Chapter 16: Obstetrics and Gynecology Practice.

The uncle was fascinated by condoms.

It sounds a bit strange to say it like that, but that's how things turned out.

He was constantly searching for a chemist who had some expertise in rubber but was also strapped for cash.

I wanted to follow him around too, but he was the boss, and I was just a student.

"Kyaaaah!"

It might sound strange to say it was because of that, but...

Anyway, every morning, I would cut open my senior's hand, remove the pus and dead tissue, and then get on the carriage.

Maybe because of that, my senior seemed to be struggling a lot lately.

Even though I was eating well, as I was told to take care of my diet, I felt like I was losing weight.

Still, the good news was that the amount of pus coming from my senior's hand was noticeably decreasing.

"Still, I think we can leave the wound alone now."

"Ah, please... It's already been a week."

"But you don't have a fever, right? How does it compare to others you've seen around?"

"Definitely... I wasn't that bad. Joseon's medicine seems really amazing."

To be honest, it wasn't Joseon but modern medicine that was amazing.

But my life had been so filled with lies that I just nodded.

"Yes, well. Anyway, you're not going to die, senior. I'm sure of it now."

"Only now you're sure?"

Looking at my senior's face, I nodded again.

This was real.

'Even with antibiotics, it was dangerous... Just taking them wouldn't have been enough, right?'

It felt like we were on the brink of death but managed to come back.

It felt like this was the kind of situation where you say, "I almost died."

The person involved seemed to understand it to some extent too.

It wasn't like they had witnessed death several times before.

"If you say so... it must be true. Hmm."

I must have been talking a lot during the treatment, right?

I wasn't usually talkative even when I was at the university hospital.

It was just that they were in so much pain, and that was all I could do.

Since my senior was also a medical student, I casually shared some medical opinions.

"Anyway... starting today, it's practice, right?"

"Yes. Isn't practice coming up fast?"

"Is it fast? You have to learn through practice, or how else would you learn?"

"Ah, I guess you're right."

What's the use of just books?

You need to build knowledge first and then see patients to avoid messing up.

No, more than that, can you even understand the conversations doctors have without studying?

No.

No.

A doctor must first have the mind of a doctor.

That only happens when the knowledge from textbooks and the experience from the hospital harmonize.

"Right. If you don't know something, just ask. Somehow... I think you'll do better than me."

Of course, I had decided to live off this household forever, so instead of ruining the mood, I nodded enthusiastically.

Joseph, who naturally admired his superiors, was also nodding sincerely along with me.

In his eyes, my senior probably looked like a medical student who was a year ahead.

'No. That's not it... Not just a year ahead, but a saint... No. Not a path, but what these people are walking.'

Obstetrics and gynecology practice.

The more I thought about it, the more I sighed.

It wasn't because I knew exactly what obstetrics and gynecology was like during this period.

It was obvious without even looking.

Internal medicine and surgery were already a mess, so how could obstetrics and gynecology suddenly be any good?

-Our hospital's obstetrics and gynecology department is really famous.

And they said it was famous.

Liston also said it was famous.

Is it strange to have expectations here?

"..."

Anyway, we got off the carriage and headed to the ward.

It was the obstetrics and gynecology ward.

It was huge.

Literally huge.

"9"

Regardless of the medical level, the scale was enough to make you exclaim in admiration.

There were so many patients that it was almost unbelievable.

And they were all pregnant women.

Really.

They were all just pregnant women.

Usually, when you think of obstetrics and gynecology, you think of people coming to confirm pregnancy or... early to mid-term pregnant women coming for check-ups, right?

"Kid. You're surprised, huh?"

"Senior, do you have practice today too?"

"Yeah, practice is usually done together. That's how you learn and learn more."

"That..."

It's rotational learning, right?

So the education would be effective.

But I didn't plan to learn, so it was fine.

Besides, I wasn't very interested.

I was observing the surroundings.

It's just a hospital, but the word 'landscape' seemed appropriate here.

'If there are this many pregnant women and only four rooms... then each room would have about thirty patients...'

In modern times, multi-bed rooms usually have six beds, right?

Even six-bed rooms feel too cramped, so they're trying to reduce them to five or four beds, but suddenly a thirty-bed room?

Is this reality?

Just looking down the hallway, the situation in the rooms was hellish.

"Hey hey! First-year over there! Yeah, you. Get it together! I know you're nervous because it's practice."

I was so absorbed in looking around that the professor called me.

Was it Blundell?

Fortunately, being Korean didn't seem to be a problem.

My senior said he was just a man obsessed with obstetrics and gynecology.

Looking at him now, his eyes were slightly rolled back.

"Today, there are fewer patients. When it's crowded, even this hallway is full of patients! Get it together!"

It didn't seem like he was overflowing with passion, but more like he was just tired.

Anyway, Professor Blundell continued.

"Luckily, there's a patient in labor. Follow me!"

As he said that, he gestured and walked ahead.

We all followed behind him.

