A master's thesis advisor at Zhongnan Hospital could be a full professor, an associate professor, or even a young attending physician with that qualification.
Studying under a professor, especially a doctoral supervisor, had numerous obvious benefits.
However, following a young advisor wasn't necessarily all bad either.
Under a senior professor, students were numerous, with doctoral candidates everywhere and master's students barely noticeable.
But with a junior advisor, there were few students, allowing for more attention and careful guidance.
In particular, every teacher had a special fondness for their very first and very last student.
"Thank you, Master," Fang Ziye swallowed his emotions, condensing them into three words.
Yuan Weihong had already walked away casually, not lingering to put too much pressure on Fang Ziye.
After changing into his own clothes in the locker room, Fang Ziye's gaze became slightly focused.
SCI stands for Science Citation Index.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences divides SCI journals into quartiles based on their average impact factor over three years: Q1: top 5%; Q2: 6%-20%; Q3: 21%-50%; Q4: bottom 50%.
As a comparison, two or three CSCD papers might not equal one Q4 SCI paper.
And two or three Q2 SCI papers might only equal one Q1 SCI paper.
A Q1 SCI paper from the Chinese Academy of Sciences belongs to journals ranked in the top 5% worldwide. This was generally the domain of academic bigwigs. Usually, only someone like his teacher, who was very proficient in scientific research, could successfully publish in such journals.
Of course, Yuan Weihong would certainly be the corresponding author, with all ownership belonging to him.
But in terms of academic recognition, first author and corresponding author were almost equivalent.
If Yuan Weihong wanted, he could easily use this paper to curry favor with professors or associate professors, further elevating his status in their eyes.
Even the professors at Zhongnan Hospital wouldn't dare say they could completely ignore the honor of having a Q1 SCI paper under their name...
It was given, and given by his teacher. So just accept it silently and keep this matter buried deep inside.
...
[Gained 6 Knowledge Points]
[Medical Basic Operation Skills: Incision Surgery Level 2 0/50, Suturing Level 2 0/50, Debridement Level 2 0/50, Hemostasis Level 2 0/50...]
[Current Knowledge Points: 9]
After the previous point allocation, the progress for debridement and hemostasis was: Debridement Level 1 15/20, Hemostasis Level 1 15/20...
In the past two days, Fang Ziye had carefully pondered over the 5 beds he and his junior classmate were in charge of in the ward. He also gained 3 Knowledge Points by promptly discovering deep vein thrombosis and recommending an ultrasound, while simultaneously earning 1 Knowledge Point by requesting a consultation.
This brought the large increase in Knowledge Points to eight. Over two days, he had incrementally gained 2 more Knowledge Points, allowing Fang Ziye to upgrade both Hemostasis and Debridement to Level 2 last night.
However, after spending two days in the training room, the progress for Incision and Suturing remained stagnant, seemingly useless except for adding a small amount of Knowledge Points.
In fact, he had already depleted his Knowledge Points last night.
Today was surgery day. Fang Ziye had managed to secure an opportunity to suture a wound by ingratiating himself with several senior doctoral students in the operating room, establishing good relationships in advance, and having his teacher put in a word with Associate Professor Xie Jinyuan.
As a veteran in the department, in his third year of master's studies, and always diligent in his work, it wasn't difficult for Fang Ziye to occasionally request to perform suturing, especially with Yuan Weihong's influence.
Three Knowledge Points, and the six Points just now, were obtained by serving as an assistant in this surgery performed by his teacher!
...
"It must be different weightings."
"For some diseases, early diagnosis is more meaningful than treatment, while for others, treatment is more significant than diagnosis."
"For example, with thrombosis, earlier detection is crucial. But for surgical incision wounds, diagnosis has no medical significance at all—only the operation matters!"
Thinking this way, after leaving the operating room, Fang Ziye first went to the department.
Although the few beds he was responsible for all held post-operative patients, there was nothing that needed adjustment in the afternoon!
