Healing Doctor

Chapter 799 Gao Sheng

A few hours ago, Ji Xiang finished his surgery and went to the emergency room.

Today is Meng Qingfei's night shift, and Ji Xiang is already used to this rhythm.

Upon arriving at the emergency department, he was greeted by an emergency internal medicine doctor. The doctor paused for a moment after seeing Ji Xiang, said something to the patient next to him, and then pulled Ji Xiang aside.

"Dr. Ji, I heard that Lao Meng is going to the medical office?"

"Huh?!" Ji Xiang was also taken aback.

Meng Qing insisted on going to the medical office?! Ji Xiang hadn't heard this news at all.

But seeing the expression on the emergency room doctor's face, he instantly guessed what was going on.

"Yes, Director Bai came to discuss it with the director a few days ago, and you didn't know?"

"I don't know," Ji Xiang said innocently.

The emergency room doctor said mysteriously, "I heard that if you go there, you'll be promoted directly to the level of a full department head."

"Teacher, that's impossible. You need to be a deputy section chief for more than two years to be promoted to a full section chief. Teacher Meng is just a general clinician. Doing this seems a bit against the rules."

"Three years, and it takes two years to go from deputy director to director," the emergency room doctor corrected. "Don't you know Lao Meng is the deputy director of emergency surgery?"

"..."

Ji Xiang shook his head.

"Sigh, being called a deputy director is really just about the benefits and making more money. In this lousy emergency room, many directors come here just to get a promotion, and they leave after two years at most. I thought Lao Meng's connections from a few years ago were useless, but now, wow."

This meant nothing to Ji Xiang; he simply smiled.

"It turns out he was playing a long game."

The emergency room doctor gave Ji Xiang a deep look, said "big move," but didn't say anything more before going to attend to other matters.

Ji Xiang arrived at the emergency surgery department, and less than three seconds after he appeared, a bunch of keys flew over.

After taking the keys and changing his clothes, Ji Xiang began helping Meng Qingfei with his tasks.

This was the time when there were the most patients, and Ji Xiang became more and more skilled until the number of patients decreased slightly around 6 o'clock.

"Teacher Meng, the internal medicine teacher said you need to go to the medical affairs office?" Ji Xiang only had time to ask at this point.

"I reckon Director Bai is going to be promoted to vice president this year, to build up human resources for the medical affairs department," Meng Qingfei said casually. "I have to manage medical records and complaints, it's a headache."

"Congratulations."

"There's nothing to congratulate you on. It's easy to turn a blind eye to medical records, but if there's a medical accident, you'll be in big trouble. Not only will you offend people, but you'll also bear responsibility. As for complaints, I need to stock up on some blood pressure medication."

"It's not that bad, it's not that bad." Ji Xiang waved his hand.

"It can't be that bad!" Meng Qingfei said disdainfully. "Let me tell you something."

Taking advantage of the absence of patients, Meng Qingfei got up to wash his hands. Without even using paper towels, he vigorously wiped his buttocks with both hands.

The black mark in that location was extremely obvious, but Ji Xiang was already used to it and couldn't see it at all.

Upon arriving at the duty room, Meng Qingfei lit a cigarette.

"Take a break, the drunkard will be here soon." Meng Qingfei pretended to throw a cigarette to Ji Xiang, but Ji Xiang refused.

"A few years ago, I saw a question online—it said that his mother was perfectly fine when she came to the hospital, but she was rushed into the ICU and intubated and resuscitated just by parking the car."

"Oh, there are quite a few people like that," Ji Xiang replied calmly. "I don't think it's a problem."

"I knew what was going on just from the title. These kinds of people can argue tenfold if they have even a tenth of a point of truth. Even if they're wrong, they'll still try to prove themselves right," Meng Qingfei said. "From now on, all we'll be dealing with when we go to the medical office are these kinds of people."

"It's not that bad, it's not that bad." Ji Xiang laughed and repeated "it's not that bad."

"Why not?" Meng Qingfei glared at Ji Xiang, but quickly smiled and said, "One advantage of our hospital is that the leaders are all from clinical backgrounds. I have a question for you, Xiao Ji."

"What are the advantages of hospital leaders having a clinical background?" Ji Xiang asked.

Meng Qingfei nodded.

