Chapter 10: Striving for Perfection

“Dr. He, what do you think is wrong with the last patient?” Zhou Can quickly caught up and asked.

“Medicine is a rigorous science. I never jump to conclusions. I rely on test results combined with the patient’s symptoms, history, age, gender, and habits for a comprehensive diagnosis. But based on the symptoms, it appears there might be more than one problem.”

After speaking, Dr. He offered a small smile.

“I need to check on the wards—you can ponder it at your leisure.”

As the attending physician, his position was above that of resident doctors and interns, with even greater responsibilities.

Although the ward has a dedicated doctor for patient rounds, an attending physician isn’t one to delegate everything.

Especially with critical cases, extra vigilance is required.

Take, for example, the patient Mr. Liu operated on today; he was under intensive observation. Mr. Liu even specifically reminded Dr. He to keep a close watch before leaving.

After watching Dr. He leave, Zhou Can lowered his head in deep thought.

From Dr. He’s tone, it was clear the patient suffered from more than one ailment.

That explained why his diagnosis was on point yet only earned him 0.4 experience points.

It meant there was another condition that remained undetected.

What could it be?

Zhou Can racked his brain repeatedly but still couldn’t come to any conclusion.

“Sigh… Without proper test data, I could only diagnose a common bile duct stone from the few symptoms. My skills are just not up to par,” he lamented.

Zhou Can sighed heavily.

Surely, Dr. He had already made his diagnosis, but he simply chose to withhold it.

It seemed the gap between a resident’s diagnostic ability and that of an attending was enormous!

Since he was running out of ideas, he decided not to waste any more time.

A fool wouldn’t hang himself from a tree.

Currently, his pathology diagnosis experience was at Level 2, 99/100.

Just one point shy of leveling up.

Glancing at the clock, it was 5:52.

If he returned to the dorm right away without a care, clutching his medical books, he might manage ten case studies by tomorrow morning.

At an average of 30 minutes per case, that would take him five hours.

In fact, more difficult cases would take even longer.

Pouring all his energy into boosting his pathology experience just for that final point felt like a losing battle.

It simply wasn’t worth it.

He could easily spend those hours honing his Hemostasis and Incision techniques.

He was confident he could raise both those skills to Level 3.

As for that remaining point in pathology, he planned on cramming a little tomorrow.

Once he found another patient to diagnose, he’d likely nail that last step for Level 3.

Then, all five of his techniques would match the standard of a resident—securing his success in the residency recruitment.

With his decision made, he wasted no more time.

He quickly headed to the Medical Education Building to purchase practice White Mice.

Considering both Incision and Hemostasis practices consumed a lot of supplies,

especially since Incision wasn’t just about making a cut on a small animal—it required a proper dissection.

That requirement was rather strict.

A single White Mouse might only handle about twenty incisions before it was spent.

Each dissection yielded 0.2 experience points.

Twenty incisions meant 4 experience points.

Even after death, you could practice dissection on its organs, though on a deceased specimen the experience gain was halved to 0.1 per session. It was estimated you could do about 25 sessions for a total of 2.5 points.

To be conservative, he estimated each White Mouse would give him 6 experience points.

Currently, his Incision experience was at Level 2, 9.7/100.

He needed an additional 90.3 points to reach Level 3.

Calculating carefully, he needed to buy at least 16 White Mice to be safe.

At 200 yuan each, that came to a total of 3200 yuan.

Fortunately, Zhou Can came from a wealthy family, so the money wasn’t an issue.

“Get me 16 top-quality White Mice.”

“Are you sure you need that many?”

The on-call doctor was clearly taken aback by the quantity.

Typically, doctors only bought one or two for practice. This young fellow buying 16 at once was extravagant.

“I’m certain. Absolutely sure!”

Without further ado, Zhou Can paid by scanning the code.

The on-call doctor found a larger cage and carefully selected sixteen top-grade experimental White Mice to fill it.

As soon as Zhou Can received the cage and turned to leave, three people entered.

He almost collided with them.

“Zhou Can!”

The leading beauty was tall, with exquisite features and skin as smooth as a baby’s. Her warm brown shoulder-length hair paired with her white coat was truly striking.

The lady’s grace was unmatched, carrying the aura of an elegant maiden.

She appeared almost otherworldly, like a fairy untouched by the mundane world.

Her large, enchanting eyes lit up with surprise and joy as soon as she recognized Zhou Can.

“Class Monitor, it’s been a while,” she greeted.

Zhou Can hadn’t expected to run into the Class Monitor here.

More precisely, she also held the titles of Class Belle and one of the top three campus darlings.

Not only was she stunning, but she was also genuinely talented—far from just a pretty face.

Claiming she was the best in the class was hardly an exaggeration.

