Surgery Godfather-Chapter 373 - 0353: Start of the Competition
Chapter 373: Chapter 0353: Start of the Competition
The competition started at midnight on the first day, and the Golden Knife Award website was launched on time, using Alibaba Cloud for its setup.
At 8 o’clock in the morning, in the changing room, Yang Ping took out his phone and opened the Golden Knife Award app, the icon of which was a detailed surgical knife.
Whether it’s the website, the app, or the WeChat official account, only registered members can log in. Registration is free, but it requires an ID card and a doctor’s qualification certificate, all of which had been prepared before the start of the competition.
Yang Ping logged into the app, and the video for the South China division was still blank. It was unlikely that anyone would start this early. The video section for Nandu Affiliated Hospital One indicated that it was connecting, suggesting that surgery would start shortly.
The cameras for the video were on the surgical lights. If the surgery was under a microscope or performed laparoscopically, it would directly connect to the equipment’s video system, limiting filming to the surgical area to protect the patient’s privacy.
Before surgery, a notice of informed consent would be signed with the patient, explaining that the surgical area would be recorded for the competition and viewed by surgeons nationwide.
Patients usually agreed to this, believing that doctors participating in the competition were carefully selected and highly skilled.
A few patients declined, but this didn’t affect the selection of cases for the competition. The number of cases in large-class-A hospitals was abundant, with no limitations in terms of selection.
After the live video, it was encrypted and stored on Alibaba Cloud. Judges could either mark live videos or watch the replays.
Judges generally preferred to watch the replays so that they could observe repeatedly for more accurate scoring.
Doctors were more interested in the live broadcasts for a more immersive experience, but most didn’t have much time and would watch the video after work.
After a surgery finished, all judges were required to finish scoring within 24 hours. Any deductions had to be fully justified.
Final scores were calculated by removing the highest and lowest scores and averaging the rest.
The judges came from a pool of experts and were subjected to a recusal system to avoid conflicts of interest, such as being from the same competition district, related by blood, or having a mentoring relationship.
There was no need to worry about people hiding conflicts of interest. Thanks to the internet, every possible special relationship was scrutinized.
Therefore, the chances of favoritism were very low on this public online platform. If favoritism were detected, doctors nationwide would critique and condemn you.
Perhaps because of advancements in internet technology, this Golden Knife Award was particularly lively, with the number of online users exceeding 100,000. There are only over 3 million practicing doctors in the country, including assistants, so hitting 100,000 online users meant a very high level of participation.
At this time, everyone was just entering the operating room and changing clothes in the changing room. They would take a glance at their cellphones to see which hospital was the most confident and would be the first to start the live broadcast.
All surgeries for the regional competition were trauma orthopedic surgeries. Many hospitals could present cases, and even some county-level hospitals were eager to try. Although they knew they couldn’t proceed, even a few surgeries would allow them to get a taste of the competition.
A comment section was set up next to the video section, somewhat like a chat box. This allowed viewers to see entertaining comments while watching the video, separating the chat box from the video.
Some hospitals’ comment sections were quiet, while others were bustling, like Nandu Affiliated Hospital One. Their video hadn’t even started yet, and there were already many users chatting.
“I came to watch Su Nanchen.”
“He was from my grade. The science champion of Nandu.”
“I heard he is Professor Su’s son? Can anyone confirm?”
“That’s right, science champion, Fudan University eight-year program. Even without Old Su’s connection, he wouldn’t have any problem getting into Nandu Affiliated Hospital One, right?”
“His wife teaches at Nandu Medical University. She’s a doctoral advisor at 28.”
“Is that true? A doctoral advisor at 28? How old was she when she started college?”
“She’s in basic medical sciences, unlike clinical medicine where you climb step by step. With one or two papers in ‘Nature’ or ‘Science’, she would easily become a doctoral advisor.”
“A 28-year-old doctoral advisor? You’re talking about Lin Lan from Nandu Medical University’s genetics laboratory, right? She’s a truly beautiful and talented woman.”
“At this level, only someone like Su Nanchen could keep up.”
“Doesn’t Nandu Affiliated Hospital One also have Chief Surgeon Lin Hao?”
“He’s also from the Fudan University eight-year program.”
“He was a deputy senior physician at 30. I’m still pulling a catheter. Gotta stop chatting and pull this catheter now, or I’ll be reprimanded again.”
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As the conversation went on, the topic began to drift. As long as nothing illegal was said, participants could freely express themselves, which was another reason the internet made the competition immensely popular.
Curious, Yang Ping entered the video section of Sanbo Hospital. Song Zimo was still preparing for surgery with his team, and the video area was still closed.
But their chat box was no less bustling than Nandu Affiliated Hospital One’s.
“Guys, who still remembers the Five-section Replantation?”
“Who wouldn’t? Did your village just get electricity? The Five-section Replantation from Sanbo is old news. The impressive surgery at the academic conference that crushed the Japanese, that’s the major one.”
“Does anyone know the chief surgeon, Yang Ping? I heard that dude is awesome.”
“Even Takahashi was defeated by him. Could you say he’s not awesome?”
“Is it true that he performed that surgery? It’s hard to believe.”
