Chapter 152: Chapter 152 - 0146: The Enthusiasm of Su Nanchen

“Dad, he did that five-section replantation at Sanbo,” said Xiao Su.

“The one streamed live at the Traumatology Orthopedics online conference held by Shanghai Sixth Hospital?”

“Yes, it was a live broadcast, a real sensation. I asked around, he was the chief surgeon.”

“I always thought it was Professor Han. If that’s the case, he’s highly gifted!”

“That’s the only explanation. He had been working at the city hospital since graduation. As far as I know, not many finger replantations were performed there. But he was overlooked there, he was just an ordinary resident doctor. He was just promoted to attending physician when he was dismissed.”

“Why would such a promising young talent be dismissed?”

“They said he made a mistake, acted inappropriately during a surgery. I don’t know the exact details.”

“Geniuses always have unique traits, they should be guided more.”

“I suspect there is more to this story. I bet the situation was urgent, and his judgment differed from his superior doctor. He couldn’t convince the senior doctor, so he had to act on his own. Even though I only met him once, I don’t feel Yang Ping is the kind who would casually defy a superior.”

In Su Qingyun’s office, father and son were chatting and the conversation had turned to Yang Ping.

Though Su Qingyun is now the dean of Fuer, he still retains his office in the Orthopedic Center. As the center’s director he continues to perform surgeries if they are too difficult or risky for others.

“If he did perform that five-section replantation, Nanchen, you’ll likely meet fierce competition in the Southern Division of the Golden Knife Award. Look at his microsurgical operations, they’re smooth and fast, almost attaining perfection. His arthroscopic surgeries are also perfect. This means he is likely an all-round orthopedic surgeon, not biased towards one area.” Su Qingyun sat in a spacious leather executive chair.

“I will try my best. I’m not afraid of any rivals, I also admire real competition.” Su Nanchen confidently said.

“He’s attending the consultation tomorrow, right?” Su Qingyun asked.

Su Nanchen said: “Yes, he will arrive early. I had offered to pick him up, but he said he would come by himself.”

With a touch of regret, Su Qingyun said: “He is Han Jiangong’s student, if he was from another hospital, I might have tried to poach him.”

“You admire him too?” Su Nanchen was happy to hear this.

Su Qingyun smiled: “Of course, any competition in any field ultimately boils down to talent. Why is the orthopedics department of Fuer considered top-tier nationwide? Just look at our talent pool compared to other hospitals. We have talents of all ages and stages, well-resourced and ready.”

The surgery was about to start, and there was no time for further chat. Su Qingyun looked at his watch: “Nanchen, time to go to the operating room. When Xiao Yang comes for the consultation and since he’s unfamiliar with the place, you should accompany him all the way.”

Happily, Su Nanchen said: “I have already told him to come early, I will accompany him the whole time.”

—

After discussing the new hospital admissions in the morning, including a meeting with Professor Zhang, Yang Ping had to attend a consultation at Fuer in the afternoon. Over the past few days, he had reviewed the case studies several times, preparing fully.

Su Nanchen called to offer to pick him up; Yang Ping declined, wanting to go by himself. At one o’clock, Yang Ping prepared to leave.

Xiao Su handed him the car keys: “Drive slowly, okay? Do you want me to come along?”

Yang Ping touched her hair: “Silly girl, treating me like a child. I’ll drive slowly, don’t worry. Don’t you have confidence in the student you taught?”

After practicing driving all Sunday afternoon, Xiao Su was very confident in Yang Ping’s driving skills. Otherwise, she wouldn’t let him go alone, she’d surely go with him.

“Park the car in the underground car park, in the same area we parked last time. It’s fully charged. Call me when you get there. Good luck!” Xiao Su clenched her little fist.

Yang Ping fist-bumped her: “Okay! Don’t worry.”

The drive from Sanbo to Fuer took about an hour. With GPS navigation, knowing the route wasn’t a big deal.

Upon reaching Fuer’s underground parking lot, he immediately headed for the third-floor E area. Xiao Su had mentioned it has a charging station, but he didn’t need to charge the car.

After parking, Yang Ping called Xiao Su, who once again encouraged him to go for it.

He had agreed to meet Su Nanchen at the front entrance of Fuer’s outpatient building at two o’clock. Checking the time, it was just right.

Su Nanchen had said that Tuesday afternoon was Fuer’s case discussion time. This patient was the focus of the discussion. Fuer was a top-rated hospital nationwide, and the scale of its case discussions was beyond what Sanbo could match.

Yang Ping found the entrance to the outpatient building; Su Nanchen was already waiting there. Wearing a Fuer white gown, he looked young and dashing, truly living up to the title of Fuer’s rising star.

“Dr. Yang!” Seeing Yang Ping in the crowd, Su Nanchen immediately waved.

“Dr. Su!” Yang Ping approached him and shook his hand.

Su Nanchen put his arm around his shoulders, like a close friend of many years: “It’s still early, come on. I’ll take you to see the patient, then we can tour the Orthopedic Center.”

The orthopedics department of Fuer Hospital is huge; just the Trauma Orthopaedic Center alone has four wards with over two hundred beds. The Spine Center has two wards with more than eighty beds, and the number of surgeries for scoliosis per year exceeds three hundred cases. There are also the Artificial Joint Replacement Center, the Sports Medicine Center, the Pediatric Orthopedics Center, and the Bone Tumor Center.