They had both begun their internship at Tuyu Hospital. Rumor had it that during her obstetrics internship, her performance was so exceptional that she had caught the eye of Director Zhang Bihua of the Obstetrics Department.

“How’s your internship going?” Yang Chan looked him over from head to toe before fixating on the mouse cage in his hand.

Seeing him buy so many White Mice, she was visibly surprised.

“Oh, it’s going fine. I’ve heard of your shining achievements in the Obstetrics Department—bringing glory to our 512 Class and even adding prestige to our alma mater,” Zhou Can said. In the past, he would have felt inferior in her presence.

She was just too outstanding.

Now, with his experience system boosting his skills dramatically, he finally felt on an equal footing.

Of course, having talent didn’t mean he had to show off.

One could be humble yet confident—a long-held Chinese tradition.

“You’re exaggerating. I’ve just been lucky, that’s all. By the way, are you planning to practice dissection or suturing with all these White Mice?”

“I plan to train in both. You know my skills have always been pretty weak.”

“Preparing for the residency recruitment, huh?”

“Why shouldn’t I have some dreams?”

“Hehe, I’ve never heard you be so cheeky back in school! Old friend, keep it up! No matter the outcome, if you give it your all, you won’t regret it.”

Her tone carried a hint of consolation.

It was clear she wasn’t overly optimistic about Zhou Can.

And, understandably so—the competition for this year’s residency recruitment was brutally fierce. For an intern who wasn’t particularly outstanding, the elimination rate was nearly 100%.

In her eyes, while Zhou Can had a decent medical foundation, his practical skills were somewhat mediocre.

Seeing him buy so many White Mice confirmed her belief that his abilities were still at a rather rudimentary level.

Such a level wasn’t competitive at all.

“You always have a way with words, Class Monitor. Goodbye.”

Zhou Can caught the underlying meaning but said no more.

Tomorrow, the results would speak for themselves.

Waving goodbye to her, he clutched the mouse cage and left.

“Dr. Yang, just how poor are your classmate’s skills? He really needs to buy that many White Mice for practice.”

“I’m not really sure, but he’s always been very diligent.”

“Next time, you should show him how to use the mice more efficiently. Practicing dissection on White Mice is wasteful—the approach is off. Vascular anastomosis on a mouse tail is the true high-level technique.”

Their conversation reached Zhou Can’s ears.

He merely smiled faintly.

With his Level 3 skills in Suturing and Ligature, his success rate for mouse tail vascular anastomosis was practically 100%.

Across Tuyu Hospital, among interns, only one or two could match him.

That so-called advanced technique was nothing compared to his achievements in the experience system.

Zhou Can returned to the dorm with his White Mice.

Goodness, everyone was already hard at work.

It seemed everyone was gearing up for tomorrow’s residency recruitment.

They were all determined to break out from the crowd.

“Wow, Zhou Ge, what’s up! Are you planning a barbecue with that many White Mice?”

“As long as you don’t find it too gross, after I finish practicing, I can set some aside for you to grill!” Zhou Can grinned mischievously.

“Forget it, I don’t have such robust tastes,” one roommate joked, recoiling at the thought of eating mouse meat.

“I can see it—Zhou Can is pushing himself to the limit to secure his residency. Brothers, give it your best! Whoever makes it through, remember to have each other’s backs. We’ve built a year’s worth of camaraderie here.”

His roommates cheered, each of them doubling down on their practice.

Seated at his practice station, Zhou Can decided to save time by anesthetizing the entire cage of White Mice at once.

Once they were successfully sedated, he plucked out one, fixed it onto a wax tray, and began refining his dissection and Hemostasis techniques.

【Incision Experience +0.2】

【Hemostasis Experience +0.2 +0.2……】

Hemostasis was the easiest to level up—no contest.

Any time he identified a bleeding point, a quick swipe of the Electrocautery Knife earned him 0.2 experience.

……

Before he knew it, it was 12:31 AM.

By then, all sixteen White Mice had been completely utilized.

Both his Hemostasis and Incision techniques had successfully reached Level 3.

He checked his skill experience:

【Zhou Can – Intern Physician】

【Pathology Diagnosis: Level 2, Current Experience 99/100. Residency Standard.】

【Incision: Level 3, Current Experience 5.7/1000. Lower level for resident physicians.】

【Suturing: Level 3, Current Experience 21/1000. Lower level for resident physicians.】

【Ligature: Level 3, Current Experience 1/1000. Lower level for resident physicians.】

【Hemostasis: Level 3, Current Experience 652.4/1000. Average level among resident physicians.】

Among all his skills, his Hemostasis was the standout.

It had astonishingly reached an average resident level, comparable to those with over three years of experience in surgery.