At 12:10 PM, Yu Zhiming, Yu Xiangwan, Fu Xiaoxue, Qi Yue, and Yin Wenzhu were having lunch at the buffet in the Youyou Grand Hotel.
Yu Zhiming briefly described the morning’s assessment to Qi Yue and noticed the man’s brow furrow slightly.
His heart clenched.
"Dr. Qi, did I do something wrong?"
Qi Yue shook his head. "Zhiming, it’s not that you did anything wrong. It’s that I think the five patients’ illnesses were too simple. They couldn’t showcase your true diagnostic abilities."
Realization dawned on Yu Zhiming, and he agreed, "They were simple. I was expecting them to send a few patients with difficult and complicated cases to try and trip me up."
"Ah, Dr. Qi..."
Yu Zhiming ventured another guess, "With those five patients, could it be that they wanted to focus on evaluating my treatment skills?"
Qi Yue sighed. "That’s exactly what I’m worried about. Zhiming, you graduated from Jishui Medical College and work at a county hospital. You haven’t had any famous mentors to guide you."
"The prescriptions you write for patients mostly follow the textbook, so at best, they’re just standard and by-the-book."
Although Yu Zhiming didn’t want to admit that his treatment skills were average, he knew Dr. Qi’s assessment was correct.
Qi Yue continued, "Due to individual differences, the manifestation of any given disease varies from person to person."
"This requires making appropriate adjustments to the prescription."
"The ability to adjust prescriptions and treatment plans based on a patient’s individual condition, the progression of their illness, and other variables is something doctors usually don’t possess until they reach the level of Deputy Chief Physician or higher."
Qi Yue’s brow furrowed even more deeply.
"And as for this afternoon’s practical surgical assessment, I think it’s completely unnecessary."
"You’re a diagnostician, what do you need surgical skills for? Being able to perform an appendectomy, treat trauma, and suture wounds should be enough."
Qi Yue added resentfully, "Medicine is becoming more and more specialized. No one can be a generalist, a jack-of-all-trades."
"Take me, for example. Many of the patients I diagnose have to be transferred to other departments for treatment."
"For you, Zhiming..."
"You have a gift for diagnosis. Being able to diagnose illnesses early, or promptly, and accurately, and at the lowest cost—that should be enough."
"The subsequent treatment or surgery can be completely handed off to other doctors."
Yu Zhiming began to see the problem.
He said pensively, "Dr. Qi, based on the content of the assessment they’ve arranged, it seems they’re more focused on a doctor’s comprehensive abilities, don’t you think?"
Qi Yue’s expression was grim.
"I’ve told them again and again that you have an extraordinary gift for diagnosis and are extremely skilled at auscultation and percussion."
"And yet, they still arranged this kind of assessment..."
Yu Zhiming finished the thought, guessing, "They don’t want me to get in through the special talent recruitment program with an exception?"
Qi Yue gave a bitter smile. "Zhiming, this isn’t because of you. It’s likely because of me."
"You see... there’s a lot of talk about me at the hospital."
’Well...’
After getting to know him better last night, Yu Zhiming had already guessed a few things about Dr. Qi’s reputation at the hospital.
After all, seven or eight years ago, this old fellow had married a young model who was barely twenty.
Yu Zhiming had already learned that Madam Qi was a moderately well-known print model who also sometimes worked as a model for luxury cars.
’Marrying a young model... the dream of so many men.’
Because of this, Dr. Qi was certain to be the subject of gossip, embellished with exaggerations fueled by envy, jealousy, and resentment.
Combined with his philosophy that one should live life uninhibitedly, it was clear he wasn’t the type to tolerate being wronged.
Yu Zhiming therefore guessed that Dr. Qi must have some very good friends.
But his relationships with most others were likely strained.
At that moment, Qi Yue noticed that his conversation with Yu Zhiming had made Yu Xiangwan and Fu Xiaoxue so worried that they had lost their appetites.
He quickly put on a smile and said, "Don’t you worry. Gold always glitters. As long as they’re not blind, they’ll see Zhiming’s medical talent and brilliance."
"Besides..."
Qi Yue said confidently, "I have a solution for any unexpected situations."
