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Chapter 14 - Resource Exchange Between Senior and Junior Disciples

Yuan Weihong didn't marry late - he got married right after finishing his PhD. Now his daughter was already four years old and attending preschool. His wife wasn't in the medical field; she was a teacher at Shuiguo Lake Middle School.

Yuan Weihong's wife wore glasses and had a scholarly air about her. During dinner, she asked, "Ziye, you're about to graduate, right? Have you considered pursuing a PhD?"

"Mommy, what does 'pursuing a PhD' mean?" Little Seven, the young girl with braided hair, asked this while eating rice with a spoon, three grains of rice and a chunk of pumpkin stuck to the corner of her mouth.

"The preschool you're attending is the very beginning of education. Getting a PhD is the end of formal education. It's the highest level of study you can achieve."

"Little Seven, would you like to get a PhD someday?"

Little Seven shook her head and put down her spoon, "Mommy, studying isn't fun at all..."

At this point, Fang Ziye took over the conversation: "I do plan to pursue a PhD, but whether I can or not depends on the opportunities available."

"Our trauma surgery department only has two PhD positions available each year."

Yuan Weihong chimed in, "Having two PhD positions in one department is already quite a lot. The entire orthopedics department only has six PhD admissions this year. Our trauma surgery takes up one-third of that."

"But in their class alone, there are fifteen master's students from our hospital."

"It's about the same at the Provincial People's Hospital's orthopedics department. Some master's students from Tongji Hospital and Union Hospital affiliated with Huazhong University of Science and Technology have also come to test the waters in advance."

"Times have changed since I was a student. Back then, not many people actively pursued PhDs, but now, it's rare to find someone who doesn't want to."

PhD positions in all teaching hospitals were in short supply, with fierce competition. While it might be an exaggeration to say it was like thousands of troops crossing a single-log bridge, considering that all the competitors were master's graduates from prestigious universities, the difficulty was self-evident.

In such competitive assessments, whether you're from a long-established 985 university or a 211 university, there's absolutely no advantage in terms of educational background. It all comes down to individual ability, luck, and the choices of PhD supervisors.

"Your medical field is truly intense," the teacher's wife gave Fang Ziye a sympathetic look, but there was nothing she could do.

At this moment, Yuan Weihong wiped the corner of his mouth slowly with a napkin and turned to say, "However, Ziye has a chance to take a more thorny shortcut. His professional growth rate, now that he's freed from the pressure of graduation thesis, is progressing very quickly."

"Ziye, I remember you reached the first training room's exit requirement for suturing in about a month, right?"

Jie Han, Fang Ziye's junior disciple, remembered the time more precisely: "Master, to be accurate, it should be thirteen days."

"Senior Brother Fang completed the half-layer and full-layer suturing of orange peels on August 10th. Counting from August 10th to August 22nd, including both days, it was only thirteen days."

As Jie Han spoke, the teacher's wife, who knew how difficult the training room was, turned to look at Fang Ziye, adjusting her glasses to examine him carefully.

The objective data made Fang Ziye's clinical talent even more convincing.

Yuan Weihong also pursed his lips slightly and said, "Actually, Sun Shaoqing has been constantly reporting to me about your rapid progress in suturing. I thought he was trying to flatter you by saying good things about you to me."

"Unexpectedly, it turned out to be true."

"You progressed from suturing orange peels to suturing tofu in just twenty-some days?" The teacher's wife exclaimed in amazement, then added, "So Ziye must be the type who isn't very good at writing articles but has excellent clinical talent."

Yuan Weihong shook his head: "Actually, Ziye is quite good at writing articles too. It's just that he's been aiming to publish in a better journal, which is why it's taken so long."

"Ziye, why don't you send your articles to your junior disciple and let him help you revise them thoroughly? Don't underestimate him. Behind my back, he published an SCI paper which is coming out in print this month. Since all the data was from his undergraduate university's lab, he didn't tell me about it in advance..."

Fang Ziye looked at Jie Han in great shock.

According to his teacher, Jie Han had written an SCI paper during his undergraduate studies, and it had already been published. Moreover, it was an original research article. This was truly impressive!

Hearing this, Jie Han quickly said, "Master, those data were indeed from before..."

"You don't need to explain. It's a good thing that you can publish papers. I just think you two could exchange your strengths."

...

After dinner.

After seeing Yuan Weihong and his wife off in their car, Jie Han bit his lip and looked at Fang Ziye, his tone filled with surprise: "Senior Brother, are you really willing to let me revise your articles and add my name?"

Hearing this, Fang Ziye said, "Why wouldn't I be willing? Our team is small now, just you, me, and Master. We're only three."

"The downside of a small team is relatively limited human resources, but the advantage is that there's less need for social niceties."

"If you can really help publish these two articles I've written, we can be co-first authors. I can also help you with clinical ward management."

Currently, Yuan Weihong's team consisted of just three people - the master and his two disciples.

Yuan Weihong wasn't a doctoral supervisor either, so to increase his own value, a certain degree of resource exchange was quite necessary.

Li Yuanpei hadn't completely given up on the chance to study for a PhD under Professor Deng Yong. He was currently attending a small training program to improve his professional skills.

Assuming Li Yuanpei could also complete the training room, Professor Deng Yong would certainly prioritize admitting Li Yuanpei due to their close relationship!

Therefore, Fang Ziye had to make some preparations in advance.

"But Senior Brother, aren't you getting the short end of the stick?" Jie Han felt really uncomfortable with the arrangement.

His senior brother was not only offering to help with his articles but also to manage his ward rounds.

"We're helping each other as fellow disciples, aren't we? That's what Master meant too. If you agree, starting next month, you'll be half released from clinical duties," Fang Ziye replied confidently.

"Thank you, Senior Brother." Jie Han stopped refusing.

Who could resist such a sweet offer?

...

Back in his rented apartment, Fang Ziye carefully reconsidered his teacher's suggestion and found it quite feasible.

An SCI paper that isn't published is just an English composition. Only when it's published does it become an article, a resource that can add value to oneself.

Two more articles, even as co-first author, would increase the number of publications.

Secondly, letting his junior disciple focus on research for a month or two would allow Fang Ziye to take over his ward responsibilities, which meant more work.

It might seem like Fang Ziye was getting the short end of the stick, but the more patients he managed, the faster he would gain Knowledge Points and improve his skills.

Meanwhile, Jie Han wasn't losing out either. By not managing the ward for just a month or two, he could gain co-first authorship on two papers. Jie Han, who didn't need to worry about graduation, would certainly earn the appreciation of his superiors.

Publishing three papers in his first year of master's studies was an incredibly productive speed, definitely marking him as a research powerhouse!

As for Fang Ziye himself, he was constantly adding layers to both his research capabilities and professional skills, without actually losing anything substantial. In fact, he was gaining multiple benefits.

[Current Knowledge Point balance: 14.1]

After dinner, the Knowledge Points gained from reading books for two hours were only 0.1, which was far too little.

Earning Knowledge Points through clinical work was still the right path.