"First of all..." Ji Xiang said two words, but after thinking for a long time, he still couldn't explain what was going on.

This question is too far removed from Ji Xiang's understanding.

"Hahaha," Meng Qingfei laughed, "Let me tell you something. The head of the medical affairs department at the hospital next door was originally from a clinical background, just like Director Bai, and was considered shrewd and capable. Later, a demobilized military officer came in, and the head of the medical affairs department was promoted half a step and became the vice president."

"At the time, I didn't think much of it, but in less than two years, the hospital became a complete mess. The capable people in the hospital were all looking to leave, and even those who stayed were pushing patients to private hospitals."

"Oh? What happened?" Ji Xiang asked.

"A hospital is like a large, dilapidated ship. If you don't exert any force, the ship can drift along. But once you exert force, especially if an amateur does, the ship will break apart."

Ji Xiang didn't understand, but Meng Qingfei didn't explain further. He continued, "I was having dinner with friends from the hospital next door, and they were complaining about something."

"In the internal medicine diabetes clinic, a patient's blood sugar levels weren't improving no matter what we did. The doctor wanted to admit him, but the patient and his family disagreed. So the doctor ordered a full abdominal CT scan to examine him more thoroughly."

"The patient's family was furious when they saw the results. The test cost nearly a thousand yuan, and it had nothing to do with diabetes. They took the report and went to file a complaint. It has to be said that the military-to-civilian cadres are truly dedicated to serving the people."

Meng Qingfei chuckled jokingly, "He got really angry when he saw it, and he called the endocrinologist over and gave him a good scolding, he really bastardly scolded him."

"Oh, the repeated blood sugar adjustments aren't working well. It could be due to the doctor's lack of experience, but we still need to rule out the possibility of a tumor. I don't think there's anything wrong with getting a CT scan."

Meng Qingfei looked at Ji Xiang with admiration, and after a few seconds said calmly, "After you've finished cursing, refund the money, have the endocrinologist apologize to the patient, and that's the end of it."

"The patient's family didn't say much and took the patient to a nearby private hospital to adjust their blood sugar. The effect seemed okay, since they were hospitalized. But a few months later, the patient's condition worsened, and when they came to the hospital for a checkup, they were diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer, having missed the best time for surgery."

Ji Xiang shook his head, unsure how to comment on the matter.

"Xiao Ji, I'm asking you what you would do if you were Director Bai handling this matter."

"He probably doesn't think it's the endocrinologist's fault; after all, Director Bai is very professional."

"Yes. Other positions in the hospital can have laymen, and there are actually quite a few laymen, but key positions like the medical affairs office must be filled by doctors with clinical backgrounds. Otherwise, they might do more harm than good, or they might be clueless and meddling in everything they do."

"A little..."

"You mean what I said went a bit too far?" Meng Qingfei laughed. "Let me give you an even more outrageous example."

Ji Xiang pricked up his ears.

"When I went back to my hometown for the Chinese New Year, a relative of mine was sick, so I went to visit him and chatted with the doctor on duty. That person was transferred from a lower-level hospital and probably had a strong background, because he became the head of the neurology department directly."

"She's not good at anything, but I heard her best skill is building party buildings."

"..." Ji Xiang was speechless.

"At first I didn't believe it, but after looking through the medical records I found that there was no three-level ward round at all."

"You don't even have this?!" Ji Xiang was taken aback.

Level 3 ward rounds refer to the routine medical procedures performed by the attending physician, supervising physician, and chief physician during a patient's hospitalization.

It is a basic medical system that physicians at all levels must follow when carrying out their medical work. It is an important link in improving the quality of medical care, implementing rules and regulations at all levels, and an effective way to train young physicians.

Whether it was useful or not, when Ji Xiang was in clinical practice, it was the three-tiered doctor ward round system, which had been in place for who knows how many years.

Ji Xiang was somewhat surprised that a department head didn't make ward rounds.

"When I asked why, the attending physician, seeing that I was a colleague from the provincial capital, complained to me that the head doctor had no professional competence and was afraid of taking responsibility if something went wrong, so she found an old colleague who was about to retire to take charge of her work."

"Moreover, when reviewing the medical records, it was clearly stated that unless she accompanied the patient on rounds, a ward round record of a certain department head could not be written."

