116 Staggering (1/2)

Pan Hua and Hayato Ueda both left the operating theater one after another a few minutes before the surgery ended.

The two of them staggered a little as they left the operating theater.

They had witnessed the skills of some of the top doctors in Asia from the hospitals of Japan. Exchange of ideas also occurred rather frequently between Keio University Hospital and top hospitals such as Juntendo University Hospital and the University of Tokyo Hospital. Moreover, they often increased their own knowledge by watching all kinds of medical videos.

Yet, they could not disparage Ling Ran's skills because of all that.

Even if they were to judge his skills with an extremely critical eye, it was hard for them to find any inadequacies in the way he performed his surgery.

Of course, if they forcibly nitpicked Ling Ran's performance, they would be able to point out a few inadequacies. But what was the point of judging a medical intern from Yun Hua Hospital using the highest benchmark? And what was the point of judging him based on mistakes that happened due to chance?

Instead of talking about Ling Ran's inadequacies, they would much rather talk about how Ling Ran performed too well in certain aspects, so well that other aspects did not seem as perfect in comparison.

He was very good in suturing, very good in making the right judgments at the right time, very good in choosing the location of his incisions, and very good in performing perineurium anastomosis… When Pan Hua recalled the last scene he saw, he could not help but shudder.

It was not because of fear, but because he felt good about it.

When he saw Ling Ran, a fellow doctor, join every single strand of the patient's perineurium together, he felt even better than when he drank two bottles of chilled Coca-Cola during the summer.

Pan Hua only knew how to perform epineurium anastomosis, and that was already good enough. However, patients would require a longer period for recovery, nerve fibres would often connect wrongly during regeneration, the patients' hand function would seem weaker upon recovery, and their grades when it came to motor function tests were lower. But despite that, there were usually not a lot of differences between patients who received epineurium anastomosis and those who received perineurium anastomosis.

The keyword being, ”usually”.

When Pan Hua saw how skillful Ling Ran was when he sutured the patient's perineurium, he knew that there would be a very big difference in the outcome of an epineurium anastomosis and Ling Ran's perineurium anastomosis.

As for Hayato Ueda, he was a beginner in the M-Tang technique and did not know how to carry out nerve anastomosis at all. He could only break the silence with a whisper, ”Looks like it's true that he carries out more than eight surgeries a day.”

”Yes, every day.” Pan Hua chuckled.

When he recalled all the prior suppositions he had, he found all of them rather laughable. After he saw Ling Ran's performance, he no longer found the feat of carrying out eight surgeries a day extraordinary anymore.

Or rather, the fact that Ling Ran performed surgeries at such a high frequency made it pretty much easier for Pan Hua to forgive himself. 'It isn't odd for an extraordinarily hardworking person to have extraordinary skills. Besides, since Ling Ran is so extraordinarily hardworking, he may not be very talented. If I were to carry out so many surgeries, it might still be possible for me to catch up with him. I haven't performed so many surgeries because I don't have enough time and energy. Wait, why do I have to catch up with him? I'm a department associate director who just returned from in-service training in Japan. I'm a man who's waiting for his chance to shine, a hand surgeon who's about to gain overnight fame…'

Pan Hua shook his head, firmly stopping his thoughts from wandering. He took out his mobile phone, opened the text message he received before, and said, ”Ling Ran's carried out almost five hundred surgeries using the M-Tang technique. Even though it's a little more than we expected, it isn't to the point that it's shocking.”

When Hayato Ueda heard that Ling Ran had performed almost five hundred surgeries using the M-Tang technique, his furrowed eyebrows relaxed a little. ”If one can reach Ling Ran's level after carrying out five hundred surgeries using the M-Tang technique, I can do it too.”

When Pan Hua was reminded of that, he chuckled.

Compared to him, Ling Ran had indeed carried out more surgeries using the M-Tang technique. But throughout his life, Pan Hua had carried out surgeries using other techniques too. Moreover, he had already performed three hundred plus surgeries using the M-Tang technique, and was not that far from hitting five hundred.

So, could he reach Ling Ran's level when he hit the five hundred mark?

It would be very hard… No… He was afraid that it would be totally impossible.

Pan Hua still knew his limitations. The more skilled you were, the harder it would be to elevate your skills. It was just like mountain climbing. It was very easy to climb a thousand meters or even two thousand meters upwards. The absolute altitude of Mount Tai was only one thousand and five hundred meters. Any ordinary person with a normal body could climb Mount Tai within a day. The only contrast between different people was the level of fatigue they experienced.

What if someone wanted to climb a little higher though? Other than fatigue, he would have to face other problems such as the cold, which came with the altitude, and hypoxia.

Therefore, if Ling Ran was climbing that hypothetical mountain right now, where would he be?

When Pan Hua thought about it, he felt uncomfortable.

”When you go back, don't talk about Ling Ran and the surgery he performed,” Pan Hua suddenly said.

”Hm?” Hayato Ueda was puzzled.

”We're from the Hand Surgery Department.” Pan Hua shrugged and pulled himself together again. ”The matters of the Emergency Department have nothing to do with us,” he said softly.

”Oh, all right.” All kinds of thoughts appeared in Hayato Ueda's mind. The internal conflict in Japan's university hospitals were more complicated compared to the ones in Chinese hospitals. He could get used to the situation in Yun Hua Hospital very easily.

”Patients who come to the hospital for a hand injury would definitely give preference to the Hand Surgery Department. Only those who require emergency surgeries and those transferred from other hospitals would be sent to the Emergency Department. We don't have to care about them. We can't even finish treating our outpatients.” Pan Hua analyzed the situation for Hayato Ueda while he encouraging himself at the same time. He puffed out his chest and said with a smile, ”We have to be confident. We're professional orthopaedists, and the knowledge we've accumulated will multiply non-stop together with our experience. Surgeons like Ling Ran who only know how to carry out one type of surgery will slowly become mediocre.

Hayato Ueda knew what Pan Hua meant. He chuckled and said, ”Just like the special patient before this?”

He was referring to President Han.

Pan Hua nodded slightly and continued, ”You're right. From what I remember, hospitals in Japan care the most about their special patients, right?”

”Of course, because patients with special needs bring a lot of benefits with them.”

”So, we just need to seize the special patients.” Even though Pan Hua used the pronoun ”we”, what he actually meant was ”me”. He smiled slightly and said, ”All the special patients who come in through the hospital or the department will definitely be sent to the Hand Surgery Department. There's no reason for patients with hand injuries to be sent to the Emergency Department. We can also build up our reputation and accumulate fame by treating special patients. Then, there'll naturally be more patients coming to us. Ling Ran… Ling Ran's surgical performance won't affect us.”

”You're right.” Hayato Ueda was not interested in the struggles within Chinese hospitals. However, his curiosity was peaked again. ”Since Ling Ran's a newcomer, he must be very young, right?”

Pan Hua hummed in agreement and said, ”He's about twenty-two or twenty-three years old.”

”He's more than ten years younger than me.” Hayato Ueda scratched the stubble under his chin. He could not help but tremble when he recalled how Ling Ran had his sweat wiped off. ”I spent all day studying in school when I was his age. I don't even know what fame as a doctor is like.

”Ling Ran still won't get to experience it ten years later, and by that time, we'll already be top-notch hand surgeons,” said Pan Hua. That was the aim he was working towards too.

He was a determined man.

If it were not for his determination, he would not have been able to stand out in the field of hand surgery and become the associate professor in one of Yun Hua Hospital's elite departments.