Chapter 2 Double Experience

Interns are the most humble existence in the hospital, even less so than janitors.

They do the most tiring work and get scolded countless times a day. Mentors scold, department doctors scold, nurses scold, and sometimes even patients and their families scold. And key point, they don't get paid.

Enduring humiliation and burden, all for the sake of rising up as soon as possible.

Once becoming a training doctor, the treatment in all aspects will be greatly improved. It won't be so miserable then.

...

That night, Zhou Can slept particularly well, with unprecedented ease.

In his dream, he became a successful and famous surgeon. He effortlessly resolved extremely difficult surgeries that other famed doctors couldn't handle. Tu Ya Hospital took pride in him, and the medical community revered him as a modern surgical saint.

When he woke up, he realized it was just a pipe dream.

He was still that little intern.

Just wait, one day his dreams will come true.

He glanced at the wall clock, 7:10 AM.

Because he slept very late, he got up a whole hour later than usual.

In the dormitory, his roommates who got up early were already studying, or practicing basic skills like pinching beans with toothpicks and suturing.

The internship was coming to an end, and he could feel the tension and anxiety permeating the air.

Everyone was working hard, trying to make themselves stronger.

It was said that Tu Ya's training recruitment was simultaneously open to interns from the hospital and medical personnel from society, the competition was more intense than one could imagine.

Thousands participated in the training exam, and it would be good to have twenty people stay in the end.

The elimination rate of more than 98% was terrifying.

Using "one man's success achieved over the dried bones of many" to describe it was not an overstatement.

In life, you are always competing.

From elementary to junior high, only a small portion of the best can enter key schools. Then from junior high to high school, a large part is eliminated. College exams eliminate another large part. Postgraduate exams eliminate yet another part.

Those who remain until the end will stand at the apex of the pyramid.

After graduating from college, Zhou Can failed his postgraduate entrance exams.

This time, he does not want to fail again. He must rise up.

Morning is the golden time for studying, with a clear mind and strong memory. After washing up, seeing that he still had some time, he quickly took out a medical book to read.

The rise of every famous doctor depends on cumulative daily efforts.

This book, authored by Professor Huang Houzhong and several surgical experts, titled '1000 Cases of Surgical Pathological Diagnosis,' recorded a large number of real cases.

"Patient, female, 34 years old, living in the countryside. Noticed thickening of the neck 7 years ago, untreated. In the past two years, the neck thickening was obvious, and breathing difficulties were felt, but there were no symptoms of hoarseness or swallowing difficulties. She could feel several nodules in front of her neck by touching, the largest the size of an egg, the smallest about an apricot pit. After visiting a clinic, she took Iodine Sugar Pills, but there was no significant reduction in the neck mass…"

Zhou Can read the cases in the book carefully.

Based on the patient's symptoms, medical history, and examination results, he began to deduce the cause and pathology.

After some deduction, he concluded that this was a typical thyroid tumor.

After reasoning, he read the master's diagnosis from the book, and as expected, it really was a thyroid tumor.

Eventually, this female patient underwent surgical treatment, and the removed tumor was found to be benign.

It was a fortunate misfortune.

Because the chances of a thyroid tumor being malignant are very high.

Zhou Can just finished reading this case.

[Pathology Diagnosis Experience Points +0.1.]

Unexpectedly, reading could also increase experience points, truly a pleasant surprise.

It looks like he no longer has to worry about lagging in pathological diagnostics.

Its significance is in no way inferior to surgical skills.

Pathological diagnosis tests a doctor's application of medical knowledge and comprehensive abilities in therapeutic experience accumulation, analysis, and judgment.

Having tasted the benefits and preparing to read another case, a roommate called out, "Zhou Can, let's go, we'll be scolded if we're late."

He closed the book and went to the hospital for work with a few roommates.

His current internship department was General Surgery. Writing medical records, providing various care to patients, changing dressings, measuring blood pressure, recording medical processes, and assisting in surgeries were his basic daily grueling tasks.

Don't think that assisting in operations meant opportunities for surgical practice.

Following the teaching doctor at the operating table meant standing for several hours, sometimes even tens of hours for a single surgery. All they could ever do was simplest tasks like hook handling and skin cleaning.

Forget about managing cavities or suturing skin.

Their supervising teacher was at a high rank, at the Deputy Director level, overseeing over a dozen interns.

During operations, the team was even more luxurious.

Chief doctors were just fit to be first assistants.

Opportunities to suture or manage cavities were grabbed by resident doctors like hungry wolves.

No chance for interns.

Thus, another ordinary day passed.

Zhou Can wished he could grow wings and immediately fly back to the dorm to practice medicine.

The day after tomorrow was the recruitment for the training program, and time was extremely tight; he had to seize every minute.

Pigskin used for suture practice was hard to buy in the market. Its thickness and refrigeration treatment were demanding. He usually purchased it at the hospital's medical teaching building.

While picking pigskin, he suddenly wondered whether he should also buy a rat to practice dissection and hemostasis?

Hemostasis had always been his weak point, he couldn't afford to lag behind because of it.