Of course, Fang Ziye was typically meticulous in his ward management, and his junior classmate Jie Han wasn't a careless person lacking in basics either. Fang Ziye spent half an hour in the department but still made no progress.
He finally gave up.
He didn't dare covet or meddle with beds managed by others.
He was just a lowly master's student, not a superior. What business did he have looking at others' medical orders and case records?
He could glance over them, and if there were obvious mistakes, give a heads-up to other classmates or junior students to avoid them getting scolded. Other than that, he needed to know his place.
He wasn't much better than the others.
So Fang Ziye continued to immerse himself in the training room.
...
In the training room, the practice material for debridement was very simple—just tofu.
The definition of debridement is using surgical methods to remove foreign objects from open wounds, excise necrotic, devitalized, or severely contaminated tissue, and suture the wound to minimize contamination or even turn it into a clean wound.
Therefore, the practice method for debridement was quite straightforward.
The first level simulated foreign object removal. It involved directly sprinkling a handful of sand on the surface, flicking it in with fingertips, then using tweezers and other instruments to clean out the fine sand that had been flicked in.
The second level simulated excision of necrotic tissue. It required students to sculpt the tofu, very precisely controlling the shape and thickness of the tofu being cut. It couldn't be too thick—in surgery, that would be excessive removal of normal tissue.
It also couldn't be too thin. If all the necrotic tissue wasn't removed, the chance of subsequent infection would be quite high.
The third level involved carving simplified Chinese characters on the tofu surface, further practicing precise and flexible knife control.
The fourth level required carving simplified Chinese characters in 3D on the tofu. With just one character difference, the difficulty was worlds apart...
After reaching Level 2 in Debridement, Fang Ziye could already complete the second level.
For example, he could use a scalpel to very precisely debride the edges of the tofu into a uniform curved surface. However, his technique still wasn't refined enough to carve simplified characters.
Fang Ziye was still practicing.
The character Fang Ziye was carving was "方" (fang), but when carving this character on the surface, he kept tearing the tofu, leaving it scarred.
Feeling slightly dejected, he looked up to find his classmates Li Yuanpei and Xiong Jinhuan standing at the operating table, watching.
"Brother Pei, Brother Huan, any pointers?" Fang Ziye asked humbly, his voice neither boastful nor sarcastic.
Even with his point allocation so far, these two classmates' progress was still faster than his.
"This is for Brother Huan to advise on," said Li Yuanpei.
Li Yuanpei spent most of his time writing papers, not spending enough time in the training room. His practical skills weren't as good as Xiong Jinhuan's, though of course, his paper count was also slightly less than Xiong Jinhuan's.
Xiong Jinhuan thought for a moment, not holding back: "A scalpel isn't a pen; it's hard to control the return angle. When operating, you need to make a cut, then insert again, matching the previous depth and connecting at just the right angle..."
"Debridement and incision surgery can't really be completely separated."
Both Li Yuanpei and Fang Ziye pondered this thoughtfully...
Leaving the training room, what was originally two people became three.
Xiong Jinhuan was of average height, slightly chubby, looking quite good-natured overall. He turned and asked, "Brother Ye, I heard from Brother Wei that you wrote a Q1 paper?"
The value of a Q1 paper was envied not just by "master's bigshots" like Xiong Jinhuan who excelled in both research and clinical work, but even by doctoral students.
Just the weight of this one Q1 paper... let's put it this way: while Fang Ziye might not be able to pursue a doctoral degree, he might be able to secure a position at a municipal-level hospital in Hanshi!
Fang Ziye's heart tightened: "My teacher revised it many times."
No one knew the content of papers written by others, nor was it possible to see them, but everyone in the department knew about Fang Ziye's multiple revisions with Yuan Weihong.
This was the information blind spot that existed for everyone.
As a master's student at Zhongnan Hospital, with slightly better qualifications, even stronger than Xiong Jinhuan and Li Yuanpei, it was surprising but not unreasonable for Fang Ziye to publish a Q1 SCI paper.
Only Fang Ziye himself knew that this was a gift from his teacher, wanting to give him a chance at a doctoral position at another institution.