"Report to the examiner, my score is 30 points."
A tall male candidate stood up first, his face filled with pride.
"Hmm, very good. What is your name? Which institution are you from?"
The examiner looked at the candidate with an approving gaze.
"I am Gao Jian, graduated from Imperial Medical College with a master's degree, and my internship was at Imperial Renhe Hospital."
This guy clearly had a somewhat show-off personality.
Brimming confidence and pride were spilling over from his face.
But his qualifications were indeed impressive.
Imperial Medical College is among the best in basic medical education.
Much better than Tuya Medical College where Zhou Can studies.
Tuya Medical College's academic achievements in basic medical education are not high, even at the bottom tier. It leans more towards clinical medicine, barely squeezing into the top ten nationwide.
In recent years, thanks to the rapid development of Tuya Hospital, Tuya Medical College has gained recognition.
"So you're a top student from Imperial Medical College, and you interned at the top hospital in Imperial Capital; no wonder you scored full marks. Please share your diagnostic approach with everyone."
After hearing Gao Jian's introduction, the examiner held him in even higher esteem.
Imperial Renhe Hospital is the ceiling of all hospitals in China in terms of academic and research achievements, cure rates for complex and high-risk cases, and medical teams—it's number one nationwide.
An internship at the country's top hospital is definitely a highlight on the CV.
Gao Jian glanced around before answering unhurriedly with a smile, "My diagnostic approach has two points, the blood test report shows an increase in troponin. Indeed, troponin is a marker of myocardial necrosis. But creatine kinase, serum myoglobin is the most sensitive marker for early acute myocardial infarction. Although the patient's troponin was elevated, it was not exaggerated to over twice the level."
He paused, his eyes sweeping over everyone with a sense of superiority.
"Then, look at myoglobin and creatine kinase—these equally critical indicators showed slight fluctuations but were basically normal. That's when I began to doubt the patient was likely not suffering from acute myocardial infarction. So I took a closer look at the electrocardiogram, at first glance, indeed, it bears some similarity to that of myocardial infarction. However, when compared to a genuine myocardial infarction ECG, it lacked a certain essence."
"How should I put this? It's like comparing a tiger with a cat—they look somewhat alike. But the cat is much smaller in size and lacks the regal air of the king of beasts. If we come across a cat on the road, no one is afraid. But if one encounters a tiger while hiking in the mountains, it would scare the wits out of them, and they'd run for their lives. This patient's ECG was the 'cat' that somewhat resembles a tiger."
Not for nothing was he a top student from Imperial Capital Medical University; he truly excelled.
The depth of his medical expertise made Zhou Can feel inferior.
Zhou Can's diagnostic approach was completely different.
"With the above two findings, I had essentially diagnosed that the patient likely only had symptoms resembling a heart attack. So I followed up with a coronary angiography. The result was as expected—normal coronary arteries. I felt it was necessary to check further for the cause of the patient's illness, and upon investigation, I found that the patient had recently lost his job and divorced his wife, sustaining a great blow. Only then did the symptoms of chest pain and difficulty breathing appear. The treatment plan I prescribed was oral sedatives, followed by a recommendation for psychological counseling."
This treatment plan was similar to Zhou Can's.
But Zhou Can did not prescribe sedatives, which have certain negative effects and dependency.
It's like trying to drown one's sorrows in alcohol—a cycle that leads to more sorrow.
From this perspective, one can see the difference in teaching philosophy between Tuya Medical College and Imperial Medical College.
Tuya leans more toward Chinese medicine, integrating some essence of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Imperial Medical College aligns with the most developed western, North American, and island nations, emphasizing western medical theory, with diagnosis and treatment plans that are also more westernized.
Each has its own strengths.
It cannot be said which is superior or inferior, only that both can cure the illness.
From the patient's point of view, Zhou Can's treatment approach is better. Although it is slower to take effect, requiring the patient to open up and slowly recover, there is an old Chinese saying: "Destruction paves the road to reconstruction." Patients who stand up from their setbacks will be reborn, stronger than before.
On the other hand, Gao Jian's treatment plan is quick to take effect, but it can also inadvertently weaken the patient's will. After emerging from the shadows, the patient's spirit may strengthen, but only to a limited extent. After all, it is dependent on the assistance of medication.
Furthermore, the patient has to bear the negative side effects of long-term use of sedatives, like insomnia, constipation, etc.
From this point of view, Western medicine is actually detrimental. It cures the patient's current illness but invisibly creates other diseases.
Chinese medicine aims to treat the root causes, and Western medicine treats the symptoms.
Perhaps one day, the treatment philosophy of Chinese medicine will be sought after by the world.
"Good, thank you, Gao Jian, for your excellent sharing. Now those with scores below 10 points, do you understand why your scores are so low?"
Candidates with scores below 10 points shamefully bowed their heads.
No one was shouting about any scoring system errors any longer.
Embarrassing.