After some selections, he bought a medium-sized piece of pigskin for 40 yuan. Rats were more expensive, even the cheaper ones cost 60 yuan each. He bought the best, spending 200 yuan.

With such a high price, ordinary interns really couldn't afford it.

Zhou Can's family was well-off, and for the sake of improving his medical skills, he was willing to spend the money.

He returned to the dorm with the pigskin and rat.

"Yo, Brother Can, both pigskin and rats today, looks like you're prepared to practice until 2 or 3 AM!"

"Isn't the training recruitment coming soon? Sharpening the gun just before the battle, shine even if it wasn't bright. Everyone is striving hard, I can't drag our 211 dorm behind!"

Zhou Can responded with a smile.

"I heard that this year's standardized training recruitment is open nationwide, and the number of applicants has already exceeded four thousand. In previous years, there were only about two thousand applicants; the difficulty has at least doubled this year. We're really in for a tough time!"

"Gu Jie, where did you hear that from? Is it true?"

His roommates became anxious.

"Absolutely true. And the number keeps increasing; I think this year is going to be especially tough!"

Gu Jie's parents work in the health system, so he is well-informed.

Hearing this news, Zhou Can felt heavy hearted.

But the fact that so many people are vying to get into Tu Ya Hospital also shows that each position here is very desirable.

Everybody wants a good thing.

May the best man win.

Zhou Can began to practice against the clock.

First, he made an incision on a piece of pigskin.

[Cutting Experience +0.1.]

Exciting!

Just 0.2 more to level up.

He persevered and continued dissecting the piece of pigskin.

Finally, a joyful congratulatory sound emerged.

[Congratulations, your Incision Skill has been upgraded to Level 2! Current Experience Points 0/100. Dissection ability at lower standardized training level.]

Having his incision skill meet the standardized training level was exhilarating.

His understanding and operation of dissection had leaped to a brand new height. While cutting, his hands were steady and unwavering, capable of making vertical or oblique cuts with ease. He even made significant advancements in areas he previously hesitated to touch.

He tried experiencing Level 2 Incision Skill on the pigskin.

When he looked at the pigskin, he was surprised to find that he could see its patterns.

This was an ability he didn't have before.

Holding the scalpel and cutting down, the sensation was vastly different from before. He could now vaguely sense the subtle differences between the epidermal layer, dermal layer, and muscle layer.

It's said that skilled surgeons can take a scalpel to a stack of paper and cut the exact number of layers they intend to. That level of proficiency in incision is so refined it's almost entrancing.

Their scalpel can sense the moment it touches a vascular wall.

This greatly reduces the tragedies of severing crucial blood vessels or nerves during surgery.

Zhou Can's dissection skills were now better than most interns.

If he could advance to Level 3 and reach Resident Doctor level, he would likely have the capability to outclass outstanding interns. That would significantly increase his chances to stand out from the crowd.

After upgrading his incision skill, he diligently practiced suturing and ligation.

In less than an hour, he had completed 150 stitches.

This efficiency was not just a little bit faster than yesterday; it had increased several times.

And the outcomes of his suturing were much higher than intern level.

Seeing his experience points rapidly increasing, Zhou Can was full of motivation.

With a bit more effort, he aimed to elevate both suturing and ligation skills to Level 3 tonight.

Another hour passed, and the entire pigskin was sutured.

He had completed over 340 stitches in total.

He should've bought a larger piece of pigskin to take home.

Looking up at the wall clock, it wasn't even 9 o'clock yet.

Before, completing 300 stitches would have taken him until 1 o'clock in the morning. Now he had cut down four hours, the bitterness paying off sweetly, making him want to cry with happiness.

He got up to stretch a bit and noticed that his roommates were all 'battling' too.

Gu Jie was probably the most impressive among them.

He was practicing vascular anastomosis on the tail of a rat.

This was a high-difficulty, finesse-intensive task.

It could only be done with the aid of a microscope.

"Gu Jie's suturing might be reaching or nearing Resident Doctor level," Zhou Can speculated in his mind.

Sitting back at his practice station, his gaze landed on that rat.

"Buddy, sorry about this!"

Two common methods of anesthesia for rats include cotton ball anesthesia. The rat is placed under a beaker, a cotton ball soaked with ether is dropped in, and the beaker is continuously rotated. After a few minutes, the rat would be anesthetized and at the mercy of the handler.

Zhou Can used intraperitoneal injection for anesthesia.

Its advantage being rapid onset and prolonged anesthesia.

Moments later, the rat was immobile, as if dead.

He positioned it face-up on a wax surgical plate then started the dissection.

After choosing the right place for the incision, he carefully cut open its abdomen with the scalpel.

Compared to cutting pigskin, he was obviously nervous.

Practicing on a living creature involuntarily worried him about accidentally cutting its intestines or internal organs.

As soon as the scalpel went down, blood immediately started to flow.

All these elements increased the operator's tension.

Thankfully, his Incision Skill had already advanced to Level 2.

This provided him immense help.

A four-centimeter long incision appeared, and miraculously, the intestines were unharmed and the incision was neat.

[Cutting Experience +0.2.]

"Is this a mistake? How did the experience points double?"

Zhou Can felt incredibly surprised.