Chapter 271: Arrival at Xinxiang Maternity and Child Hospital

During a casual chat Zhou Can learned she’d already rotated through several departments and her surgical skills were now on par with a resident doctor. Like Zhou Can, she passed this year’s physician certification exam and officially became a licensed doctor.

Out of the 41 students in Class 512, only Zhou Can and Yang Chan managed to secure jobs at Tuyu Main Hospital.

Both had performed exceptionally well. After their training, it was almost certain they’d become official doctors at the main hospital.

During their conversation, she tried several times to probe Zhou Can about his current abilities.

But Zhou Can always played it close to the vest, leaving her annoyed and, frankly, a bit frustrated.

Well, women are naturally curious.

She’d heard all sorts of praise about Zhou Can—many chief physicians sang his praises to Director Zhang Bihua. The more she heard, the more desperate she became to know just how outstanding he really was.

She tried hinting a few times without any luck and eventually gave up asking.

Either way, once they got to Xinxiang Maternity and Child Hospital they’d be seeing patients, so Zhou Can’s skills would soon be plain as day.

After more than an hour on the bus, it slowed to a stop.

“We’ve arrived at Xinxiang Maternity and Child Hospital—everyone, get ready to disembark!”

The doors opened and everyone filed off the bus.

“Director Zhang, we’ve been eagerly awaiting your arrival!” The welcome at Xinxiang Maternity was as grand as it could be.

Lanterns and decorations adorned every corner, and red banners stretched everywhere.

The banners had bold, eye-catching messages.

Patient’s Good News: Welcome Professor Zhang Bihua, renowned OB-GYN specialist of Tuyu Hospital, leading her elite team for consultations!

A warm welcome to all experts for coming to guide our work!

Tuyu Hospital and Xinxiang Maternity and Child Hospital are one family.

The red banners everywhere made the place buzz with celebration.

Director Tian himself led the Xinxiang team to greet them, providing the highest level of reception.

“Esteemed experts, outstanding staff, welcome to Xinxiang Maternity and Child Hospital’s specialist clinic. You must be tired after the trip!”

Director Tian and his staff had put together a dedicated reception group.

First, they gave them a quick tour of the hospital, then they enjoyed a special breakfast in the cafeteria. Afterward, they were led to the outpatient and inpatient departments to start work.

It was impossible to ignore how quiet and deserted this tertiary hospital seemed.

A specialized hospital with seventy years of history, yet the lobby was sparse, with only a few dozen patients and family members waiting.

The emptiness made every member of the Tuyu Hospital team feel a wave of emotion.

“We’ve seen both the clinics and the wards. It’s getting late—let’s start seeing patients in the main lobby.”

Director Zhang Bihua was a doer.

After breakfast and a quick assessment of Xinxiang Maternity, she led everyone to the main lobby for consultations.

Tables were lined up in a row along the eastern wall.

There were nine consultation seats in total. With Director Zhang Bihua among them, Tuyu had sent eight directors and associate chief physicians. As for Zhou Can and the other trainees, resident doctors, and attending physicians, they didn’t have their own seats.

Let alone the nurses.

All of them stood behind the directors and associate chief physicians, assisting as needed.

Everyone except for one—Du Leng.

He had his own station: “PhD Du Leng, trained at Johns Hopkins University, specializes in neurosurgery and Jiaru surgery.”

The introduction was certainly attention-grabbing.

As soon as he sat down, several patients clustered around his table to check him out.

Du Leng had spent about two months under Director Yang Qing in General Surgery. Who would have thought he’d go so far as to claim expertise in Jiaru surgery after only two months of training?

That reminded Zhou Can of some of those outside cosmetic clinics.

Some so-called plastic surgeons, with barely a week’s crash course, would dare to wield a scalpel—cutting eyelids, creating dimples, you name it.

It was downright insane.

Du Leng was obviously far more qualified than those fly-by-night types—he had a legit doctorate from a prestigious university.

Whether he was truly skilled in Jiaru surgery remained to be seen.

They’d know soon enough, once they watched how he handled patients.

Zhang Bihua’s reputation dwarfed Du Leng’s. Seated in the center with Yang Chan at her side, she soon had four or five patients queuing at her desk.

“Director Zhang, we heard you’d be holding a specialist clinic here at Xinxiang today. That’s why we came so early to get in line. It’s almost impossible to get your premium appointment slot at Tuyu!”

A patient spoke excitedly to Director Zhang.

“Oh, really? Thank you all for your trust and support. No need to rush—please line up and come one by one. I’ll be here all day for consultations.”

She looked genuinely delighted.

Any doctor would be happy—having this much influence and patient trust is deeply rewarding.