Ji Xiang was completely at a loss for words when it came to commenting on the matter. Life was so absurd that even the doctor wouldn't believe it if he told anyone.

The three-level ward rounds are generally just for show; the head of the department leads a team to conduct ward rounds every morning after the shift handover.

Assuming there is no deep-seated hatred between the supervising professor and the department head, the department head will check on the patients almost every day.

If it's a senior, authoritative department head, or the head of internal medicine, there's usually a major ward round every month.

The so-called three-level ward rounds are just something junior doctors wrote down haphazardly; the actual number of ward rounds is definitely more than what's written.

But what Teacher Meng said about this person who neither makes rounds nor allows the director to write about rounds is quite speechless.

"Don't their medical department check?"

"Hehe." Meng Qingfei smiled at Ji Xiang, neither confirming nor denying, then changed the subject and continued, "At the time, my relative had a stroke, accompanied by severe heart failure. I glanced at the treatment plan, and just then, the director had some objections, guess what..."

"Forget it, you would never guess something this bizarre," Meng Qingfei said directly. "The irritability caused by heart failure was diagnosed as anxiety by their director, who prescribed a large amount of sedatives."

"!!!"

Heart failure patients often experience restlessness, agitation, anxiety, fear, and a sense of impending death; when systolic blood pressure is below 70 mmHg, inhibitory symptoms may appear, gradually progressing to confusion or even coma.

To diagnose such a serious illness as anxiety disorder... that's really outrageous.

Ji Xiang sighed.

"Damn it, my relative can't even lie down on the bed anymore, and she says it's anxiety, but I can tell she's really not reliable. She's getting worse with treatment there, so I just told them to come directly to the provincial capital."

"There aren't many directors like this, are there?" Ji Xiang asked.

"Not many, but there are some. What were we talking about earlier that brought this up?" Meng Qingfei asked.

Ji Xiang glanced at Meng Qingfei in surprise.

Teacher Meng is usually very organized in her speech and actions, and rarely forgets what she said earlier.

Is he sick?

Ji Xiang looked at Meng Qingfei with some surprise.

"Haha, I just don't really want to go," Meng Qingfei laughed. "What are you thinking?"

"Why don't you want to go?" Ji Xiang asked.

"It's all the same old stuff," Meng Qingfei said. "The medical affairs office is the worst place; you'll offend people there. Let me give you another example: back in the days before centralized procurement, you know about kickbacks?"

"I know." Ji Xiang nodded.

"When I first came to the hospital, I saw a doctor administer levofloxacin to a 15-year-old female appendicitis patient."

"Well……"

Even without Meng Qingfei saying it, Ji Xiang knew something was wrong.

Levofloxacin can be used for the conservative treatment of acute appendicitis, but the problem is that the drug's instructions clearly state that its safety in adolescents under the age of 18 has not been established, and it can cause joint lesions when used in several young animals.

Therefore, it is not suitable for children and teenagers under the age of 18.

Although Ji Xiang didn't know what kind of joint problems might occur, he knew that it was unusable.

Clinical knowledge is vast and complex; even with a system cheat, Ji Xiang could not possibly be omniscient.

"The key point is that the doctor prescribed the maximum dosage, the maximum dosage for adults."

"!!!" Ji Xiang exclaimed in surprise.

"Even though nothing bad happened in the end, I still can't stand it," Meng Qingfei said disdainfully. "There aren't many doctors like this in clinical practice, but you do encounter them often. Out of sight, out of mind, but if they go to the medical affairs office, do you think I should take care of them or not?"

"If I intervene, I'll offend people. Back when I was just a junior doctor, plenty of people tried to trip me up," Meng Qingfei sighed. "That's why I've wasted so many years, and now I have half a head of white hair. But if I don't intervene, I won't offend anyone, but I just can't get over it."

"The medical office is really not a good place." Ji Xiang shook his head.

Meng Qingfei's hesitation and感慨 (gǎnkǎi, mixed feelings) lasted only a moment. He then suddenly smiled and said, "It's no use telling you all this. Do you know why I went to the infirmary?"

This question is completely nonsensical.