Even though the number of students wasn't that large, there were about fifteen of us in total.

So, it was a large group...

The place we walked to had a shabbily dressed pregnant woman lying down.

"O..."

She was moaning in pain.

'It looks like she's about to give birth...?'

Even though I don't know much about obstetrics and gynecology...

This seems urgent.

Very.

"Now, if the labor continues... this part will open."

...

Professor?

Aren't you going to put up a curtain or something?

You just lifted her skirt without any preparation...

Are you crazy?

I looked around to see if anyone else shared my bewildered feelings.

But I was the only one looking around.

These guys were all just looking at the patient.

'Well, this is the 19th century... the age of barbarism.'

Looking closely, neither the patient nor her husband seemed to have any complaints.

Right.

If the patient isn't complaining, it's a bit much for me to make a fuss, right?

So I just stayed quiet.

"Now, we need to do a palpation first. That way, we'll know when to intervene... This baby's head is a bit big, so we should make a small incision here and suture it later."

...

It's true that doctors back then also tried their best to save patients.

They were already doing such procedures...

Wait, hold on.

Professor?

"Now, if you palpate like this... you can roughly tell when the baby will come."

You're not wearing gloves.

You're using your bare hands...

And you didn't even wash your hands!

"Now, we'll limit the palpation practice to two people. More than that, and the patient might feel uncomfortable."

Isn't she already uncomfortable?

No, no.

The problem isn't that she's uncomfortable now...

This crazy guy is committing murder right now...

He's touching a patient whose water has broken with unwashed hands?

-There's something called puerperal fever. It's a fever that occurs after childbirth. It's unavoidable. Once the fever starts, all we can do is pray for the mother.

Watching this, I suddenly remembered what Blundell had said just before entering the ward.

Puerperal fever.

I had heard of it before.

But was it a medical issue?

As a surgeon, I didn't have much knowledge about obstetrics and gynecology, but it didn't seem like it was.

"Oh... the head is really..."

"Yes, the head has descended a lot. That means it's time to deliver. Let's move her."

But if that's the reason for the fever, it would be extremely dangerous.

The bacteria on his hands would directly invade the abdominal cavity.

The mother is already exhausted from childbirth, and now he's artificially introducing bacteria?

If this isn't murder, what is?

I felt like I was drifting away.

"Uh..."

"Hey, are you okay?"

"No. When I cut my hand, I even checked the blood... Why are you so sensitive now?"

"He sometimes gets like this. If the professor finds out, he'll... I'll help him."

"Huh? No, I'll help too."

"Okay. Thanks."

It wasn't just my mood; I actually felt like I was drifting away.

Crazy.

You crazy guy.

You can't do that!

"Uh..."

Did I faint?

When I came to, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

"Are you awake?"

And then I heard a familiar voice.

Where had I heard it before?

Ah, right.

Liston.

Dr. Robert Liston.

Fuck?

"Uh..."

Did he have a knife?

Thinking that, I tried my best to show that I was okay.

I immediately sat up. That's what I meant.

When I got up, I saw that I was in a hospital room.

"Ah, you're awake. Sometimes you get strangely sensitive."

"Ah... that."

"No, it's fine. There are some people who just don't fit well with obstetrics and gynecology."

"That... yes."

No, it's because you did a bare-handed examination.

You guys are murderers, not doctors.

What will happen if this continues?

Will they die?

So I nodded, but strangely, my back felt a bit itchy.

A wet feeling?

No, like something was moving?

'That can't be.'

I was lying down.

Right?

What could be moving here?

I decided to ignore it and sat up completely.

Then Joseph asked with a worried face.

"Are you okay? This is really..."

"That... what happened to the mother?"

"Huh? Ah. The baby was born fine. The mother is in the ward now."

"H..."

Well, nothing will happen immediately, right?

"But... why did you do that?"

This time, it wasn't Joseph who spoke, but my senior.

Alfred.

He had a completely puzzled look on his face.

Of course, he would.

This guy probably thinks of me as some kind of devil.

Every day, I would smile while cutting open his flesh and draining pus.

"It's not because it's gross, right? There was no need for that."

So, he knew the answer.

But I couldn't tell him the real answer.

I'd be labeled a heretic and killed.

"Just..."

But I couldn't just leave it at that.

'You bastards.'

What can I say to change this?

What...

'At least they won't give birth here, right?'

Right.

This time, it's better to approach it statistically rather than as a prophet.

Otherwise, they might look at me strangely.

Not my senior or Joseph.

But the others...

"Anyway, what did the professor say?"

"The professor? Professor Blundell? He just said... how are we going to watch the surgery like this?"

Bastard.

I probably have at least ten times more surgical experience than you.

Ah, I really want to teach you 21st-century medicine.

'I'm the subordinate. Don't forget.'

After engraving the character for patience in my mind, I opened my mouth.

"So, are we done?"

"Yeah. But you..."

"Yes?"

"There's a maggot on your back."

"What?"