"Teacher Liu, what happened to Teacher Wang? Why did he seem troubled after just a few words with you? How did you trick him?"
After finishing stitching up a patient, Xu Yino ran over to Liu Banxia.
"What are you talking about? How did I trick him?" Liu Banxia rolled her eyes. "I'm an upright, honest person, always thinking about the patients. How could I trick anyone? Spring is almost here, after all."
After saying this, Liu Banxia continued with her work.
Xu Yino blinked. Why would the arrival of spring make Teacher Wang behave differently? There shouldn't be any correlation here!
Then she thought, There must be something I haven't figured out yet. Could it be that Teacher Wang has some hidden issue? That doesn't seem right.
With this thought, Xu Yino would occasionally glance at Wang Chao while he was seeing patients. She wanted to see if she could figure out what was abnormal about him.
Liu Banxia also noticed Xu Yino's sneaky looks but didn't say anything. This normally smart girl seems a bit dull today. Maybe she's been working too long.
"Dr. Liu, do you have a moment?" Qing Kewa approached Liu Banxia at this time.
Liu Banxia looked at her and was taken aback.
Usually, Qing Kewa was a very bold girl, a typical "fighting nation" lass—she said what she wanted, did what she wanted, and could down a drink in one gulp.
But now? She was even fidgeting with her lab coat; how had she become so hesitant?
"What do you want? Are you sick? Uncomfortable? Do you want to rest?" Liu Banxia asked tentatively.
"No, I'm very healthy, I'm fine," Qing Kewa quickly replied.
"Then what is it? Want to eat barbecue, or want to drink?" Liu Banxia asked again.
"I don't want to eat barbecue now, nor do I want to drink," Qing Kewa said, a bit anxiously.
Liu Banxia was exasperated. "Then you have to tell me what you're actually after."
"I also want to perform that small-incision appendectomy. I can do it too," Qing Kewa said.
After speaking, she looked nervously at Liu Banxia.
Liu Banxia chuckled. "I thought it was something serious. That's fine. But I can't just let you do it right away. You can discuss it with Xu Yino and the others."
"You can assist in the surgery. If you can find the appendix within five minutes, then there shouldn't be a problem. But when you're looking for it, your movements must be gentle; otherwise, you might cause trouble for the patient."
"Dr. Liu, can I really do it? You'll entrust it to me?" Qing Kewa asked, overjoyed.
Liu Banxia shrugged. "Why not? It's not some major operation, just a routine surgery."
"You've observed so many small-incision appendectomies. As long as your 'feel' for it is good, I don't think there will be any issues."
"Is it just because of this that you're a bit embarrassed? That shouldn't be it, right? Or are you worried you might not do a good job? Don't worry, it's not actually that difficult."
"No, no, no, I absolutely must do a good job," Qing Kewa said earnestly, pumping her fist.
"Why so serious?" Liu Banxia asked curiously.
He was genuinely curious. As far as Qing Kewa's training was concerned, it wasn't as strict as it was for the interns.
This wasn't Liu Banxia being negligent; it was because she had already completed the teaching plan. She had participated in all the required surgeries, even exceeding the standard.
Qing Kewa could also independently perform routine surgeries and had a high level of participation in Level 3 and Level 4 surgeries.
However, small-incision surgery wasn't part of the teaching plan; it was like an elective course. If you were interested, you signed up to learn about it; if not, you could just sit in on a class to see what the fuss was about.
I have no idea what stimulated this girl to suddenly set her sights on the small-incision appendectomy.
"Dr. Liu, I feel I must master a very impressive skill," Qing Kewa said with a straight face.
"The small-incision appendectomy is a very, very impressive skill, and I must master it. That way, when I go back, I can show them how capable I am."
Liu Banxia shook his head helplessly. "Well, are there any techniques you haven't mastered? I can explain them to you. That would also save you some time figuring them out."
Hearing his words, Qing Kewa thought seriously for a moment, then shook her head blankly. "I don't think so."
Liu Banxia chuckled. "Then do as I said. Anyway, your situation is special. If you talk to them, they'll give you the chance."
"How about this: I'll give you two opportunities. If you pass the test, and they've also completed their own small-incision appendectomies, I'll give you a few more chances to practice before your internship ends."
"That way, when you return to Russia, you'll be able to handle any kind of appendix with ease. But you can't force a small-incision approach; for appendixes with suppuration or severe effusion, it's better to use laparoscopy."
Qing Kewa nodded happily and then ran off.
Compared to the more reserved nature of people in China, Qing Kewa was just that direct. The tiny bit of coyness she had shown earlier was already her absolute limit.
She rarely concealed her thoughts and would usually tell you them straight out.
