"Steven," Shiller called his name. Strange went silent. Shiller then looked at him and asked, "Can you give me the phone number of the doctor who treated your father in his clinic?"
"I think, earlier, you might not have had a calm conversation with them. That might have caused you to miss some details of your father's illness. If you cannot control your emotions, I can call them for you to ask in detail. Perhaps, there could be a turnaround."
"What is the use of asking them?!" Strange roared in a low voice: "They are a bunch of unqualified prodigals! They chose to go to small clinics because they couldn't get into big medical schools!"
"Oh! Oh, oh!" Strange made a strange noise with his mouth. He said, "I know what they will say, 'We just have different duties, but we also save lives. You are not superior to me,' To hell with them!"
"These fools are just unwilling to admit that their medical skills are crap! Why should I communicate with them rationally? They know nothing! A bunch of street punks who have attended a few days of training courses dare to call themselves grassroots doctors?!"
This speech exposed Strange's arrogance without a doubt. However, he certainly had the capital to be proud. After graduating from New York University Medical School, he joined Columbia University and the New York Elderly Association Hospital at a record-breaking pace.
If anyone doesn't understand how impressive this is, simply put, Strange is known as "God's gift" in the field of surgical medicine. There is no neurosurgery operation in the world that he cannot perform flawlessly. He is undeniably the best in the field of neurosurgery and the entire surgical field.
"Do you remember the first time we met?" Shiller smiled as he looked at Strange and said, "That was during a consultation. I had drunk too much the night before, resulting in me arriving late. You said psychiatrists are all charlatans..."
Strange, who was ranting angrily about other doctors, suddenly froze, then turned his head awkwardly to one side. Shiller continued saying: "But I don't blame you because I know that's how surgeons are. Surgeons don't understand medicine, they just know how to perform surgery."
Like a cat whose tail was stepped on, Strange almost jumped out of his chair. He said, "I graduated from New York University Medical School at a record pace,..."
"You are ignorant, arrogant, and narrow-minded, you have a bad temper, and you are overly conceited ..."
"What did you say?!!!!!!!!"
"But you perform surgeries very well."
"Oh ...Thank you."
As soon as Strange discarded his satisfied expression, he froze again, looking at Shiller. Shiller showed a mischievous smile and said, "See, you don't really care about whether you understand medicine or not, you only care about whether you perform surgery well or not."
Just as Strange was about to open his mouth to say something, Shiller picked up the cup of water next to him and took a sip, then said, "But that's normal because surgeons don't have the right to prescribe, and they don't need to do tests and anesthesia. You guys just need to do the surgeries. Everyone has their own responsibilities, right?"
"You regard psychiatrists as charlatans because comforting patients and prescribing them psychiatric medicines are not within your remit. I think surgeries are not that hard because I have never been in the operating room."
"It's the same for those township doctors. Their duties do not include comforting patients or performing surgeries on them, they are only responsible for simple checks. If there's any case that exceeds their ability, the only thing they can do is to advise the patients to go to a big hospital."
"Just like how you gradually understand me and the career of psychiatrists, you must also give those township doctors, who you look down upon, a chance to see whether they have done their duty, even if that might seem too simple to you."
Strange curled his lips. Shiller's advice touched him easily. If Shiller had argued with him that "grassroots doctors also have it hard," Strange would have become even angrier. Once a person gets stuck in their own viewpoint, the more confrontational they become, the harder it is for them to get out of it.
However, Shiller took himself as an example to clarify that the duties of surgeons, psychiatrists, and grassroots doctors are just different. Everyone just does their own duties, and surgeons are no exception.
After all, even the best surgeon, like Strange, has no right to prescribe. He can't even prescribe medicines. However, some township doctors can.
Based on this reality, Strange had to admit that everyone's duty is different. He can at least hear the opinions of the others.
So, Strange reluctantly opened the contact list on his phone, found the phone number of the doctor he had contacted, and then sent it to Shiller. When Shiller got the phone number, he didn't make a phone call right away. Instead, he sent a text message first. After a while, a phone call came in.
"Oh, hello, yes, it was me who sent it. I am Mr. Steven Strange's psychiatrist. I think he might have been disrespectful to you before. I apologize to you on behalf of him. His current mental state is not very good..."
"Yes, I used to work at the Elders Council Hospital too. I was his colleague in the past. But don't worry, I am not a surgeon. They know nothing other than surgeries, isn't it?"
"Oh, you are too kind. I believe that calm communication is something every normal adult should be able to do."
"Indeed, when I was providing psychological treatment for Mr. Strange, I found out that he was very worried about his father's condition. Since he didn't have a rational communication with you and didn't get much detail, so I'm calling to ask for more details…"
Shiller didn't even have time to ask questions when the doctor on the other end spilled out all the information. Shiller began to take notes as he listened.
"Really? The symptoms started three years ago? Was he suffering from dyspnea? If I may ask, did you ever suggest him to go to a big hospital for treatment? Yes, I know you must have suggested that, but what was his attitude?"
"Right, we all know that Dr. Strange works in the best hospital in New York. Didn't Mr. Old Strange mention this to you? Did he ever mention his eldest son to you?"
Shiller, who was taking notes with his head down, could clearly see from his peripheral vision that Strange's arm muscles were tensed in an instant and his breathing got more rapid. For this answer, he seemed to be both expecting it and afraid of it.