"Xiao Ji, I don't envy your skill level. There are plenty of geniuses out there. I've seen plenty of top talents who swept their fields in their twenties. You're somewhat promising now, but compared to those prodigies... you're not bad, but I always feel you lack their sharpness."

What I envy most is your luck.

Ji Xiang glanced at the numbers on the system panel.

Having ability is one thing, but how to deal with the envy of countless people is another. Society is complex and complicated; one wrong step can lead to an abyss.

As he spoke, Meng Qingfei puffed out his chest.

"Just like you, Teacher Meng, I used to think of myself as a genius, sometimes even the genius among geniuses. But what happened? I didn't stay at Peking Union Medical College, I didn't get a chance to go abroad, and when I returned to the provincial capital to try and make a name for myself, I ended up getting completely crushed."

"The prostate gland has become so enlarged from wear and tear that it will eventually split and turn into a showerhead," Ji Xiang added.

"You urologists are all scoundrels," Meng Qingfei said with a laugh, unconcerned. "Learn something good from you."

"Hey."

"I really don't know when you gained Director Bai's favor," Meng Qingfei said. "The head of the medical affairs department seems like nothing special. He basically has no say in the hospital's affairs. It's a powerless department with lots of work, complicated matters, and heavy responsibilities. Nobody wants to do it."

"But if the head of the medical affairs department really wants to help you, he'll make sure you have a smooth career in clinical practice. At the very least, you'll be able to do things that others wouldn't dare to do, which is a huge advantage."

At this point, Dean Shen looked up and stared directly into Ji Xiang's eyes.

"Teacher Meng, what's wrong?" Ji Xiang asked.

"Hehe." Meng Qingfei chuckled. "Dean Shen has been keeping Director Bai in the Medical Affairs Department. I reckon if he's promoted to vice dean this year, he'll be in charge of the Medical Affairs Department. Do you know why?"

"Could it be that he's trying to build up his reputation with the head of clinical medicine? Whether or not he becomes the dean, the head of clinical medicine's opinion doesn't matter in other aspects." Ji Xiang scratched his head.

"Going back 20 years, Dean Shen was afraid that Director Bai would make a mistake. That's one reason. Look at our provincial capital, how many retired deans have ended up in jail? Secondly, the opinion of the clinical director is indeed unrelated to whether or not one can become a dean, but having this experience will make future work easier."

"Dean Shen is a man of passion and ideals."

The word "sentiment" sounds rather nonsensical.

"When I first arrived, the 98 floods were happening. At that time, the military was being sent up one after another, and medical teams were needed. Dean Shen said he would go even if it meant his death."

"Oh?" Ji Xiang was taken aback, not expecting that Dean Shen was a passionate young man back then.

That's true. Who hasn't been young? Who hasn't been full of passion?

"He was only in his thirties at the time, and he was a professor leading a research group," Meng Qingfei said. "The old director tried to persuade him for a long time, but Dean Shen finally donated his own blood and wrote a letter in blood, insisting on going to the front line."

"Blood test?"

"Writing a letter in blood by biting your finger is absolutely not something a doctor should do. Drawing 20ml of blood is enough for you to write a preface to the Orchid Pavilion."

"Hahaha."

"It may not seem like much now, but back then, who knew if the dam would collapse? At the most dangerous time, military trucks loaded with stones drove one after another to the places where they were needed, only to sink directly into the dam," Meng Qingfei slowly recounted the events of that year.

"What about the driver?"

"The driver engaged gear and jumped out at the last second before the car went into the water. If he made it out, he might survive, though he'd be covered in injuries. If he didn't, he'd be dead."

"..." Ji Xiang was speechless.

"Let's not talk about that. What I mean is that Dean Shen still has a sense of social responsibility and wants the hospital to improve," Meng Qingfei said. "But the fact that Director Bai has set his sights on a resident physician shows that you're quite lucky."

"As for me, I guess it's because you always come to my side, and my qualifications, skills, and temperament are all sufficient. Director Bai is thinking that after he gets promoted, he'll have me take care of you."

"This is way too complicated."

"Indeed, it will take at least three to five years, and I'm too old. The only advantage is that you always come to visit me; we're kindred spirits," Meng Qingfei said with a smile. "Don't cause me any trouble then."

Ji Xiang laughed. He hadn't expected that Meng Qingfei's transfer to the medical department had such a purpose.

