Resident Doctor Luo Shengsheng is basically at Dr. Zhou’s beck and call when it comes to Digestive Internal Medicine.
This kind of special treatment is only available to Dr. Zhou as a resident in training.
One shouldn’t underestimate the convenience that comes with an invisible status, it can often be a big help. Not to mention night shifts, where other doctors and nurses help keep an eye on patients, so one can sleep soundly in the on-call room at night.
Some residents need to work shifts of 36 hours, a super-intensive duration of continuous work that even Ironmen can’t withstand without sneaking in some naps along the way.
Being able to sleep for a few hours during a shift means one can fully recharge the next day.
It can also prevent sudden death.
He went straight to the No.1 Special Expert Consultation Room. Although it wasn’t yet the start of the working hours at one o’clock in the afternoon, the hallway outside and the waiting hall even further outside were already packed with patients seeking medical advice.
With improved living standards in modern times, digestive tract diseases caused by overeating have also increased.
There are also those who frequently miss meal times due to busy work schedules, hastily settling for a meal.
Over time, various problems will arise in the digestive tract.
The most common ones are stomach ulcers and enteritis, etc.
Unbeknownst to many, stomach ulcers greatly increase the risk of gastric cancer.
To speak of overeating and overdrinking is to mention the increased burden on the body. The risk of diseases such as liver, kidney, and cardiovascular illnesses all greatly increase.
Dr. Zhou arrived just in time.
Director Shang, along with a clinic nurse and an assistant doctor, brought three graduate students over.
The chief physicians in the hospital are usually associate professors or professors, especially those with strong academic backgrounds, who also teach at Tuya Medical College while practicing medicine.
Generally, the assistant doctors who accompany the lead physician to the clinic are key figures being developed.
They are basically treated as direct disciples.
There’s a saying in medicine, to treat an illness one must first diagnose.
All diagnostic procedures start with diagnosing the patient, identifying the cause of the illness, and then proceeding with the corresponding treatment.
If one doesn’t even know what disease the patient has or where the lesion is, one might end up with a case of "treat one, kill one; treat two, kill a pair."
The hospital has its own mechanism for training newcomers.
Normally, one starts with a one-year internship in the inpatient Department, one to three years of residency, accumulating experience in various reception procedures, treatment of various diseases, and then gradually following a mentor to the outpatient department to learn.
It’s worth mentioning that for inpatient department physicians to consult in the outpatient department, they typically only get one chance per week.
That is, they consult for one day.
For chief physicians or those with considerable fame, the hospital can’t wait for them to consult 24 hours a day.
However, because of various work, meetings, and research commitments, they are often too busy and the hospital is often forced to mandate a certain number of consulting days per week for them.
For instance, Director Shang is mandated to consult no less than two days per week, but Director Shang is exceptionally busy. The cases that his attending physicians and resident doctors can’t handle must be dealt with by him personally.
He also needs to conduct research, teach at the college, mentor students, perform interventional surgeries on patients, attend various conferences, and even visit other departments or make external visits to other institutions.
He is really too busy.
Therefore, he has to arrange his weekly schedule, if Monday morning is free, then consult for half a day in the morning. If Tuesday afternoon can be squeezed in, then consult for half a day on Tuesday afternoon.
As a result, when patients book appointments, they often find that experts and professors appear to wage guerrilla warfare, consulting at unpredictable times.
In fact, these national treasure-level chief physicians are trying hard to make time to complete their outpatient duties.
For Dr. Zhou, a resident in training, to be able to consult alongside a chief physician is a reward given by Director Shang.
It’s also recognition of his work attitude and strength.
"Have you been waiting a long time, Dr. Zhou?"
Director Shang greeted him with a kind smile.
"I’ve just arrived too. Walking here, both the hallway and the waiting hall were packed with people. I never imagined the outpatient volume of Digestive Internal Medicine could be so daunting!"
Dr. Zhou’s purpose in making conversation was to lighten the atmosphere.
So as not to kill the conversation with boredom.
"Haha! The afternoon is still okay, the morning outpatient volume is even bigger. How well a department is developing can actually be reflected in the patient volume. Since our Digestive Internal Medicine at Tu Ya established separate endoscopic examination and interventional surgeries, our overall patient satisfaction has been quite good. Word of mouth spread, and that’s how we got to where we are today."
Director Shang is the leading figure in Digestive Internal Medicine.
When it comes to the outpatient volume of his department, his face and eyes shine with pride and self-satisfaction.
This is the prosperity he has worked hard to achieve over many years.
It is also a satisfactory report card he has presented in leading Digestive Internal Medicine over the years.
"Oh, by the way, let me introduce you. This is Zhou Can, a resident in training who has rotated to our department. This is Huang Xinggui, an attending physician in the anorectal field of Digestive Internal Medicine. These three are the graduate students I mentor, Qiu Chengyu, Xie Lin, and Luo Jingyi."
It is often said that there is a considerable number of female doctors in Internal Medicine.
With two of the three graduate students mentored by Director Shang being female, it seems the rumors are not unfounded.
"Hello, it’s great to meet you all. I look forward to working with you in the future!"
Dr. Zhou humbly introduced himself, being very polite and courteous to the three graduate students.
"Dr. Zhou is quite handsome!"
"If you have any challenging issues in the anorectal area, feel free to discuss them with me at any time!"