While patients flocked to Du Leng and Director Zhang’s desks, Zhou Can’s group looked a little tragic.

Tuyu Hospital’s Gastroenterology Department had only sent two people.

Deputy Director Shi and Zhou Can.

“Dr. Zhou, I’ll need your help later.”

Deputy Director Shi knew all too well what Zhou Can could do. He even had an extra chair brought over so Zhou Can could sit at the table with him.

There was a pre-made nameplate on the table.

Gastroenterology Specialist Shi Dishing.

Basically, they were there to put on a show. The formalities were thorough.

There was no way a title like Associate Chief Physician would appear on the sign.

Deputy Director Shi didn’t have any especially shiny titles either.

Honestly, even “Specialist” deserved air quotes here.

Still, they were miles above those so-called ‘experts.’ Deputy Director Shi’s surgical abilities were solid, and his diagnostic skills were well above average, though the most difficult and rare cases were beyond him.

“Director Shi, are we really not going to get a single patient all day? Shouldn’t we do something—go out and look for them or something?” Zhou Can was never one to sit around, and he hated the idea of being a joke.

Before coming, Director Shang had told him not to embarrass the Gastroenterology Department.

“How do we look for patients? None of these patients or family members even know who we are. Even if we tried shamelessly to approach them, it’d be pointless. Let’s just sit and wait it out—I refuse to believe we won’t get a few patients in a whole day. Digestive issues are so common, there’s never a shortage of them.”

Deputy Director Shi seemed content either way.

If it was quiet, all the better—he could relax.

It’s different from working at their own hospital. Here, they were given consulting fees no matter how many patients they saw, so there was no bonus or performance pay to worry about.

Seeing more or fewer patients didn’t change a thing.

“Director Shi, there’s a patient who says she gets terrible pain every time she has her period—bad enough to roll around in bed sometimes. I had her get an ultrasound, and both ovaries have solid-looking growths. I have a bad feeling about this. Could you come help me take a look?”

Director Zhang Bihua had clearly run into a tough case.

Deputy Director Shi went over and picked up the ultrasound report.

“Multiple solid masses in the pelvis, clear edges, oval-shaped, abundant blood flow inside, and some minor fluid in the abdomen. That definitely screams ovarian tumor. Is that what you’re thinking, Director Zhang?”

He wasn’t foolish enough to believe Director Zhang couldn’t diagnose something so obvious.

This patient’s risk of malignant ovarian tumor was extremely high.

Tumors with abundant blood flow like this are always a red flag.

And as for the abdominal fluid, that’s also likely tied to the tumor.

“I just have a feeling that’s not her only issue,” Director Zhang frowned, deep in thought, scouring her mind for other possible causes.

Experienced doctors can sometimes sense hidden illnesses through a wealth of clinical experience.

For newbies, patients with more than one underlying problem are a total nightmare.

It’s tough for them to pinpoint every single cause.

Missing or misdiagnosing something is easy when a patient has more than one issue.

Deputy Director Shi turned to Zhou Can for help.

With so many patients and families around, and in someone else’s hospital, plus all the staff from Xinxiang Maternity watching, he didn’t want to be an ‘expert’ asking for help from Zhou Can out loud.

Zhou Can stood up and walked over himself.

Their table hadn’t seen a single patient yet anyway.

After looking over the patient’s information, he sized her up. She was twenty-four or twenty-five, very young. Judging by her appearance, aura, and build, she was probably a young mother.

She might even still be breastfeeding.

“Excuse me, could I ask you two questions?” Zhou Can addressed the woman.

Both she and the family member accompanying her glanced at Zhou Can, a bit dismissive at first—why should a young doctor cut in with Director Zhang and Deputy Director Shi already involved?

But out of politeness, the patient nodded anyway.

“Go ahead.”

“Have you given birth recently? Are you still nursing?”

The patient was caught off guard, suddenly more interested in this young doctor.

He seems to know his stuff.

She hadn’t mentioned breastfeeding to anyone, but he saw through it easily.

“Yes, my baby’s only eleven months old. Even before I was pregnant, my periods were painful. People told me it would get better after having a child, but it’s only gotten worse since giving birth.”

She replied honestly.

“Did any pregnancy or postpartum exams pick up on the ovarian tumors?”

Zhou Can pressed on.

“No. I was perfectly healthy then. I had my baby at the County People’s Hospital, and their standard of care wasn’t bad at all.”

She was like most patients and families—she had no idea there was a huge difference between county-level and provincial tertiary hospitals.

On the surface, both are tertiary, but in terms of scale, staff experience, and equipment, they’re worlds apart.

To be blunt, a chief physician at a county hospital might not even stack up to a solid attending physician at Tuyu. There’s a lot of ‘padding’ in these titles.

