Chapter 192: [192] A large gap in strength
While she watched others’ operations, her two senior male classmates observed her, likely still pondering how she had managed to tie knots with her eyes closed back in the office.
“Wong Zhaohan, focus your attention on what you’re doing,” the resident physician shouted at the student.
The male student’s hands began to sweat nervously, and as he grasped the suture on the wound with the forceps, his fingers trembled, causing the forceps to shake as well.
Fortunately, the stitches were on the scalp, which the patient couldn’t see. Otherwise, seeing his trembling hands might have scared them.
As he lifted the suture, if the hand holding the scissors for cutting also trembled, it could injure the scalp. Beads of sweat accumulated on the tip of the male student’s nose.
The more nervous he became, the more his hands shook.
Snip, snip, snip—after three attempts, he finally cut the suture and tried to pull out the cut end with the forceps. But then, the forceps couldn’t grasp it properly; he had no strength.
The resident physician tapped his pen on the grading paper, signaling the end. It was doubtful whether this fellow would be able to stop his hands from trembling after graduation. Basically, more than half of the medical students who tremble when nervous are predicted to be unsuitable for surgery.
It’s said to be a psychological issue, that adjusting one’s mindset can help, but the problem is that adjusting one’s psychological state is the most difficult part.
Cao Yong and Huang Zhilei looked at the male student and felt that this was the normal behavior of a medical student.
In contrast, their junior Xie Wanying had just been tying surgical knots with her eyes closed—with not a single tremble. Even if the sky fell down on her, they estimated that her hands wouldn’t shake at all. How could this be? Even the two neuro guys couldn’t quite understand.
At that moment, the male student was so nervous he was on the verge of collapse.
Cao Yong turned to Junior Xie Wanying and asked, “You’ve watched his operation, do you want to try replacing him?”
There were only two stitches left to deal with. With teachers overseeing, there was no need to be afraid. Xie Wanying nodded.
When the male student heard this, he took it as a chance to catch his breath, stepping aside to wipe his sweat and calm down. He knew she was a trainee and probably wouldn’t perform the actual operation. He figured the teacher was trying to give him a brief rest.
Xie Wanying, taking her turn, put on a mask and sterile gloves, took the forceps and scissors from the male student’s hands, and moved beside the patient, examining the condition of the wound carefully.
Her manner seemed a bit dazed to the onlookers. The seniors present could understand since she was an intern and probably hadn’t learned this yet—she had only just watched.
What no one expected was that after examining the wound for a few dozen seconds, she suddenly turned, placed the forceps and scissors temporarily back into the sterile tray, took a cotton swab soaked in saline, and moistened the wound again, carefully at several spots.
The male student taking the exam lifted his head and was greatly surprised by her actions. Turning back to look at the clinical teachers, their expressions had changed.
After moistening the wound, Xie Wanying turned back, throwing the cotton swab into the bin lined with a yellow trash bag. Others thought one must have instructed her to know that this was where to dispose of medical waste, indicating her awareness of sterile zones.
Picking up the forceps and scissors again, this time, she pulled the suture effortlessly—as all the blood clots sticking to the suture had been moistened away with the cotton swab and saline.
The sound of the scissors cutting the suture was pleasing to hear.
In the final step, she pulled out the remaining ends of the suture with the forceps, swift as lightning. The patient didn’t even frown—completely unfelt.
In just a couple of moves, in a matter of seconds, she had removed the remaining suture ends.
The male student looked on at her operation, his heart chilling and growing colder by the second.