"The final outcome, even if there are some waves, won’t stray from its intended course."
He then emphasized, "Zhiming, you coming to work in Binhai is an ironclad fact. There won’t be any changes."
These powerful words brought smiles back to Yu Xiangwan’s and Fu Xiaoxue’s faces. They got up, went to the buffet line, and returned with plates piled high with food...
After lunch, Qi Yue reminded Yu Zhiming again.
"Take a nap this afternoon and rest up."
"You also need to take this afternoon’s laparoscopic abdominal hernia repair surgery seriously."
"Whether they’re doing this intentionally or not, you need to complete this assessment to the best of your ability."
"At the very least, don’t let them find any fault with your attitude."
Yu Zhiming chuckled lightly. "Dr. Qi, don’t worry."
"This laparoscopic abdominal hernia repair is the surgery I’m most skilled and practiced at. There won’t be any mishaps..."
Yu Zhiming had the confidence to back up such a statement.
He had already performed over a hundred of these abdominal hernia repair surgeries at the county hospital...
During the practical assessment, which began at 2:00 PM, two expert reviewers accompanied him through the entire preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative process. They even personally acted as Yu Zhiming’s surgical assistants during the operation, providing him with support.
Yu Zhiming understood that the experts were accompanying him the whole time for two reasons: first, to observe and record his performance; and second, to prevent any accidents.
If he were to make a serious error during the surgery, they would immediately push him aside and take over.
Despite being under intense scrutiny at all times, Yu Zhiming showed no signs of nervousness or-discomfort.
Full of confidence, Yu Zhiming completed the surgery cleanly and efficiently, without a single wasted motion.
He even felt that his performance in this surgery was his best to date.
After the practical surgical assessment concluded, the square-faced expert who had been present the whole time informed Yu Zhiming.
His evaluation was now completely finished.
Next, the five of them would return to the general administration building for a closed-door deliberation.
Then, they would reach a final decision by vote.
This final decision would be announced by 6:00 PM when work ended, at the earliest, or by 9:00 PM tonight at the latest.
All Yu Zhiming could do was return to the hotel and wait patiently...
At 4:30 PM, the five expert reviewers gathered in a small conference room on the sixth floor of the general administration building.
The long-faced man sitting at the head of the conference table, Vice Dean Yuan Qi, spoke first. "Before we each share our own opinions, I think we first need to come to a common understanding."
His gaze slowly swept over the two people to his left, and then the two to his right.
"Given the comprehensive strength and status of our Huashan Hospital, our talent recruitment is aimed at outstanding young and middle-aged doctors from across the country. We recruit only the best of the best."
"Is that not so?"
The other four people present all voiced their agreement.
Yuan Qi nodded with satisfaction and continued, "Regarding making an exception..."
"It means that while a candidate may not meet some of our requirements, their abilities far exceed our recruitment standards."
"For example, if our evaluation score for recruiting a Deputy Chief Physician is eighty points, but this person scores ninety..."
"Then we should make an exception to recruit them."
"It does not mean this..."
Yuan Qi raised his voice slightly. "It does not mean the candidate scores only seventy points, and we need to lower our recruitment standards to make an exception for them."
"Do you all agree with my understanding of making an exception?"
The other four nodded again.
Among them, Liu Dingyou, a reproductive system specialist with a bulbous nose, chimed in, "Dean Yuan, that’s exactly right."
"We need to make exceptions by raising the bar, not by lowering it and letting in any Tom, Dick, or Harry."
"It’s gotten to the point where some of these so-called ’recruited talents’ are less competent than the doctors we’ve trained ourselves..."
At this, Liu Dingyou became indignant.
"I’ve even been hearing some strange talk."
"People are saying that if this is the level of our recruited talent, they might as well resign first and then come back through the talent recruitment assessment."
"That way they can even get a huge talent subsidy for free..."
Yuan Qi waved his hand dismissively. "Let’s not talk about that. Those are legacy issues from the past."
"Now that we’ve reached a common understanding, let’s begin our deliberation on today’s assessment."
"First, let’s have Doctor Cui and Dr. Zheng report on the young Dr. Yu’s performance during the practical surgical assessment..."