Path of Medicine With a System-Chapter 5: Busy little doctor

After experiencing such a powerful impact from the white wine yesterday, Zhang Fan only felt despair when faced with alcohol. He truly had zero alcohol tolerance.

It was difficult for Zhang Fan to refuse his direct boss’s attempt to make him drink alcohol, but a few ethnic girls were another matter for Zhang Fan the food seller. He used his silver tongue to finally convince the ethnic girl serving him to drink his serving in his stead. However, she wasn’t actually convinced, as she only drank it out of annoyance.

Zhang Fan was someone talkative who could chatter on and on without shutting up. The ethnic girl who had a direct personality got angry and instantly downed the bowl of wine in one gulp, and then walked off to serve the next person while looking at him condescendingly.

Of course, her condescending attitude was completely unable to affect Zhang Fan’s ravenous appetite. He ate, ate, and continuously ate.

The local ethnic people were all highly skilled at singing and dancing. These girls were not only skilled singers, they even pulled their guests out to dance along with them in their joy at singing. But while everyone else was listening to the song, Zhang Fan was busy eating. While everyone else was dancing, Zhang Fan was still busy eating.

The ethnic girls looked down on Zhang Fan even more after seeing what a pig he was. Not a single girl invited him to dance. However, Zhang Fan was more than happy with this.

It was quite normal for young men to have great appetite. However, Zhang Fan had already consumed a goat leg, a goat tail, and a significant amount of chicken and beef. Basically, he had eaten a great amount from every dish. Although the System had already strengthened Zhang Fan’s body, there were still limits to what the System could do.

Since Zhang Fan’s body and mind had both been strengthened, this would also increase his calorie requirements to maintain his body. His metabolism was also sped up. If he didn’t increase his food intake, it would be impossible for him to keep up his rate of mental studying and maintain his new improved body. The System’s ability to strengthen its host’s body and mind was all programmed into the System as a protective measure by the future’s scientists as being a doctor was a demanding job, both physically and mentally.

When Zhang Fan finally ate his fill, the third round of toasts had already begun. However, Juma Bieke was already drunk to the extent of trying to hit on and drink together with an ethnic girl despite his girlfriend’s protests. Zhang Fan figured that Juma Bieke’s girlfriend would give him a real good scolding after he was finally awake.

Zhang Fan drank some tea while watching the ethnic performances. He noticed that Superintendent Batu was also observing everyone.

Zhang Fan thought about things for a moment before picking up his teacup and walking over to Superintendent Batu. Until Zhang Fan himself was a powerful personage, he would pay respects to the people in power. This was experience Zhang Fan learned after several years of being a food seller.

Zhang Fan walked up to the superintendent and sat down in Indian style. In this border province, the local custom was that any alcohol that was drank while standing didn’t count, so all alcohol had to be drank while sitting down. Zhang Fan felt that this was a nice custom that made it easier on his legs.

“Superintendent, allow me to drink this tea in place of wine to apologize to you. Yesterday, you hosted a welcoming party for us, but I was such an embarrassment.” Who cared if his apology was fake or real? He at least needed to show his attitude.

“Haha, Zhang Fan, it’s not embarrassing for men to get drunk, but it’s really embarrassing for a man not to be able to drink at all. You need to train more. You’re from the best top-level school out of all our fresh graduates that just joined. You should act as a leader, don’t you think? I’ll let you off the hook for today. I’ll also toast you with some tea. I’m really looking forward to your future potential.” Superintendent Batu patted Zhang Fan on the shoulder and toasted him with his own tea. In response, Zhang Fan also showed a greatly deferential attitude while responding that he would definitely allow the superintendent to lead him towards a glorious future!

Many people came up to toast the superintendent. Zhang Fan only spoke a few polite words and drank a sip of tea before backing away to allow others to toast the superintendent.

Zhang Fan barely paid any attention to whatever the superintendent just said. Zhang Fan really didn’t care.

On the first day of the two-day vacation, all the new intern doctors (except for Zhang Fan) got really drunk again, so nobody had any energy to go anywhere on the second day. Everyone only spent half a day at the local hot springs before returning to the hospital dormitory.

On Monday morning, Zhang Fan and the other six new intern doctors all reported together to the superintendent’s office, where the hospital’s department managers were also waiting for them.

Today was the day when the intern doctors would be assigned to the various departments. In a relatively smaller hospital like Kuake City Hospital, everything that the superintendent said was the law. Batu considered all the students’ personal preferences, everyone’s personal traits and strengths, as well as their behavior over the past two days in order to assign everyone to various departments.

For instance, Li Hui’s girlfriend Wang Sha had wanted to go to the gynaecology department. However, she was short and had a weak body, so Superintendent Batu told her that it was unlikely for her to be able to handle the heavier physical workload there. Hence, he assigned her to the pediatrics department instead.

Since Juma Bieke was of Kazakh minority and had an extroverted personality, he was chosen to go to the emergency care department as it would be easier for him to communicate with the many ethnic minority members in this border province city. Li Hui was assigned to the internal medicine department as he wanted. Zhang Fan also got his wish of being assigned to surgery department #2.

