Chapter 119: Chapter 119 - 0116: Golden Knife Award

Xie Dongsheng’s wife had regained consciousness and was helped by a nurse to sit on the bench by the door.

Her eyes were vacant, she had stopped crying but was steadily wiping away her tears, and her sister-in-law held her tightly.

Her uncle kept going to the family waiting area to get water to drink, his hand trembling slightly as he held the cup.

Finally, the lead-lined door was opened, and the patient was wheeled out.

“Family of Xie Dongsheng!”

The family immediately stood up and crowded around the gurney.

The chief surgeon stood at the door: “We managed to save him. His coronary artery has been reopened, a stent has been inserted. He will need anticoagulant treatment later and will stay in the CCU for a few days. This was really a close call given how late he arrived!”

Being alive is more important than anything else!

The family members followed the gurney all the way to the CCU, with his wife constantly holding Xie Dongsheng’s hand.

Director Kong came out, and when he saw Director Han, he said, “Old Han, that patient was saved. I just finished my surgery and went over there, and they were already done.”

—

It was time for dinner. Today was the first day of the department opening, Director Han had ordered takeout, it would be delivered to the department’s dining room, and it should have arrived by now.

Yang Ping and Director Han returned to the department. The dining room was already full, everyone was busy putting tables together, it was lively.

The order was from a seaside restaurant, the same place where Professor Zhang Zongshun had treated everyone last time, a very famous high-end seafood restaurant.

All the tables in the dining room were put together to form a rectangle, chairs were arranged around it, and a huge king crab was placed in the middle on a large plate, surrounded by other seafood dishes, and snacks.

“The Director and senior brother have come back, can we start eating now?” Zhang Lin’s pair of claws were itching to start, but he was held back by Little Five.

“Is everyone present? Where’s Director Tian?” Director Han looked around, only Director Tian was missing.

As Cai Qiaojun adjusted the plates, she said, “He went to wash his hands.”

At this point, Director Tian came in. Zhang Lin said, “Everyone is here, everyone is here!”

The huge king crab was placed on the table, the large plate almost occupied the entire width of the rectangle. Zhang Lin swallowed, “King crab, Director, you go first, shall we start?”

Tang Fei laughed and said, “This is a king crab, right!”

Zhang Lin didn’t get it: “Is there a difference? King? Emperor? Is there a difference?”

Song Zimo coldly said, “No difference, both can make you drool!”

“Hold on, hold on, let’s take a photo!”

Little Five took out her phone to take pictures, Zhang Lin also followed, and several standardized training students and nurses took pictures with their phones.

Director Han beckoned, “Everyone come and eat! Put on gloves, get your tools!”

Liang Fatty reached out, but was slapped away by Zhang Lin, “Fatty, aren’t you on a diet? One must have willpower! This is not for you, go drink some porridge. I’ll take care of your portion, we are brothers after all, I’ll take the loss.”

“Your hands are perfect for this, let me help you.” Xiao Su said to Yang Ping.

Song Zimo had already opened a crab leg, extracted a piece of crab meat, and put it on Tang Fei’s plate.

“Don’t feel shy, you guys, feel free to eat. These are a bunch of wolves. If you’re too slow, there will be none left.” Director Han called out to several somewhat restrained nurses.

Cai Qiaojun anxiously said, “Slow down, be a gentleman, ladies first!”

With his mouth full, Zhang Lin spoke muffledly, “You guys dare to eat too? Such slender figures, would it be worth it if they are ruined by a crab that has crossed the ocean?”

“Even poison talks about dosage!” Liang Fatty had already started eating, who cares, dieting starts tomorrow.

“I’m fine, I can do it myself,” Yang Ping started.

Now was the time to showcase their basic surgical skills.

Yang Ping was quick, his dissection skills top notch. With the coordinated use of pliers and fork, he easily cracked open the crab shell. The white and tender crab meat was cleanly separated, picked out, and placed on Xiao Su’s plate.

Next was Song Zimo, also very fast and precise.

They ate so fast! It was like they were performing a surgery.

Director Han laughed heartily, “Look, this is the time when we see the better and worse of surgical basic skills!”

Director Tian helped Cai Qiaojun and several nurses separate the crab meat, putting pieces into their plates one after the other.

One crab was enough for everyone to eat.

“Director Han, are you treating us to this king crab because you have something to say?” Director Tian only started eating himself at this point.

After taking off his gloves, Director Han took a paper napkin and wiped his mouth and said, “Everyone keeps eating, I’ll talk after you’re done.”

“Xiao Su, are there enough instruments in the operating room?” Director Han asked.

Xiao Su was receiving crab meat forked over by Yang Ping: “We have pretty much all the basic equipment, though we’re missing a few special pieces that aren’t used very often. I’ve compiled a list and sent it to the Head Nurse. Once she has everything ready, I’ll go pick it up.”

“Everything’s okay with the anesthesia equipment and medicines, right?” Director Han asked.

Fatty, fiercely gobbling his food, said nothing.

Zhang Lin nudged him with his foot: “Fatty, the director is asking you a question. Are you choking?”

Only then did Fatty raise his head – he really was choking. After taking a sip of water and clearing his throat, he finally spoke: “We’re not missing anything. All the equipment is fine, almost brand new. I tested them all.”

“Everything is normal in the wards. We’re not lacking anything,” Cai Qiaojun said while Director Tian continued to pile crab meat onto her plate.

