Every incision he made was as if walking on thin ice, extremely careful and prudent.
After successfully separating the appendix from the surrounding omentum and intestinal tract, the next steps of the surgery were slightly easier.
The pressure was still immense.
Whether it was ligating the appendiceal stump or the artery, both required a very high level of ligation skill.
After everything was dealt with, the mesoappendix was cut.
Then the severed appendix was successfully removed.
Zhou Can let out a long sigh of relief.
During this process, Liu Xia had already wiped the sweat off his brow countless times.
Next was the cleaning of the abdominal cavity, checking the gauzes used for padding, and making sure all the instruments were retrieved. This was a mandatory process outlined by surgical safety regulations.
"Teacher, do you think I can close the abdominal cavity now?"
After checking twice and confident that everything was in order, Zhou Can asked Dr. Xu for his final review.
"It's fine, close the cavity!"
Dr. Xu nodded in approval.
He was, on the whole, satisfied with the entire procedure.
Dr. Lu had come back about ten minutes earlier. Sending the patient to the Liver and Gallbladder Surgery department and completing the handover shouldn't take that long, even with a quarrel with the family.
He certainly took this opportunity to sneak off and relax somewhere.
But when he returned to the operating room and found that Zhou Can was actually conducting the appendectomy as the lead surgeon, he was sour with envy.
Until now, Dr. Xu had never once allowed him to perform an abdominal surgery.
Dr. Lu watched as Zhou Can skillfully closed the abdominal cavity, his suturing skill already far surpassing his own.
His expression fluctuated unpredictably.
If Zhou Can's previous performance had only put pressure on him,
Now, Dr. Lu truly felt an intense sense of crisis.
A crisis of being eliminated.
He knew about the life of some doctors who failed in the competition and were eliminated from Tuya Hospital.
If a Resident Doctor was eliminated, the better ones could go to work at Level 2 Hospital.
But they were still just getting by.
Moreover, he heard that Level 2 Hospital, in order to ensure the overall medical standards, implemented a dual promotion system.
For new doctors, promotion follows the regular process.
For doctors eliminated from the main hospital, promotional opportunities are extremely scarce.
The difficulty for a Resident Doctor to be promoted to an attending in Level 2 is even higher than in the main hospital.
The most ideal scenario is to be promoted to an attending in the main hospital.
Even if one is eliminated, reaching Level 2 in Tuya, one can still see patients in the clinic, mentor newcomers, and perform a few surgeries every day. Life is quite comfortable, and the status would not be too inferior.
Dr. Lu's gaze unconsciously shifted away from Zhou Can and settled on Jin Mingxi's face.
Now, Zhou Can had surpassed him. If he did not work hard, Jin Mingxi would probably soon overtake him too.
Dr. Lu then looked towards Qiao Yu who was assisting Zhou Can.
She seemed even more beautiful to him now.
That which one cannot have always seems the best.
"I need to start working hard!"
Dr. Lu clenched his fists, his eyes slowly filling with determination.
But... he had made this kind of resolution countless times before.
Each time, he couldn't persist for more than three days before indulging in self-pity and choosing to slack again.
"The suturing is complete, teacher, does it look okay?"
This was Zhou Can asking for Dr. Xu's review, seeking to identify any deficiencies.
He had already completed suturing and closing many times before.
There was no need for a senior doctor to worry about it.
"We can wake the patient from anesthesia now." Dr. Xu first spoke to the anesthesia doctor, and then he began to review Zhou Can's work.
"Overall, you did well. You were very careful about safety, and I noticed that you paid attention to most of the details. It's not perfect, but for your first time, it's commendable. There are many areas that need improvement. For example, during the initial incision, you should have only cut through the abdominal wall, but you went into some subcutaneous tissue. Also, when you were separating the omentum, why were your hands trembling so much?"
Dr. Xu pointed out multiple deficiencies.
All these were areas where improvement and refinement were needed.
After all, the technique of a lower-level attending doctor was still a bit weak.
During the incision of the abdominal wall, Zhou Can was actually very careful.
Still, he ended up cutting into the subcutaneous tissue.
Psychological tension may have been a factor, but it wasn't the main reason.
Insufficient practice of the Incision Skill was a significant reason as well.
Fortunately, the surgery was still completed smoothly and safely.
"There are no issues with the patient's vital signs, right?"
Dr. Xu asked the anesthesia doctor.
"Everything is normal."
The anesthesia doctor replied.
"Thank you for your hard work. Help to move the patient outside to the recovery room, and after the patient wakes up and there are no problems, send them to the ward."
The patient was quickly wheeled out of the operating room.
The recovery room was outside, staffed by specialists. Normally, the anesthesiologist would have to wait for the patient to wake up before leaving.
It's slightly better for patients who underwent local anesthesia.
For those who underwent general anesthesia, complications could arise at any time.
"You two continue with the surgeries on your own! There are probably a lot of patients waiting outside."
Dr. Xu said to Zhou Can and Jin Mingxi.
Zhou Can was still immersed in the recent surgical experience.
Having completed a difficult Level 2 surgery today, he was already quite content.
The significant gains from the surgery needed time to be digested.
It was a process of reflection.
Upon receiving Dr. Xu's order, Zhou Can and Jin Mingxi, these two formidable doctors, once again entered a state of high-output mode.
One by one, Level 1 surgery patients were brought in.
Both worked at full throttle, easing the pain of various surgical patients.
Dr. Lu, following Dr. Xu in surgery, also started to show unexpected enthusiasm. He actively asked questions when he encountered something he didn't understand and started volunteering for suturing tasks that he previously scorned.