Surgery department #2 in Kuake City Hospital was focused on orthopedic surgery and brain surgery. Surgery department #2’s director, who was named Nuar, was a fifty-three year old doctor who possessed China’s second-highest level certificate in orthopedic surgery. Nuar showed Zhang Fan around surgery department #2, introducing everyone there to Zhang Fan.

The vice director of surgery department #2 was Shi Lei, a brain surgeon in his forties. There was also Tu Xun, another brain surgeon, who was slightly older than Shi Lei. Tu Xun also had China’s second-highest level certificate in brain surgery. Zhang Fan also met Chen Qifa, a resident doctor of orthopedic surgery who still didn’t have his medical license despite being more than forty years old.

The head nurse of surgery department #2 was Guli, a forty-odd-year-old married woman who was rather beautiful. However, she was also somewhat plump. She was from a local ethnicity where the custom was that woman should get plump after marriage. If the woman didn’t become plump, that meant that her husband was someone useless who couldn’t even give her a good life, which was why the local ethnic women often became much plumper after marriage.

Although the hospital had footed all the expenses for Zhang Fan and the other intern doctors’ two-day vacation, Zhang Fan still spent most of the time mentally studying through his System. He had eaten really well on the trip, so he was filled with energy. He had also finished studying the fundamentals of surgery, and was also halfway finished with studying the courses for orthopedic surgery and traumatic injuries.

Zhang Fan had his own ideas about what he should study first. Since he was going to work at a city hospital’s orthopedic department, he figured that the most common patient issue he would need to deal with would be traumatic injuries. Bone displacements, fractures, and so on weren’t as common as traumatic injuries. And even if a patient had a bone displacement or fracture, it was unlikely that an intern doctor like Zhang Fan would be allowed to attend to such a patient. That was why Zhang Fan first focused on traumatic injuries.

Although he was studying these topics through the System, the System also had requirements for him. For every specific subject, he needed to gain a sufficient amount of real-life experience in that area before the System would allow him to study higher-level courses in that subject matter. Right now, he could see many such requirements. For instance, he would need to sew three hundred surgical suture stitches before the System would allow him to study tendon sutures, and only after he mastered tendon sutures would the System allow him to study neurovascular sutures. Everything in the System had an order to it.

After getting familiar with surgical department #2 and studying in the System for another week, Zhang Fan became impatient, and started running over to the emergency department on a daily basis. During his entire first week there, the entire surgical department #2 hadn’t received a single real patient. There were only two patients in their surgical department, but one was intentionally lengthening his stay in order to continue flirting with a nurse, while the other had been hospitalized after a fight and was intentionally staying longer in order to extort greater compensation. Hence, their surgical department didn’t have any real patients.

Without even a single surgery, Zhang Fan would be unable to gain any experience. Thus, he was unable to access the higher-level courses in the System. He didn’t know if his System would suddenly vanish one day, so Zhang Fan wanted to learn everything he could as soon as possible for the sake of his brilliant future. That was just how shameless he was.

Not only did he hang out at the emergency department, he even went over to hang out at surgery department #1, the general surgery department. The general surgery department had far more surgeries, with appendicitis and cholecystectomies (gall bladder surgery) being the most common. If it wasn’t for the fact that Kuake City Hospital had zero male doctors in the gynaecology department, he would have also gone over to try and help sew women’s stomachs after caesarean section.

Zhang Fan’s direct boss, Director Nuar, was of the Kazakh minority. Since Director Nuar was nearing retirement, all he did was hold a department meeting every morning. After that, Director Nuar would do nothing but drink alcohol for the whole day without caring about the department’s affairs. Every day, he was constantly trembling as he would be completely drunk.

Since the vice director Shi Lei was a brain surgeon, he felt it wasn’t his place to lecture Zhang Fan who was in orthopedic surgery. Besides, it wasn’t exactly like Zhang Fan was skipping out on work. Meanwhile, resident orthopedic surgeon Chen Qifa could only grumble to himself as he watched Zhang Fan run around everywhere. He was also in no position to lecture Zhang Fan, as he didn’t even have a medical license.

There was nothing to do in surgery department #2 for the time being. Nobody could complain about Zhang Fan, because he voluntarily went over to all the other departments and volunteered himself to do every type of work possible.

“Sir, please have a rest. Allow me to do something so trifling,” Zhang Fan said in the emergency department.

“Director, please observe and assess my surgical suture sewing techniques. Are the stitches straight enough?” Zhang Fan made such a comment at the operating table for an appendicitis patient in surgery department #1.

Zhang Fan sucked up to everyone in charge, and he was also hard-working. The directors of general surgery and the emergency department both really liked him. This really angered Guo Qiliang, who had been assigned to the general surgery department.

However, there was nothing Guo Qiliang could do about Zhang Fan. Hell, Zhang Fan’s surgery sutures were even neater, quicker, and prettier than the general surgery department director’s. Although Zhang Fan claimed to ask for the director’s guidance, it seemed more like he was just acting and that he was only here to steal credit.

Zhang Fan couldn’t be bothered about the angry expression that Guo Qiliang had. There was no helping it. He had to gain enough practical experience so that his System would allow him to learn the more advanced courses. All he could do was apologize.