He had participated in a consultation during the night. For doctors, these were common occurrences, so he still had to catch up on sleep when he returned.
Liu Banxia, as the chief resident now, could rest easy as most of the work was being done by the interns. But he also had a conscience, so he often got up rather early in the morning.
As soon as he arrived at the cafeteria, he saw Xu Yino and Miao Rui looking listless while eating breakfast.
"Hey, you two should be happier. Today is the last day of your rotation, and tomorrow you’ll get to enjoy a leisurely weekend. How wonderful," Liu Banxia said, walking over cheerfully with his tray.
"Teacher Liu, I feel like I could fall asleep while eating. No, I have to ask Qing Kewa for some coffee later. Instant coffee isn’t cutting it anymore; I need a cup of espresso," Xu Yino said.
"Haha, both Zhang Zhiyuan and Chen Hongyang gave you high praise. I’m very pleased. Here, have an extra tea-leaf egg each," Liu Banxia said.
"Teacher Liu, I’m exhausted," Xu Yino said, then rested her head on the dining table.
"Keep going. Think about it, it’s just one more day. Then you can go home and sleep to your heart’s content, do whatever you like," Liu Banxia said.
"Isn’t that why you get two days off in a row? One day to sleep, one day to play—see how thoughtful my planning is? I’ve always been looking out for you; I won’t let you get too tired."
Even Miao Rui couldn’t stand to listen anymore. He wasn’t overly tired, but it was currently the peak season for spring colds, and many children were coming in.
He didn’t possess Liu Banxia’s seamless skill in inserting needles; he could only coax these little crybabies.
"By the way, if nothing comes up this morning, I’ll head over to pediatrics. I need to discuss training matters with Chen Hongyang," Liu Banxia said.
"Wow, am I that lucky? Teacher Liu, please have another tea-leaf egg." Miao Rui suddenly perked up and returned the tea-leaf egg Liu Banxia had just given him.
"I won’t stay long, and I also need to discuss matters with Chen Hongyang," Liu Banxia said.
"No problem, just head on over. Everyone is looking forward to seeing you in action again. Go for it!" Miao Rui pumped his fist.
"So unfair! Why won’t you go to the ICU?" Xu Yino pouted, unhappy.
"As if I could make a big difference by going there," Liu Banxia said.
"Patients in the ICU can have emergencies at any time. I might spend the whole morning there, and nothing might happen. Besides, in some procedures, I’m not necessarily more skilled than you."
"Keep at it, kids. After this rotation, there’s another one, and then you’re all set. Next, you’ll have some final training, and then you’ll become steadfast members of our emergency center."
At his words, both of them deflated again. The path of medicine is so tough, they commiserated silently. Few people can be as effortlessly cool as Big Devil Liu. There’s just no comparison; he’s so strong and picks up everything so quickly.
After breakfast, Liu Banxia cheered them on a bit more before returning to the emergency center lobby.
He still had matters to ponder. After visiting pediatrics, he would probably need to pay a visit to proctology. He had a good relationship with Jiang Tao, and proctology was considered a rather special department in the Second Hospital.
"Brother Zhang, how was the little patient during the latter half of the night?" Liu Banxia asked, seeing Zhang Ping approach.
"He slept on and off. The longest stretch was thirty-seven minutes before he woke up startled. But without the interference of sedatives, no other problems occurred," Zhang Ping said.
"Next, we’ll wait for the results of the cerebrospinal fluid test. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely call you when the results are out; I know you’re concerned."
"Alright. Later, I have to go to pediatrics. I also need to talk about the residency and training matters," Liu Banxia said.
"Then hurry up. I just saw Chen Hongyang start his shift. Pediatrics is an important department too, so you better work hard," Zhang Ping said with a smile.
Liu Banxia felt somewhat helpless. Even though they were cheering him on, the pressure on him was immense.
"How do you have time to come to my office? Shouldn’t you be really busy right now?" Chen Hongyang asked with a smile upon seeing Liu Banxia.
"Even if I’m busy, I have to prioritize important matters. Let’s chat for a bit and see what improvements can be made in your training. Consider it helping me out," Liu Banxia said.
"What can you expect from us here? We’d be fortunate just to recruit enough people. That’s how it is in the inpatient department; we never manage to recruit enough people each year," Chen Hongyang said.
"But that’s not to say there’s no room for improvement in pediatrics. There is, it just depends if you have the guts. It demands a lot, carries high risks, but the results are excellent."
"What is it?" Liu Banxia asked in surprise.
"Pediatric surgery," Chen Hongyang said.