However, Liu Banxia thought this kind of personality was good, especially during the learning process. If you don't actively strive for opportunities and just wait for your supervising doctor to spoon-feed you, it's really hard to become truly proficient. This isn't learning addition and subtraction within a hundred anymore; it's at least escalated to the level of mixed operations. You have to identify your own shortcomings and then strive for chances.
"Alright, mission accomplished. Shouldn't a certain someone treat Sister Huang and me to an extra dish tonight?" Chen Xuehai asked, walking over with Huang Ying just as Liu Banxia was about to look at some documents.
"Impressive, truly impressive. Her husband was worried sick, you know," Liu Banxia said.
"She was quite lucky, and she was brought in fairly quickly. Don't try to gloss over it; aren't you going to arrange dinner?" Chen Xuehai asked.
"Absolutely! Guo Bao Rou, sweet and sour pork loin. That should be good enough, right?" Liu Banxia said with a grin.
Chen Xuehai nodded in satisfaction.
"Kids, to celebrate the successful surgery, Dr. Chen is treating everyone to extra dishes tonight! Guo Bao Rou and sweet and sour pork loin! Let's have a round of applause to thank him!" Liu Banxia shouted.
The interns perked up immediately, their eyes practically sparkling as they looked over.
"You're ruthless," Chen Xuehai said helplessly.
"Haha, do you guys always have this much fun? So lively," Huang Ying said with a laugh.
"It's because of him, isn't it? Whenever he's around, it's hard for us here to be serious," Chen Xuehai said resignedly.
"Haha, let's talk about serious business then. How many interns can your cardiothoracic department take?" Liu Banxia asked.
"Counting the standardized training residents too?" Chen Xuehai asked reluctantly.
"My trick didn't work, huh? Let's count them all then," Liu Banxia said.
"Then three: one resident and two interns. That should be fine, right?" Chen Xuehai replied.
"Okay, I'll do my best to find good prospects for you. They might not reach Linlin's level, but I'll choose carefully," Liu Banxia nodded.
"Is this for cultivating a talent pipeline?" Huang Ying asked.
Liu Banxia nodded. "For departments that are particularly short-staffed, like pediatrics and anesthesiology, our Emergency Center will enjoy some preferential policies."
"Currently, our Emergency Center doesn't have many doctors in cardiothoracic or neurosurgery either, but we have quite a few related surgeries, so the director also plans to strengthen these areas."
"Actually, it's our general surgery department that's teeming with talent right now. Once these six little ones graduate, we'll have it even easier. So basically, for this year's interns, surgery will prioritize neurosurgery and cardiothoracic. We need to cultivate our own doctors."
"Shouldn't there be more then?" Huang Ying asked again.
"He's aiming for focused cultivation," Chen Xuehai said.
"If there are too many interns, plus the heavy surgical workload, it's very difficult to give attention to everyone. Is this year's training plan also going for the high-quality approach?"
"That will depend on luck, and also on how persuasive I am when the time comes. But there's one thing: if many people want to intern in the same department, I can give the right to choose to you all," Liu Banxia stated.
"You pick them yourselves. Anyway, you'll be responsible for whether you put effort into training the ones you choose. It also saves people the trouble of coming to me; whoever has connections can go directly to you."
"Sister Huang, see? This kid is slyly cunning. It looks like he's doing us a favor, but in reality, he's just passing the buck and making us carry it."
"Dr. Chen, that's not right. We should treat the hospital as our home; we are all masters of the Emergency Center," Liu Banxia said with a straight face.
After saying this, he himself started to laugh; Chen Xuehai wasn't wrong.
Dealing with 'favor' quotas is a headache. Now, it's as if he's distributed this quota into everyone's hands. Of course, this only works in the initial stages; right now, everyone genuinely is thinking for the good of the Emergency Center. In a few years, if the Emergency Center doesn't show much improvement, I'm afraid many people's enthusiasm will wane, and they'll just be muddling through.
"President Liu, isn't it risky to involve interns in surgeries so early?" Huang Ying asked.
Liu Banxia shook his head. "Not only are there risks, but they are also significant. That's why it's more of a test for the supervising doctors; they need to have a comprehensive understanding of the interns."
"Everyone will be very tired for the next year or two, needing to divide their energy to guide the interns. The truth is, our Emergency Center is desperately short-handed. If other departments had more staff, they could occasionally lend a hand."
Huang Ying nodded. For the Emergency Center to grow and thrive in the future, an insufficient number of doctors would definitely not work. If the patient volume is too large and far exceeds the capacity to receive them, many problems will arise.
No wonder everyone said Liu Banxia would become the deputy director. The issues he was considering now were far beyond what a chief resident would typically consider.