Gao Jian sat down, full of smug satisfaction.
From his proud expression, he probably thought he was the only one who diagnosed correctly.
Among the candidates, many females looked at Gao Jian with admiration and respect in their eyes. Even the prideful, fairy-like beauty Yang Chan couldn't help but take a few more glances at Gao Jian.
Having talent makes it easier to win the favor of ladies and the respect of others.
Otherwise, why would the ancients say, "All skills are inferior; only the scholarly are superior"?
Zhou Can has always preferred not to show off or compete for attention—such things are beneath him.
Looking at the current scores, he is certainly not lower than Gao Jian.
However, Gao Jian's theoretical score will likely be A+.
After all, this guy's medical foundation is too strong.
"Next, we enter the second part of the interview—medical skill operation. It consists of anatomy, suturing, ligation, and hemostasis, totaling 60 points."
The examiner made everyone thoroughly understand what's called hellishly difficult.
The earlier theory and pathological diagnosis leaned more towards Internal Medicine.
But now, it's the turn of surgical skills.
This is a sure demand for versatile talents!
Zhou Can was very well-prepared, so he seemed particularly composed.
But those candidates who hadn't practiced their surgical skills well were becoming visibly restless.
"As modern medical technology advances, the application of surgical skills has become increasingly widespread. Both Internal and External medicine begin to highly integrate. Interventional, minimally invasive, and stenting surgeries of Internal Medicine are all based on the four fundamental skills of surgery. Internal Medicine is the foundation for disease diagnosis and treatment planning, while surgery is a sharp blade among the treatment methods. Together with medication, they are touted as the double-edged sword of treatment—merge the two, and there are no incurable diseases."
The examiner spoke fervently of the importance of surgery.
"Due to limitations in equipment and facilities, the medical skill examination is divided into preliminaries and finals. Only those with excellent preliminary scores will have the opportunity to enter the finals. Our staff will distribute a piece of pigskin and a set of anatomical suturing tools to each candidate. After receiving them, candidates will make an incision about four centimeters long on the marked spot on the pigskin, and then suture it."
Zhou Can heard it was pigskin suturing and couldn't help but reveal a slight smile.
This is his strong suit!
He had sutured so many pieces of pigskin that he could no longer remember the count.
It's probably measured in tons.
The other candidates also showed a relaxed expression. Anatomizing and suturing pigskin is not a highly difficult skill.
There's no one present who can't do it.
The pigskin and tools were quickly distributed, and after getting them, the candidates were eager to show off their skills.
Zhou Can also received a piece of pigskin and a set of anatomical suturing tools.
The incision spot was marked on the pigskin.
His Level 3 Incision Skill came in handy at this point.
Focusing on the marked spot, he could discern the texture on the pigskin and further infer the approximate distribution of underlying nerves and blood vessels.
When making an incision on a patient, cutting blood vessels or nerves is a big taboo.
Imagine someone wanting to remove a benign tumor on their leg, but the surgery slices through the leg's motor nerve. Oh ho, the chances are high that the leg will be crippled.
That would result in a medical accident.
With the skill of a Resident Doctor, Zhou Can effortlessly made an incision on the pigskin, roughly four centimeters long.
He perfectly avoided the potential nerves and blood vessels.
"Eh, what's this? They've set up a trap inside?"
He discovered two thin red tubes and one white tube had been placed under the skin. If cut wrongly, the tubes would most likely be severed.
The red tubes represented hidden arteries, and the white tube important nerves.
The examiners had gone to great lengths to help Tuya Hospital select talents.
Next came the suturing of the incision.
This too was Zhou Can's strong suit.
His five basic medical skills were all at Level 3, with no weaknesses.
His suturing was both quick and good.
In just about eight minutes, he finished both making the incision and suturing.
After checking for any mistakes, he raised his hand to submit his work.
The examiners were quite surprised to see a candidate finish so quickly.
Upon closer inspection, oh, isn't this the young man whom Deputy Director Hu praised highly?
"Zhou Can, what do you need?" asked the examiner.
"Reporting to the examiner, the operation is completed!"
Many candidates were still carefully making incisions on the pigskin and were shocked to hear someone had already finished the operation.
They all turned their heads to look at Zhou Can.
Gao Jian, who attracted much attention during the pathological diagnosis, had already sutured about half of his incision.
Hearing that someone had finished before him, he glanced at Zhou Can and continued to suture without much concern. "Surgery is not like other things; rushing makes it easy to be careless. The score probably won't be good." He thought the young man was overeager for quick success and would likely be eliminated.
This was the second time today that Yang Chan had heard the name Zhou Can.
When she heard that Zhou Can had finished so quickly, she was initially stunned. Then she felt a wave of pity. Zhou Can's surgical skills were just average to begin with; instead of focusing on suturing properly, he chased the vain glory of finishing first—foolish.
What use is empty fame?
Surgical performance is the key to advancing.
She sighed softly.