The size difference is huge too.

Most county hospitals have only five or six hundred beds—the bare minimum to qualify as a tertiary hospital. Provincial ones can have over three thousand, with some boasting as many as ten thousand.

Deputy Director Shi wondered why Zhou Can was asking these things, but Director Zhang’s eyes lit up—she seemed to get his train of thought.

In fact, Zhou Can’s questions sparked some ideas for her, too.

“Have you had any nausea, vomiting, or loss of appetite recently?” Zhou Can asked again.

The patient hadn’t mentioned any such symptoms to Director Zhang.

But Zhou Can suspected from certain signs that she probably had.

“Hmm… actually, yes. I’d been on maternity leave for a while, so when I went back to work I tried hard to catch up and ended up working late pretty often. My appetite got worse. Sometimes I’d feel queasy and even next to vomit, but I chalked it up to overwork and didn’t think much of it.”

She was amazed this young doctor seemed to know exactly what was going on with her.

Everything he was asking had happened to her.

“Would you mind if I did a quick physical exam? I’ll need to press around your upper abdomen and other areas, but you won’t have to lift your shirt.” Zhou Can explained.

“Okay!”

She nodded, a little embarrassed.

It’s normal for female patients to feel awkward about being examined by a male doctor.

Like when getting an EKG—they have to take off their bra, and if the doctor’s a man it can be very uncomfortable.

For exams involving private areas, male doctors usually have a female doctor or nurse stand in for them.

That’s why OB-GYN departments often prefer to hire women.

Male doctors run into countless awkward moments treating female patients.

Hospital policy requires one female medical staff member to be present when a man examines a female patient. But in reality, even then male doctors sometimes get assaulted by family members during exams.

So when examining a female patient, male doctors usually ask any male family members to step outside.

After getting hit a few times, a doctor learns fast.

If male family members don’t see anything, there’s less chance of conflict.

Zhou Can stood in front of the patient and pressed on her abdomen through her clothes.

“Just let me know if you feel any pain.”

He reminded her softly.

Honestly, the best way is direct skin contact, but even a thin layer of clothing mutes the doctor’s sense of touch. It’s easier to miss lumps or masses.

His main goal here was to test for tenderness.

It’s a standard doctor’s check.

“Ah—it hurts, it hurts!”

When he pressed her upper left abdomen, she suddenly cried out.

“That’s right where the stomach is—just as I thought.”

Zhou Can had confirmation and stopped the exam.

“Director Zhang, Director Shi, I suspect the ovarian tumors aren’t primary—they’re probably secondary, from a metastatic origin. I recommend we scope her stomach.”

After diagnosing her, Zhou Can offered his advice.

Yang Chan had been watching the whole process, and was stunned by just how far ahead of her Zhou Can seemed.

Ever since he’d started with his first question, Zhou Can had zeroed right in on the cause.

Thinking back, every question he’d asked was swirling around that primary illness.

This kind of pinpoint diagnosis wasn’t just rare in new doctors—many chiefs couldn’t manage it, either.

New doctors like herself always just ticked off every item on the checklist and ordered every test, without thinking much about direction. Only after the full workup would they try to figure it out.

It’s a rigid, rote-book method—the kind that plagues almost every new doctor.

A lot of patients find it frustrating that, even with a simple hand or foot injury, a big hospital will have them do EKGs and a battery of routine tests.

They claim it’s ‘for safety,’ or that the hospital requires it.

In reality, it just helps complete department quotas for checkups. All those expensive machines and lab techs can’t sit idle.

Each use of that equipment brings revenue to the hospital.

Same for lab work.

It also helps reduce medical accidents and covers potential safety issues—everybody wins, on paper.

And as for the bill—it’s covered by insurance, right?

The time wasted on extra tests? That’s nothing. Haven’t you noticed how shops will even hire fake customers to stand in line and make their business look packed?

When a hospital is bustling, patients instinctively believe the care must be better.

Doctors like Zhou Can, who can zero in on the real issue without sending patients on a wild-goose chase for countless tests, are exactly the kind of doctors modern hospitals don’t want.

After all, they don’t help drive up revenue.

Unless, of course, they’re an expert.

An expert’s supposed to be different: fewest tests, fastest answers, least medicine, least pain—only then can you call them a real pro.

Which also explains why, big or small, if you can get a spot with an expert, you never settle for a cheap slot with a resident.

Skip a few unnecessary tests and you’ve already made up the difference in fee.

“Dr. Zhou suspects the primary illness is in the stomach?”

Director Zhang looked at Zhou Can with a curious expression.

Her gaze brimmed with interest, a little excitement, even approval.