The standardized training students were all burping, some having already filled their bellies and were off sipping shrimp congee on the side.

“Fatty, you’re enjoying yourself. Did you prepare the colchicine and diclofenac sodium?” Zhang Lin asked him as he noticed Fatty was still engrossed in eating.

“It’s in my pocket,” Fatty responded.

“Fatty, is your uric acid level high? Maybe you should eat less,” advised Director Tian, out of genuine concern.

Fatty shook his head. “I won’t eat this kind of stuff next time.”

To the few standardized training students, Director Han said, “You guys need to hone your combat skills. There’s still so much unclaimed seafood.”

The king crab was so huge that even though the group was stuffed, there were still plenty of other seafood dishes and side dishes left, and they could not eat any more.

The original plan was to go out for dinner together, but Director Han suggested that they should not neglect those on duty. So, he decided to call for a feast in the department’s dining hall instead. Everyone would eat together, enjoy themselves and spread goodwill. After all, they needed to eat.

The nurses came to eat in shifts. When one batch finished, they swapped with another one.

After they finished eating, Director Han gathered everyone in the doctor’s office. He wanted them to have some tea and chat.

“The king crab you all enjoyed today wasn’t free of obligations, I have a task for all of you!”

Director Han asked Zhang Lin and Little Five to pour tea for everyone while they chatted.

At the moment, there weren’t many patients in the ward–just one, and there were no emergencies. Thus, the emergency department wasn’t forwarding any patients their way.

Director Han paused before saying, “Taking advantage of the good day of our department’s opening, I have an important announcement for all of you!”

What announcement?

Director Han paused for a beat, taking a sip of his tea.

“The hospital is planning to participate in next year’s Golden Knife Award competition and Orthopedics will be the main force!”

This remark immediately caused a stir.

The Golden Knife Award is a grand event in the world of surgery nationwide. It happens every four years, and winning would mean that one had distinguished oneself nationally.

Each Golden Knife Award competition showcases innovative ideas, new surgical procedures, and results. It’s not only a competition for surgical skills, but also a major event for surgeons nationwide to exchange ideas. This competition lasts for half a year and involves standard procedures in every discipline. The upcoming competition will start next April and end in October.

The cases for surgery are selected by the participating teams and are submitted for committee review in advance. Once the case is admitted for the competition, the judging panel will score the entire treatment process, with the surgery being the most important part.

The selection of surgical indications, preoperative preparations, surgical operations, and postoperative handling all need to be scored. For the surgery, the judges score it live. For the other steps, the judges will review the medical records and physician orders and score accordingly.

In previous Golden Knife Awards competitions, only Fuer and affiliated hospitals of G City had the potential to compete nationally. Select individual departments of the provincial people’s hospital could get into the national competition while the municipal people’s hospitals could barely make it out of the southern competition zone.

Every year, the Golden Knife Award champions are all from top-tier hospitals like Xiehe, Huaxi, Tongji, affiliated hospitals of Beijing Medical University, Shanghai Medical University, Fudan University, Nandu Medical University, etc. The final championship is always a contest among these hospitals with the first few often gaining the upper hand and the others slightly falling behind.

“Director, are we going to participate in the Golden Knife Award?” Although Song Zimo had this dream, he thought he was too young.

Even if they participated, it should be the group of folks like Director Tian and Director Tan who bear the brunt, right? The Golden Knife Award stipulates that the Chief Surgeon can’t be older than 45, making it a platform for young and middle-aged doctors to compete for their dreams.

A doctor gets only two chances in their lifetime. This is not only a platform for a doctor to show their abilities but also a time for the hospital to demonstrate its capabilities.

The new surgical procedures and results couldn’t be fabricated haphazardly but had to apply previously researched scientific achievements. Showcasing them at this time allowed for recognition nationwide and an opportunity for national promotion. That would be a doctor’s greatest achievement.

So the award wasn’t just about a simple competition – it was also a showcase of achievements with judges made up of highly respected authorities within the profession. The scoring was completely fair, impartial, and transparent.

Forget about Song Zimo, who wouldn’t be excited?

“The Golden Knife Award! How come you’re not reacting?” Song Zimo elbowed Yang Ping a bit.

Yang Ping replied, “It’s just an award, right? Even the Nobel Prize has been refused before.”

Zhang Lin and Little Five said, “The Golden Knife has awards for the best first assistant and the best second assistant. We have a good chance.”

“The Golden Knife Award has started to accept registrations now. Our Orthopedics Department will send two teams to compete. One team consists of Tian Yuan, Yang Ping, Song Zimo, Zhang Lin, and Little Five, with instrument nurse Su Yixuan and anesthetist Liang Jing. The other team will be arranged by Bo Yun Tan. Orthopedics covers a wide range of surgeries. The Golden Knife Award requires a team to have the ability to perform all kinds of surgeries within the specialty. In the next few days, submit your ID cards, doctor’s qualifications, practicing certificates, professional title certificates, graduation certificates, and degree certificates (both originals and copies), to the Medical Affairs Office. Director Tian will collect them all and submit them to the Medical Affairs Office for online registration and verification. The official competition will begin next April, by which time it’ll be clear who the strong competitors are.”

Director Han was very happy. So far, the Orthopedics Department has been developing entirely according to his plan, step by step.

Looking at these impassioned young people, Director Han thought: Ah, to be young!

He took a sip of his tea, and several old memories came rushing to his mind.