Even though Sanbo Hospital’s spinal surgery department also has forty-five beds, it simply can’t compare. Fuer Hospital has a faster patient turnover rate and the complexity of their surgeries far surpasses those of Sanbo.

Sanbo Hospital only has about forty cases of scoliosis correction surgery per year, and Fuer二 doesn’t even exceed eighty. This shows the strength of Fuer’s Orthopedics department—it is utterly dominant compared to other hospitals in G City.

From the Outpatient Building to the Orthopedic Center, it seems like every doctor and nurse that Su Nanchen runs into knows him, and they all shoot glances of admiration at him and greet him: “Dr. Su!”

Yang Ping could see that this was not just for show—it was sincere admiration and respect from the heart.

At the Orthopedic Center, it was even more so. Every young doctor who saw Su Nanchen would step aside, make way and bow slightly, saying, “Hello, Dr. Su!”

Indeed, all the doctors here have doctorate degrees, but those who can be addressed as ‘Doctor’ are certainly the best among them.

Those who are a bit older would nod with a smile when they see Su Nanchen, saying, “Dr. Su!”

Even if Su Nanchen were not the son of the Dean, he would still receive such respect: an eight-year program at Xiehe, being the Nandu Province’s top science scorer in the national college entrance examination, and having his doctoral dissertation published in The Lancet – any one of these achievements is enough to gain respect amongst his peers.

The Orthopedic Center is located in a separate twenty-story building. The bronze lettering of ‘Orthopedic Center’ hangs on the wall in the lobby, lending a sense of prestige—a golden label created by generations of doctors at Fuer Hospital who have devoted their hearts and soul to their work.

The Sports Medicine Center is on the tenth floor. People noticed Su Nanchen bringing a young doctor, talking to him warmly, and found themselves involuntarily looking their way.

Su Nanchen took Yang Ping to the duty room and gave him a clean white coat that he had just washed. Their body sizes were similar, so the coat fit Yang Ping very well.

“Let’s take a look at the imaging data first,” Yang Ping suggested.

“Dr. He, I want to take Dr. Yang to see bed 22. He’s here for a consultation that I invited him to. He’d like to see this patient’s imaging data!” Su Nanchen spoke seriously, with the authority of a senior doctor.

The attending doctor in charge of the ward, Dr. He immediately hung up the prepared films on the viewing light. Yang Ping leaned over to look, touching his chin, and then after viewing a batch, said, “Next!”

Dr. He quickly changed the films until all of them have been viewed.

“Now let’s see the patient,” Yang Ping said.

Dr. He and the senior attending doctor led the way immediately, and the research students and doctoral students from the same team all followed.

Given that Dr. Yang was invited by Su Nanchen for consultation, one didn’t need to think much to know that they must be of the same caliber.

“Please, Dr. Yang!” Su Nanchen said courteously.

Yang Ping felt a little embarrassed inside, as he hadn’t really taken the doctoral exam yet, but thinking about it, this was in his future, being called ‘Doctor’ a bit earlier didn’t matter much.

He composed himself and, guided by Su Nanchen, confidently proceeded towards the patient on bed 22.

When they reached the ward, they knocked a few times before pushing the door and entering.

In teaching hospitals like Fuer, even such casual ward rounds are very standardized.

Dr. He is a master’s student, and the senior attending doctor above him is a doctoral student. The two stood on the left side of the bed, followed by a bunch of other postgraduates, standardized training students, and refresher students lined neatly around the head of the bed. The right side was reserved for Yang Ping and Su Nanchen.

“Please Dr. Yang!” Su Nanchen was very polite.

Yang Ping and Su Nanchen took their places. Su Nanchen formally introduced the consultation to the patient.

Dr. He gave a report on the case history fluently, without mechanical recitation, and was able to clearly present the case. This is a performance that required strict regular training.

“We analysed the MRI, referred to her photocopied case history at the time, and previous imaging tests, and according to her memory, we reconstructed the mechanism of injury. At that time, it should be the injury to the region where the left Achilles tendon and the triceps surae were connected. The tendon fibers contained in the muscle slid relative to the distal end of the muscle, and after healing, this slight slide caused the loosening of the Achilles tendon,” explained Su Nanchen.

Yang Ping asked about the medical history and performed a physical examination. His technique was extremely professional and experienced.

After the examination, Yang Ping composedly expounded in-depth on the mechanism of injury, the consequences brought about by the loosening of the Achilles tendon, and the related effects each millimeter of looseness in the Achilles tendon could cause, such as the loss of muscle strength, increased load on the healthy limb, changes in the foot arch’s stress, etc. The depth and breadth of his analysis not only amazed all the masters and doctoral students there, but even Su Nanchen was impressed.

All these masters and doctorate students are top students with strong comprehension abilities. They are the group that has the deepest research in this profession. As soon as they open their mouths, it’s clear whether they really know their stuff.

Yang Ping surely is an expert Su Nanchen has invited, he must have returned from studying abroad. Everyone speculated that Yang Ping must be a good friend Su Nanchen made in America, who recently returned to the country and was invited to consult on this case.

Yang Ping’s lecture just now, literally a book could be written about a single tendon. Every sentence he said was solid knowledge. To have these insights, how many books must he have read, how many cases must he have researched, no wonder Su Nanchen invited him.

Compared to this guy, I’m like a primary school student, thought the senior attending doctor after hearing, standing even more upright.