Liu Banxia’s expression turned sour. Chen Hongyang is taking a huge step here, he thought. It could easily lead to serious problems.
Pediatric surgery is an emerging clinical discipline, generally established only in children’s hospitals. In other hospitals, surgical procedures on children are typically performed by surgeons from the corresponding adult departments.
And for these surgeons, the job isn’t exactly easy.
Surgical operations are inherently challenging. When it comes to newborns and infants, the difficulty level increases drastically.
Because children are so small, extreme care must be taken during procedures. Even a common hernia surgery can take an indefinite amount of time.
The slightest deviation in technique, even a minuscule one, could cause additional harm to a newborn.
"Currently, surgical procedures for newborns are also transferred to the inpatient department. I think you can take on the challenge in our emergency center and try to train some people," Chen Hongyang continued.
"Our pediatric department in the emergency center currently focuses its expertise on internal medicine diagnosis and care. Now that we have obstetrics, the number of newborns will gradually increase."
"Have you forgotten why we argued last time? That child’s surgery wasn’t something an average person could perform. If we don’t conduct some training in advance, what will we do when the number of newborns in the inpatient department and emergency center multiplies and conflicts arise?"
"Will scrambling to find someone at the last minute be enough then? By that time, who would dare to step up? Some newborns can wait a bit, but others can’t. Anyway, I think if you want to make a change, you shouldn’t focus solely on training."
"This reminder is very important. Even now, just thinking about performing surgery on newborns makes me shudder," Liu Banxia said.
"This is indeed a direction. However, it’s truly difficult to get started, the risks are high, and the costs are also genuinely steep. Why do you have to be so vindictive? Can’t you suggest something easier for me?"
Chen Hongyang shrugged. "Children’s hospitals and maternity and infant hospitals have a certain technical foundation in this area. People who want to become pediatricians generally gravitate towards those two places."
"For a comprehensive hospital like ours, we’re currently in a position of being better than some but worse than others. Even if we work hard in this area, we can’t expect to do as well as those specialized hospitals."
"It’s like our hospital’s proctology department. Compared to specialized hospitals, we’re always somewhat lacking in funding and support, let alone talent replenishment."
"Anyway, I think you can give this more thought. After all, the interns in your general surgery and cardiac surgery departments this year are very skilled, so why not cultivate them a bit in this direction?"
"They don’t necessarily need to reach an exceptionally high level. As long as they can calmly step up during emergencies and smoothly perform the necessary surgeries, that would be a success."
"I can handle most general surgeries now, but I was also very apprehensive in the beginning, afraid to even make the first incision. But there’s no choice; even a newborn is a life."
"I’ve gotten used to it now; it’s not as terrifying as one might imagine. Besides, aren’t you also worried about these interns becoming attending physicians in the future? I think if you invest in this area, it would also be a valuable asset for them."
"Miao Rui, let’s say you were asked to become an attending physician within two years and perform more surgeries on newborns and young children. Do you think this deal is worth it?"
"Uh... Teacher Chen, why are you even more of a ’Big Devil’ than Teacher Liu?" Miao Rui grimaced.
"Poverty prompts change, and change leads to solutions. Having worked in pediatrics in our hospital for so many years, I’ve definitely seen some problems," Chen Hongyang sighed.
"This could be considered a collaborative project between the pediatrics department and other surgical departments. Anyway, I hope that when you devise your training plan in the future, you’ll consider the clinical interns in surgery."
"However, participation must be voluntary. The success rate of newborn surgical operations isn’t that high. It demands a high level of psychological fortitude, and they could easily break down under pressure."
"But as long as they persist, they will become rare and valuable talents in the future. It’s not about them changing their specialty entirely, just adding another area of focus."
Liu Banxia nodded. "I’ll think about it. My head is buzzing right now; this issue you’ve brought up is too massive," he said.
"Dr. Chen, the lab results for a child admitted yesterday just came back positive for Haemophilus influenzae type B!" At that moment, Wang Guangfen, the pediatric attending physician, came rushing over.
Chen Hongyang immediately ordered, "Isolate the child, and isolate the child’s family members. All medical personnel who have been in contact with the child must undergo disinfection procedures. Temporarily close the pediatrics department and report it... Hmm, President Liu, you can report this to the hospital administration yourself."
"All personnel, follow the emergency plan. Carry out disinfection and sterilization work, and soothe everyone’s emotions. President Liu, you should also handle this personally later; keep a sample for culture."
Liu Banxia nodded, his expression also becoming serious. If this disease were to break out in the hospital, it would be horrific. Especially since many children here haven’t received the Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine, the risk would increase significantly.