653 Young (1/2)
Feng Zhixiang slowly sized up the operating theater. He was not in a rush to start operating.
Nowadays, he took a long time preparing for surgeries. This was especially true when it came to major surgeries like cholecystectomy in patients with gallbladder cancer, unlike plenty of young doctors who were in a rush to start operating whenever they got to carry out a demonstration surgery or live-stream surgery because they were worried that the audience would get impatient and leave.
A doctor of Professor Feng Zhixiang's age and status did not care about this at all. He would not withhold his expertise if other doctors intended to learn from him, but if those doctors were unwilling to do so, he was not interested in giving them the time of day either.
It was not that doctors nowadays were unwilling to learn. There were still very few resources for doctors when it came to honing their craft. Hence, this chance to learn from an excellent surgeon was hard to come by, and plenty of people crowded inside and outside the operating theater.
”The patient is ready.” The resident doctor, who was in charge of the patient reported excitedly.
He was extremely lucky to be able to participate in this surgery. Even though he would merely be operating the retractor, the opportunity to watch the surgery from close quarters and have minimal interaction with Professor Feng Zhixiang was already perfect in a junior doctor's eyes.
He only got this chance because Feng Zhixiang preferred to work with junior doctors who would operate retractors quietly as it would be easier to order them around. Hence, he would rather have the resident doctor in charge of the patient as his assistant compared to an attending physician who did not know what was going on.
The assistant merely needed to operate the retractor anyway. Moreover, junior doctors had more strength.
The second assistant was naturally Xu Wen again. He was one of the best associate chief physicians working in Beijing University Sixth Hospital anyway. Even though he was a man of few words, he learned his craft from many teachers and was skillful. Hence, he was always given plenty of opportunities.
Feng Zhixiang turned to look at Ling Ran who was standing outside the window and said with a smile, ”Are you ready? I'm getting started.”
”I've started washing my hands.” As Ling Ran spoke, he craned his head through the window and said to the junior doctors who were watching the surgery inside the operating theater. ”Are any of you free? Can you hold my book for me?”
”I'll do it!” A young female doctor raised her hand so high that it accentuated the curves of her body. Even though she was wearing a large white coat, her ample breasts and curves were still visible.
”Sorry to trouble you, then.” Ling Ran passed the book to her and gestured for her to hold it up in front of him. He then started washing his hands.
All surgeons had the bad habit of ordering other people around. In other words, they liked treating other people as tools. For example, the assistant who operated the retractor was merely a tool that made retracting the patient's skin easier. Of course, whenever the chief surgeons were in a relatively good mood, they would tease these retracting tools and ask them a few questions so that they could have a grasp of the depth of their tools' knowledge. The assistants who were tasked to aspirate the patient's bodily fluid were also treated the same way. This was especially true before mechanical aspirators were commonly used, as the assistants had to operate the aspirators by stepping on pumps. At that time, these assistants were even more necessary.
What Ling Ran needed right now was a bookshelf.
The female doctor from Beijing University Sixth Hospital held up the book before her bosom and looked at Ling Ran with a smile. She looked like one of those ”trophy girls” you see in award shows. However, Ling Ran paid no attention to her and merely watched his hands as he read his book. He said, ”Please turn the page, thank you.”
”My name is Liu Yilin.” The female doctor introduced herself in a soft voice.
”Nice to meet you.” Ling Ran was acting extremely politely, and he merely glanced at Liu Yilin.
Even so, Liu Yilin still looked very elated. She was secretly pleased with herself. 'I knew that Doctor Ling would need help from one of us. I'll continue to keep my guard up after this.'
”I'm sorry to trouble you.” Ling Ran nodded at her and dried his hands. He then turned and entered the operating theater.
Behind Ling Ran, Liu Yilin clenched her fists tightly and followed him. Ling Ran emanated such a powerful aura that all the male doctors in the operating theater felt bad about themselves and quietly took a few steps backward.
Feng Zhixiang snorted and said, ”A man like Doctor Ling is seriously an existence worthy of envy.”
After he said this, he waved and continued, ”Now that everyone's here, let's get started. I'll open the abdominal cavity first, and we can take a look at what's going on inside there.”
Whether it was an MRI scan or ultrasonography, information obtained through medical imaging technology could never be as adequate as what could be gathered through direct observation. Of course, this was also because surgeons were better equipped to deal with information they obtained through direct observation.