Healing Doctor

Chapter 193 What a pity about this platform

Ji Xiang smiled. "He's my friend."

"A friend?" Zhao Zhe was a little confused. He vaguely remembered seeing a similar figure in the provincial capital. Seeing it again in Shanghai made him unsure, so he asked casually.

Unexpectedly, he received an affirmative answer from Ji Xiang.

"Teacher Zhao..."

"Xiao Ji, call me brother," Zhao Zhe said. "It's not because you offended Teacher Qin that I demoted you. We're not that snobbish. I think you're easygoing. When we talk to each other, calling each other 'teacher' feels too polite and I'm not used to it."

I'm a few years older than you, so calling me Brother Zhao is a bit too much of a stretch.

Speaking of the word "teacher," I was chatting with a friend who's a pure high school physics teacher, and he's incredibly envious of our medical profession. He said that doctors have specialized and exclusive roles, while teaching qualifications don't have those requirements...

Zhao Zhe's talkative nature kicked in again, ranging from how he addressed people to his teacher's certificate. This was different from Ji Xiang's understanding, so he asked curiously, "Brother Zhao, shouldn't teachers also have exclusivity?"

"No, to give a recent example, the Second Affiliated Hospital is a teaching hospital, and the professors leading the urology departments are all teachers who need to pass a certification exam. But the exam is really just a formality. They have both medical licenses and teaching licenses, but the teachers only have teaching licenses, not medical licenses."

Ji Xiang nodded, roughly understanding what Zhao Zhe meant.

A doctor can become a teacher, but a teacher cannot become a doctor; the technical barriers to becoming a doctor are very high, making it difficult to achieve. However, this is not necessarily true for teachers.

He seized the opportunity and, as Zhao Zhe steered the conversation toward the unknown abyss, asked, "Brother Zhao, your memory is pretty good. You could say you've read through a whole stele in a flash."

"Hahaha."

Ji Xiang's question touched on Zhao Zhe's proudest point.

In Yuanliao, no matter how outstanding you are, no one will notice. But after chatting with Xiaoji for a few minutes, people know that you have this kind of talent.

"When I was young, my memory was better. I could read a book only once. While other students were burning the midnight oil for two weeks before the final exam, I only needed to read the book once two days in advance."

"Memorizing texts isn't a big deal. What I like most is that no matter how many years ago I met someone, I can remember them clearly after just one meeting. Actually, I don't usually remember them, but when I meet them again, the memory of what happened last time comes to mind, and I can't forget it."

"That's called photographic memory, amazing!" Ji Xiang exclaimed.

"Hehe, otherwise how could your brother have secretly learned interventional surgery on his own? I'm not bragging, but most people simply couldn't learn it! Without someone to teach you, you have to figure it out yourself. You really can't do it without some skill." Zhao Zhe's expression suddenly darkened as he said this.

"Xiao Ji, it's not that I'm nagging you, but this opportunity is truly rare," Zhao Zhe said with emotion. "Although here..."

As he spoke, he looked up at the imposing inpatient department of the Hepatobiliary Hospital.

"The surgical department here is top-notch in the industry, but the interventional radiology department doesn't have a good reputation. But can people from small local hospitals be picky? They even promised you a bright future after you transferred to Shanghai. It's such a pity."

As Zhao Zhe spoke, he rubbed his hands together, as if he himself had ruined his future.

"I just can't stand it," Ji Xiang said calmly. "I know there are too many patients here, and we can't possibly perform all the surgeries. But if we can't handle it, we can't just stop taking patients; we can find other ways. They're taking patients while just faking it. Brother Zhao, is this related to the poor reputation you mentioned?"

"Hmm." Zhao Zhe nodded. "With Professor Qin's technical skills, professional competence, academic standing, the reputation of the hepatobiliary hospital, and the number of surgeries he performs, everyone would normally respect him. But because his interventional surgeries are so poor, it's his attitude that's so bad, so all the interventional doctors I've heard talk about him don't approve of him."

"Have you communicated with the interventional physician?"

"There's some truth to that. You can't even find someone you know well online, right? Every time we gossip on professional forums about the attitude towards surgery here, everyone's very dismissive." Zhao Zhe changed the subject, "But Xiao Ji, you're still too reckless, still too young. It would be so much better if you could come here."

"hehe."

"Teacher Qin originally wanted to take you on as his apprentice. He's getting old, and when he can't work anymore, he'll have a disciple in his prime to support him. He provides the resources, and you provide the skills; it's a win-win situation."

As he spoke, Zhao Zhe sighed deeply, expressing his deep regret.

If it were him, he'd probably eat even a pile of shit.

No matter how bad the reputation of the interventional radiology department here is, it is still a top-tier hospital, which cannot compare with local small hospitals or even the Second Affiliated Hospital of the provincial capital.

Although things here are tedious, it's still a top-tier hospital. The doctors are extremely reliant on connections, especially!

This is a characteristic of the profession, so Zhao Zhe felt heartbroken whenever he thought about how Ji Xiang had casually given up the opportunity right in front of him.

Even if the opportunity isn't his.

"Going with your heart is quite important," Ji Xiang said. "If I don't want to, I don't want to. If I force myself to do this, I probably won't achieve anything. By the way, I heard that Professor Teng is the only academician in the interventional radiology department, and also an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. I just checked, and it's true."

When talking about Boss Teng, Zhao Zhe's face was full of longing.

To junior doctors at the grassroots level, these are like gods from heaven.

"Brother Zhao, look, Boss Teng isn't in Nanjing, nor in Beijing or Shanghai, right?"

"Hey." Zhao Zhe laughed, "Xiao Ji, you underestimate the world... By the way, let me tell you some gossip. Huashan Hospital or some other hospital, visiting scholars need to take an exam. Our hospital's neurosurgery director went for a visiting scholar program back then, and his hair turned white from studying so hard for the exam."

Ji Xiang thought Zhao Zhe's thinking was really divergent, but he was also willing to listen to this kind of gossip from the industry.

Just like the idea that trainees have to take exams is just talk. Ji Xiang knows that the biggest task for visiting doctors is to work, to work like oxen and horses. Which hospital would take exams seriously?

"Now, when he's drunk, he still rambles about how grueling his advanced studies and exams at Mount Hua were back then, even harder than the college entrance exam. There was a doctor who shared a dormitory with him, and that doctor went to work and played as usual every day."

"Ha." Ji Xiang had already guessed the result.

"Do you think doctors who play around are academic geniuses who can easily pass the exams? Hahaha, which doctor hasn't passed?" Zhao Zhe grinned mischievously.

"..." Ji Xiang was taken aback. "Brother Zhao, you didn't pass the exam, what happened next?"

"It was rejected," Zhao Zhe said. "Huashan's requirements are very strict. That person is now one of the top five neurosurgeons in the country, but this matter cannot be mentioned, or they will turn on you."

"I think it's fine if you don't stay here. Gold shines no matter what."

Ji Xiang glanced at Zhao Zhe, who seemed to have come to believe over the years that he wasn't the gold digger.

(End of this chapter)