Director Bai has been very caring towards me; I really don't know what he's after.

A patient arrived, and Meng Qingfei stubbed out his cigarette. The two of them went to treat the patient. After working for more than an hour, a young woman, not yet 20 years old, with a hunched back and a very strange gait, came into the examination room.

"Doctor, my stomach hurts," the girl said softly.

You could tell from just one sentence that she was enduring the pain and was extremely weak.

Meng Qingfei stood up. "Lie down, let me take a look."

The patient was lying on the examination bed, and Meng Qingfei's brows furrowed the moment his hand touched her skin.

"Xiao Ji, go get a thermometer, a mercury one."

"it is good."

Ji Xiang ran out to get a thermometer.

Meng Qingfei distrusts thermometers. It is said that when thermometers were first introduced more than ten years ago, they were inaccurate. One patient was always measured at 36.5 degrees Celsius, but when a mercury thermometer was used, the temperature reading became 39.1 degrees Celsius.

Even after the thermometer was upgraded and its accuracy improved significantly, Meng Qingfei still had a lingering fear and resolutely refused to use it when encountering seriously ill patients.

Ji Xiang felt that Meng Qingfei was a bit retro, like the G-Class, which mainly focused on off-roading, simplicity... and showing off.

Returning to the examination room with the thermometer, Ji Xiang found that Meng Qingfei had already finished the examination. Ji Xiang handed the thermometer to the patient and heard Meng Qingfei ask, "How long has it been?"

"The pain lasted for about a month, and the fever lasted for half a month."

"Why haven't you come yet?" Meng Qingfei said, somewhat displeased.

"It's just appendicitis. The doctor at the clinic near us gave me a diagnosis, and it's nothing serious," the patient said quietly.

Meng Qingfei was very unhappy, but he didn't say anything. He just ordered a right lower abdominal ultrasound and other related examinations for the patient.

"Go and come back quickly." Meng Qingfei said to the patient while pushing out a wheelchair for the patient to sit in. He then called a companion to accompany the patient and whispered instructions to the companion on what to pay attention to.

After finishing his work, Meng Qingfei sighed, "Appendicitis, it's appendicitis every day."

"It's been burning for half a month, could it have perforated?"

"It's probably already infected and perforated," Meng Qingfei said. "A few years ago, there was a girl in a similar situation on the other side of the Nanhe River. She ended up in the ICU for half a month and died."

The media headlines were shocking, and the articles mentioned that the police had come several times. It's such a tragedy that such a healthy girl is gone. We hope the hospital can give the family an explanation, allowing the deceased to rest in peace and bringing comfort to the parents.

"Xiao Ji, this is a tricky situation, but we're emergency room doctors. At worst, we can get the head of gastroenterology to consult and push the problem onto them."

After a pause, Meng Qingfei asked, "Now, suppose you were the head of gastrointestinal surgery, what would you do?"

"Complete the relevant examinations, confirm the diagnosis, communicate with the patient's family, and then perform the surgery."

"What if I develop sepsis after surgery?"

"Appendicitis can kill people too. There's nothing I can do about the limitations of current medical conditions," Ji Xiang said helplessly.

"But patients and their families don't think appendicitis can be fatal. Many people think appendicitis is just a minor ailment that can be cured with an IV drip at a clinic."

Ji Xiang scratched his head.

Meng Qingfei smiled slightly, "Consider this an assignment. Tell me the answers before the patient returns."

To be honest, what Meng Qingfei is talking about with Ji Xiang now has strayed outside of the medical field and can no longer be considered part of their business.

But is it really okay?

Adding to the things Meng Qingfei said while smoking, Ji Xiang had an idea. He found an excuse to come to the duty room, held his breath, and entered the system space.

After greeting the system NPC, Ji Xiang explained his doubts.

The system NPC laughed.

"You're just lucky. The real difficulties have never been in medicine," the system NPC said calmly.

"Teacher, I want to empathize," Ji Xiang said.

"From what angle?"

"The most difficult angle."

"Okay, then go and take a look." The system NPC led Ji Xiang to the next operating room. Light and shadow flickered, and Ji Xiang immediately felt his lower right abdomen.

For a split second, Ji Xiang was stunned.

(End of this chapter)