“Any brothers from Shanghai know Song Zimo?”
“I do, he’s from Fudan University, but he did his clinical internship at Mo Sixth. We call him Rukawa Kaede; this guy can compete with the big shots from Wendu, but he’s only an assistant surgeon now. This competition will be worth watching.”
“Sanbo Hospital isn’t big enough, I guess. Scoliosis, bone tumors, upper cervical vertebrae, these surgeries are the highlight of the finals. They might get into the top eight or so, but their chances of winning the championship are slim.”
“I heard that they’ve added robotic surgeries for this year’s final?”
“Yeah, robot-assisted surgeries are included in the final competition.”
Yang Ping wasn’t particularly interested in all of this. He pulled up the standard steps for some surgeries; each step came with a score. Getting a perfect score would indicate that the chief surgeon had a deep understanding of every detail of the surgery.
For some reason, many hospitals selected the open reduction and internal fixation of double fractures in the radius and ulna for their first surgery.
The first surgery Song Zimo uploaded was also for an open reduction and internal fixation of a right forearm fracture of both the radius and ulna.
This was a relatively simple surgery, considered an entry-level procedure in trauma orthopedics.
The regional competition lasted three months, with the surgeries in the first month focused on limb fractures. The surgeries simply had to be completed by the end of the month, with no particular sequence required.
If a hospital couldn’t arrange for all the required surgical cases within a month, they should reconsider whether they needed to take a decade or so to develop their department before participating again.
What the regional competition mainly tested were the basics—fundamental knowledge, theory, and skills. The most crucial factor at this stage was stability; competitors had to ensure they didn’t mess up.
Yang Ping opened up the scoring guide for the surgery to treat the double forearm fracture. It would probably take quite a few pages to print everything out.
Song Zimo and Xu Zhiliang were probably about to start performing their surgery. Yang Ping wasn’t concerned about Song Zimo at all—he was sure that this assistant surgeon was up to the task.
So, he decided not to watch for now and went to the break room to relax and casually watch other hospitals’ surgeries.
The video section started broadcasting the surgeries one after the other. Some judges were even grading the surgeries live. As the surgery progressed, the scores for each step were released instantaneously. The judges were indeed impressive.
Yang Ping took a brief look; all of the initial surgeries were for double forearm fractures.
Some contestants had many points deducted as soon as they started their procedures.
Double forearm fractures, failure to obtain a complete x-ray of the joint above and below the fracture before surgery, points deducted!
Dislocation of the inferior radioulnar joint, emergency relocation done before but failed to consider the injury to the triangular fibrocartilage complex and the inferior radioulnar ligament. No wrist MRI scan was done, points deducted!
Usage of the tourniquet was not standardized pre-surgery, points deducted!
Holding the scalpel wrongly, points deducted!
Incorrect angulation of the incision, points deducted!
Upon entry, inadequate protection of blood vessels and nerves, did not gently retract with a rubber strip, points deducted!
The superficial branch of the radial nerve passes through the fracture site of the radius, no detailed sensory check of the hand noted on clinical records. Failed to explore the superficial branch of the radial nerve during surgery, points deducted!
Too much periosteum was stripped, there was no conscious effort to protect the blood supply at the fracture end, points deducted!
Improper holding of the electric drill while drilling, points deducted!
The order of depth measurement and threading was reversed, points deducted!
An uncomplicated transverse fracture, chose to use a locked plating system, inappropriate choice of implant, points deducted!
There was another surgery where the surgeon opted for a single incision to treat the radius and ulna fractures, which could easily lead to cross-union, violating the basic principles of surgery, points deducted!
A simple double forearm fracture had dozens of scoring points. Every aspect was clearly defined, all deducted points were justified, none were deducted arbitrarily.
Yang Ping pulled up all of the surgery grading guides to take a thorough look. The competition was a bit different from regular surgeries. For instance, when he performed anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, he never used a locator, preferring to drill by hand.
But in the competition, if he didn’t use the locator, he would be considered to have missed a step and be docked points. Therefore, it’s crucial to carefully review the grading guides.
It was like solving problems in a college entrance exam; every step had to be clear and precise.
After all, he still had three months. Yang Ping read through some of the grading guides and then pulled up the case information for Andrew, a child with multiple knee ligament ruptures that Robert had previously sent him.
He planned how he would approach this surgery in his mind. It was indeed a challenging operation, with no established surgical plan to follow. He would have to design a customized surgical plan, and also create specific surgical tools.
Yang Ping decided to go into his system space to study this surgery in detail.
In the system space, he drew plans for an entire set of surgical instruments, and also graphically represented each step of the surgery. After several modifications, he finally settled on the final plan.
After leaving the system space, he went to the anesthesiologist’s office and took a stack of A4 paper. He began to sketch out the surgical steps and the surgical instruments.
He was quite experienced in drawing now, especially since he had already worked out the details in the system space. Now he only had to replicate what he remembered. With a pencil, he quickly sketched out several pieces of paper.
Yang Ping took photos of all the pictures with his phone and sent them to Robert, asking him to ask OrthoPediatrics company to produce all the instruments in advance.
