"Ziye, don't you think just running to the training room every day is too boring?" It was the second day of the National Day holiday. While the surgeries in the department had paused, outpatient services were still running.
Naturally, appointments with senior professors like Professor Deng Yong, Professor Dong Yaohui, and even Associate Professor Xie Jinyuan were impossible to get, but one could still grab an appointment with a diligent attending physician like Yuan Weihong during the holidays.
Fang Ziye shook his head. "Not at all, Master."
"Having the chance to practice in the training room is already great. Otherwise, if you had to buy the equipment and practice at home, it wouldn't just be expensive, but also a huge hassle to set up."
"Although my basic skills have improved slightly, I am still far behind Senior Brother Sun and others."
"Even Sister Luo can only temporarily work in the lab culturing cells and slowly accumulate experience." Fang Ziyu had a very clear mind.
The hospital he was in was a top-tier tertiary teaching hospital in the province, teeming with talent.
Not to mention that his basic skills were unremarkable even among the doctoral students, and it would be perfectly acceptable to replace him with a more talented junior.
What right did Fang Ziyu have to say he was wasting time?
Fang Ziyu felt it was already a great fortune to secure a chance at pursuing a doctoral degree through the training room.
Yuan Weihong nodded, "No matter how few opportunities there are, we must always be prepared to seize them. Otherwise, once an opportunity is missed, it will take a long time to get another chance."
"Building a solid foundation before making a big move is the key."
"For example, in my clinical work, I can handle any surgery that Professor Deng Yong and Professor Xie Jinyuan assign to me. This is why they feel comfortable letting me perform these independent surgeries."
"It's the same for you. If you can shine in your basic skills, Professor Deng Yong will at least think, 'This young doctor has a solid foundation. It's no problem for him to assist in leg lifting, suturing, or making incisions.'"
"With this impression, you can then substitute for the chief resident at any time."
"During your time as a resident, which is also your doctoral period, if you excel in your specialty, publish enough papers, and produce significant research outputs, completing the tasks assigned by Professor Deng beautifully."
"At this point, Professor Deng will start to consider whether it would be reliable to have you stay on as a chief resident after graduation. If it seems reliable, he will start thinking in this direction. If not..."
"Why would Professor Deng keep you around and create trouble for himself?"
"Being reliable and cautious are the primary tools in both clinical practice and studying. Don't rush; don't perform surgeries for the sake of surgeries or operations for the sake of operations. Instead, operate well, impress people, and provide better professional technical services for patients."
"This kind of gradual accumulation and eventual breakthrough is what will make people remember you."
Fang Ziyu thought for a moment and said, "It's like how you're allowing me to see a few outpatients now, right, Master?"
"Mm-hmm!" Yuan Weihong nodded again, stroking his chin.
"But you also need to be prepared for the fact that Professor Deng Yong is, after all, a mentor to other students. The unique bond between a mentor and a student should never be ignored."
"This relationship is very subtle. One day, Professor Deng Yong might wake up and think, 'Hey, what about our student Yuanpei?'"
"Then, Li Yuanpei might become his doctoral student, and what can that student who wanted to come from Jingdu University Third Affiliated Hospital do if he doesn't want them?"
"So, if we can strive for a more stable path of study, we should work hard for it. This is also about building a solid foundation before making a big move."
"It's not about expecting rewards or seizing opportunities from others," Yuan Weihong advised.
Fang Ziye's expression turned serious.
Indeed.
The bond between a teacher and a student can be described as both distant and special. Especially at the master's level, meeting a good mentor can be as beneficial as having a hundred people support you.
Steadily laying all the groundwork is more reliable than anyone else's approval.
Fang Ziye said, "Master, I still need a bit more time to perfect my trauma surgery skills before leaving the training room for the master's stage."
His hemostasis technique wasn't advancing quickly. Without the infusion of massive Knowledge Points, he could only progress slowly.
Fang Ziyu couldn't just go out and slash someone, then stitch them up to gain Knowledge Points. The consequence of doing that would be ending up operating a sewing machine in prison.
"For now, let's observe the doctoral applications from other hospitals," Yuan Weihong suddenly suggested.
Fang Ziye turned sharply, his eyes showing a hint of confusion.
Two months ago, his teacher had urged him to seek study opportunities elsewhere.
Now he was being told to observe?
"Alright, Master." But Fang Ziye responded without hesitation.
"Don't think your master is being selfish. The best talent from our hospital should ideally stay within our system. Our hospital isn't small," Yuan Weihong continued, rubbing his nose with a big smile.
Yuan Weihong truly hadn't expected that giving Fang Ziyu one article would produce such a huge reaction.
He couldn't just look at Fang Ziye's current strength by simple standards but had to consider his rate of improvement. With this confidence, Fang Ziye had unprecedented potential during the competition.
If Fang Ziye could truly achieve technical mastery, completing extraordinary operations from an unusual perspective and feeding back into his research—
Heh, in surgery, operations and techniques are paramount.
"Master, how could that be?"
"Are you saying that Professor Deng has already...?" Fang Ziye didn't finish his sentence.
Although it was just him and the master, and it was noon break time, Fang Ziye feared eavesdropping and didn't want to seem boastful.
"Professor Deng has assigned someone to keep an eye on you, you just don't know it. He has naturally seen your rate of progress recently."
"It's basically been acknowledged." Yuan Weihong nodded.
To say that Fang Ziyu's current foundation wasn't particularly poor would be an understatement.
His clinical operation progress was impressive in the training room. Regarding research outputs, yes, the top-tier journal article was given by him, but Fang Ziye had written other papers himself.
Previously, they were just small English compositions, but now that they've been published, they're articles. The number of articles has also increased, representing that Fang Ziyu has been doing work in research as well, not just waiting to be fed.
Who has that much to feed anyway?
"Master, should I start preparing for laboratory work after completing the first training room?" Fang Ziye asked quietly.
Naturally, Fang Ziye coveted the benefits of early graduation, but early graduation meant facing certain risks and pressures.
The risk was having one year less accumulation compared to others, leading to insufficient accumulation time during the hospital retention assessment.
The pressure was to graduate, go abroad, be a resident, manage time tightly, and still need to publish SCI papers and complete doctoral thesis designs and writing.
All the shortcuts that outsiders see are actually just individuals quietly paying the price and working hard, completing leaps through unimaginable time compression and a certain amount of talent.
"Do you want to culture cells?" Yuan Weihong turned his head and asked.
"Of course, Master."
"Some basic experimental techniques are tools. You might not use them often, but you must know them. Otherwise, even if you get a project, you won't be able to complete it," Fang Ziye nodded, very clear-headed.
A project is a nickname for the National Natural Science Foundation.
"Then go for it. Indeed, some techniques are tools, like statistical methods and epidemiological methods, which need to be mastered."