"It hasn't started yet!"
Dr. Zou and Tang Li answered in unison.
The attending physician usually rounds after 7:40 am. However, it is not fixed and can be arranged flexibly according to the personal schedule of the attending physician.
In principle, rounds should be done once every morning.
Because at night, only the on-call doctors handle issues.
On one hand, there is a shortage of personnel, and on the other hand, on-call doctors often have lower ranks, lacking experience and proficiency.
This may lead to situations where some patients' emergencies are not managed properly.
During the morning rounds, the attending physician can check for any omissions and prevent the risk from escalating.
"Alright, then you should quickly do the rounds. The first surgery starts promptly at 8:30 am. We might go through without a break and finish both surgeries scheduled for today. At 4 pm, I need to take three graduate students for a scientific experiment, then you will be in charge."
Many professors in various departments have teaching duties.
Or they are just part-time at the hospital.
Besides leading their research projects, they also go to teach at schools.
The two attending physicians made their rounds separately.
Zhou Can followed Tang Li, a resident doctor, and three graduate students to make rounds.
Dr. Zou was accompanied by two senior residents to check the beds he was responsible for.
Every bed in the neurosurgery department had a designated doctor. Many interns only needed to monitor two to three beds each. Standard training residents generally monitor about five beds each. The resident doctors specifically assigned to beds monitor about ten to fifteen beds each.
The attending physicians monitor even more beds; one might be responsible for about 25-30 beds.
It must be explained that these monitored beds overlap.
For example, Zhou Can monitors beds 21—25, Jiang Xiaohua monitors beds 26—31.
The senior doctor Cheng Gang in charge oversees beds 21—31.
Here it becomes evident that the lower-ranking doctors' monitored beds are also overseen by higher-ranking doctors.
As the doctors' ranks increase, the number of beds they are responsible for also increases.
At Director Wen's level, they often need to be responsible for all the patients in the entire group.
Director level doctors round once a week. Some patients who are about to be discharged might never see the director physician during rounds.
"Dr. Zhou, the number of patient beds in our group is not fixed. You're new here, so you might not be aware of that."
While walking ahead, Tang Li gave Zhou Can some tips.
They say women have strong intuition.
It might really be the case.
Tang Li must feel that Zhou Can has a promising future ahead, which is why she doesn't hesitate to lower her stance to build a good relationship with him.
"Our group has two attending physicians, me and Dr. Zou. Normally, I check the regular patient beds while Dr. Zou, who is senior to me and more experienced, checks the ICU."
The attending physicians in the group clearly divide their duties during rounds, helping to assign responsibilities accurately.
Also, it allows patient care to be tailored according to each doctor's abilities and skills.
Dr. Zou is about five years older than Tang Li.
His experience is definitely more extensive.
Patients in the ICU are all critically ill.
Having a senior doctor check the ICU is more prudent.
"Good morning, Doctor Tang!"
Cheng Gang was already waiting early in his designated area.
Seeing Tang Li approaching with others, he immediately smiled and greeted her.
Tang Li appeared quite aloof towards him, casually responding before starting to check on her patients.
Cheng Gang watched Zhou Can, who followed behind Tang Li, with mixed feelings.
It was evident that after Zhou Can transferred to Director Wen's group, he received quite favorable treatment.
That kid really hit the jackpot, why don't I ever get that lucky?
Cheng Gang was truly envious.
"Dr. Zhou, this patient is scheduled for surgery this afternoon. Dr. Zou will lead the surgery; she has a skull fracture, and it's quite deep. Fortunately, it didn't damage the brain."
Tang Li took the initiative to introduce the patient who was scheduled for surgery today to Zhou Can, aiming to let him be well-prepared in advance.
Zhou Can found that this injured woman, in her thirties, had multiple bruises and contusions on her face and hands.
What exactly happened to her?
It seemed like she was beaten up in a domestic violence incident.
Her head wound was already bandaged with gauze. A nurse should be coming two hours before the surgery to shave her head, clean the surgical area, and perform basic assessments like blood pressure measurement.
"How did you get injured?"
Zhou Can couldn't help but ask.
"Just accidentally fell."
The woman's gaze was somewhat evasive.
"This fall is fortunately unfortunate, because according to the examination results, a little further down, and it could have caused severe brain tissue injury. At the slightest, paralysis or intellectual disability, and in the worst case, it could have been fatal."
Zhou Can didn't point out her obvious lie but informed her of the potential consequences.
One wouldn't always get lucky.
Domestic violence happens either zero times or countless times.
Typically, parents or siblings wouldn't severely hurt someone .
It was likely her husband's doing.
However, Zhou Can once interfered in such matters during his internship, only to be wrongly accused by the woman. Therefore, he didn't ask too much.
He merely hinted at the issue and left it at that.
This woman, in her thirties, was an adult. She could only make her own decisions.
After checking on this woman with the skull fracture, they continued to review other patients their group was responsible for.
Going around, some of the patients' conditions were alarming.
However, they didn't see the patient who was supposed to undergo surgery today due to a car accident.
He was probably staying in the ICU to preserve his life.