never told Mu Nanshu about these things.

In the eyes of Mu Nanshu and others, Lu Cheng's ability to spend so much time carefully figuring out these techniques already made him a genius.

Little did they expect that Lu Cheng actually had spare capacity, and he deliberately dragged out his "research and development progress" a lot of time. If Lu Cheng were allowed to work freely, his output would be even higher.

"Brother Dai, are you overestimating me?" Lu Cheng asked.

Dai Linfang said, "You're not acting right!"

"If you're truly putting your heart and soul into a research project, and you're in your current state, I'll cut off my dick and give it to you."

Dai Linfang's expression may not be very civilized, but it is very down-to-earth.

“Brother Dai, I still don’t understand what you’re trying to say,” Lu Cheng said.

Dai Linfang sighed: "Lu Cheng, I know you might think we're being too forward with each other. I think so too."

“If I hadn’t gotten into the group through some underhanded means, or if I had met you earlier and had a certain relationship with you, I could have told you much more than I have now.”

"But Lu Cheng, whether you admit it or not, everyone in our research group, no matter who they are, has a brain."

"It's not that they're not smart enough, but that everyone has a different perspective."

"It's not that I'm being pretentious. Including your wife, she hasn't led any major research projects, and she hasn't experienced the kind of pain that makes your brain cells feel like they're being crushed."

"So they simply can't understand your state of mind."

"But I know you're in complete control. The fact that you're not in the right state of mind proves that what you're doing right now is far from your limit. Otherwise, what would you be doing?"

“Hehe…” Dai Linfang did not speak directly, but only expressed his opinion.

With your nonchalant attitude, Lu Cheng, you're not at all in the high-pressure environment that real researchers face.

Lu Cheng didn't answer, but Dai Linfang continued, "Brother Lu, you don't need to think too highly of me. I do have something to ask for, and it's not a small thing."

"However, based on this point of communication, I feel I should express what I have seen to you."

"Money is a good thing, and people are a good thing too."

“I even think that the reason you put me in the team is because you felt there was no one else available. Otherwise, given your personality and temperament, you would never have put me in the team.”

Lu Cheng said with annoyance, "You've transferred me from behind my back again."

“I did it myself this time, without relying on anyone else,” Dai Linfang said.

"But to be fair, since we have this capability, we should appropriately utilize some resources."

"Anyway, this is what I think: if you hadn't met me, Brother Lu, then your current persistence and choices would have been the right thing to do."

"But when they meet me, I will help them if I can, and I know that I can gain a lot in the process of helping them."

"I believe everything I see, hear, and know."

“I know that, Brother Lu, you have the opportunity to fill in all the holes I dug before that I didn’t fill.”

Lu Cheng took a deep breath: "Brother Dai, you might really be overestimating me."

"What a load of rubbish!"

“Let’s be reasonable. Your operational proficiency is not worth mentioning. There are plenty of people in the whole province who are more proficient in a single operation than you.”

"But with limited operational proficiency, why is it that you, Brother Lu, are able to make inferences and open up a new frontier?"

"Is it just because he's handsome?"

"No, this proves that Brother Lu, you have reached the limit of your utilization of limited resources!!!" Dai Linfang didn't know whether he was praising Lu Cheng or was really analyzing carefully.

This detailed and specific praise made Lu Cheng feel quite comfortable.

“Brother Lu, let me ask you this: if you were given the freedom to develop your own projects and didn’t have to worry about keeping up with the project schedule, wouldn’t you have a chance to snatch all the academicians’ projects?” Dai Linfang’s words were astonishing.

"Brother Dai, we can joke around, but there's a limit," Lu Cheng quickly said.

Dai Linfang said, "Besides research projects, academicians are big shots and seniors, and we should respect them."

“When we were working on the project, he was just a competitor. Whoever finished it faster or completed it got the project. It wasn’t like he got all the ownership after he put his name on it.”

"This kind of privilege is recognized domestically, but people abroad will not allow it."

Lu Cheng finally spoke his mind, saying, "Brother Dai, I know you have a wide network of connections, but I can't afford to be taken advantage of. Please, don't get me into trouble."

"Let's not talk about the funding for this project anymore. Let's just take it one step at a time."

"This is my only fate."

Dai Linfang, this troublemaker, is beyond Lu Cheng's control, so Lu Cheng dares not let Dai Linfang run wild.

"Brother Lu, we can talk about life and death another time."

"In the end, connections and resources are nothing more than a matter of a turning point."

"The typical turning point is when you have done a lot of research projects and published a lot of articles, which demonstrates your research capabilities, so you can apply for research funding."

“An unusual kink is that you can get to know the person in charge of distributing the funds.”

"Brother Lu, I won't beat around the bush. If you're free after the New Year, you can come to Shashi. I'll take you and my uncle for tea, and you can talk face-to-face. I'm off!"

"What you talk about or not talk about is entirely up to you," Dai Linfang said.

Lu Cheng said, "Thank you for thinking so highly of me, Brother Dai, but I feel that I don't have the resources to negotiate right now."

"What kind of interesting conversation can you possibly have?"

"Bring back a pledge of loyalty and a contract of servitude? That's not my style."

(End of this chapter)