The Enhanced Doctor-Chapter 512 Have we underestimated Liu Banxia?

(Thanks to book friends 20190506233558443, Yanyuan Vision, Silence529, country bumpkin, book friends 20181026075010625, and Uncle Flying Knife for your monthly ticket encouragement)

At 10:27 PM, Liu Banxia finished debriding and suturing the patient’s wound, then gave a big stretch.

"Call in the next one. We need to keep up the pace," Liu Banxia said.

"Teacher Liu, that was the last patient," the nurse said with a smile.

"Oh? Has my technique improved that much? How did it go so quickly?" Liu Banxia asked, surprised.

"A few of the other doctors finished their surgeries and took care of the remaining patients. There’s no one left outside. We can finally take a break," another nurse said.

"Alright. Pack things up here, and then you can all take a well-deserved break. Consider it specially approved by me," Liu Banxia said, taking off his gloves and mask.

This whole rush wasn’t easy at all. He had to work quickly and efficiently, which was no small feat. He’d been working at nearly full capacity, like a house on fire, all so everyone could go home in time to hear the midnight bells.

When he came out, he saw Zhou Shuwen and the others were all in the hall. "Oh, you guys are done too?"

"Only the first two patients were somewhat serious; the rest were fine. It seems you worked the hardest, seeing so many patients by yourself," Zhou Shuwen said with a laugh.

"I’ve been at our Second Affiliated Hospital for many years, and this is the first time I’ve seen patients going in and out of the treatment rooms like a revolving lantern," Sun Changhe chimed in.

"I’d heard about Dr. Liu’s speed before, but today I truly witnessed how incredible it is. It’s not easy to have every patient leave with a smile on their face."

"Assistant Sun, you might as well just call me a chatterbox," Liu Banxia said with a wry smile.

"Actually, sometimes I really can’t keep my mouth shut. I especially love to chat when I’m debriding wounds or doing simple sutures. And today’s events have made me realize a very serious problem."

Hearing him say this, everyone’s attention was immediately captured.

"You really shouldn’t wear high heels while driving. It’s too dangerous," Liu Banxia said, delivering this nonsense with a completely straight face.

"Get lost, you’re being mischievous again," Zhou Shuwen scolded with a laugh. "After we eat the New Year’s Eve vigil dumplings, I’ll be on duty. You all go rest."

"Hehe, that won’t do. Shi Lei and I should take the shift. You described that last surgery so casually, but I bet it wasn’t nearly as straightforward as you made it sound," Liu Banxia said.

"Wait until this busy New Year period is over. I’m going to borrow you for our orthopedics department for a couple of days," Xu Peichen spoke up.

"Director Xu, that might be tricky," Liu Banxia said. "By the way, I admitted two patients earlier, one with bilateral hip dislocation and another with a femoral fracture. Have they both been treated?"

Xu Peichen nodded. "I’ve seen their follow-up X-rays. The reduction was done very well. That saved us the time for two surgeries, and you were still able to handle so many debridement cases."

"We still can’t lend him to orthopedics," Zhou Shuwen said. "Maybe when our department is fully staffed, then it might be possible. For now, he can rotate through, which makes things much easier for us."

Everyone laughed. Many doctors not from the Emergency Center were quite envious of Liu Banxia. But envy was all they could feel; they had just witnessed his speed in debriding wounds and admitting patients, and they knew they couldn’t compare.

"Director, what about the interns? Are they all resting?" Liu Banxia asked.

"We had more patients today. Two were sent to the ICU, and the rest were admitted to the surgical ward. I told them to keep a close eye on things upstairs," Zhou Shuwen said.

"That’s more like it. I was worried they’d gotten bold enough to slack off," Liu Banxia muttered.

"Um, Director," Liu Banxia began, "look how busy our Emergency Center was today, and everyone pitched in to help. Could I take the liberty of treating everyone to dumplings? Hehe, lucky dumplings, you know."

"Yes, that’s a good idea. We really should thank them," Zhou Shuwen said seriously. "Director Xu, please have some dumplings before you head back."

"No one should help out for nothing. Even if they’re made in the same cafeteria, these are our Emergency Center’s dumplings, so you must eat them."

"Alright, in that case, we won’t be polite," Xu Peichen nodded. "The inpatient department isn’t very busy right now. If anything comes up, we can rush back in time."

Sun Changhe gave Zhou Shuwen a helpless look, surprised that he would agree to Liu Banxia’s prank. ’Lucky dumplings,’ indeed. He wondered who would actually be that ’lucky.’

Based on his understanding of Zhou Shuwen, he definitely wouldn’t have gone along with Liu Banxia’s mischief in the past. But now... he didn’t know if Liu Banxia had somehow led him astray, but Zhou Shuwen seemed to have developed a playful streak.

"Your Emergency Center is managed very well," Xu Peichen said. "You’re usually so busy, yet it’s not chaotic at all. The old emergency department wouldn’t have been able to handle a situation like today’s."

"We have more doctors now, and the quality of care has improved significantly. Plus, Sister Wang and Zhou Li help manage and guide the patients, which saves us a lot of hassle," Zhou Shuwen said.

"I haven’t been able to pay much attention to this side of things; Liu Banxia has been managing it all. They’ve established their own work rhythm, and it’s going very well."

"Feeling pretty pleased with your star apprentice, aren’t you?" Xu Peichen remarked. "Just don’t let him stagnate. If he does, send him straight over to our orthopedics department. Those two manual reductions he did today were beautifully executed, weren’t they?"

Zhou Shuwen nodded. "Actually, this is part of the training plan the Chief Director and I have for him. We want to see if he can make progress in general surgery."

"Situations like today are bound to happen frequently in the Emergency Center. Today is New Year’s Eve, so the doctors in the inpatient wards are relatively free and could come support us. But what about in the future? What if everyone is busy?"

"Trauma surgeons are somewhat like general surgeons. They might not delve deeply into every subspecialty, but they can provide critical emergency care to save lives."

"However, the drawback is that they can become ’jacks of all trades, masters of none.’ That’s why we now have specialized departments, to ensure patients receive more expert care."

"This kid has good intuition and a natural talent for surgery—a gifted pair of hands. The Chief Director and I have decided to really push him, to see what he’s truly capable of becoming."

Xu Peichen frowned. "Shuwen, that’s a bold plan. Aren’t you afraid of burning him out? That’s an immense amount of pressure."

"Why else do you think I put him in charge of the flexible pool today? It’s to let him gradually get used to this kind of pressure," Zhou Shuwen said.

"He needs to maintain his volume of routine surgeries to keep his skills sharp. Going forward, he’ll need to selectively participate in emergency surgeries."

"Don’t let his youth fool you; both Shi Lei and Wei Yuan are already starting to rely on him. This is both a good and a bad thing. When he’s around, others tend not to think as hard, which isn’t conducive to their own development."

Xu Peichen nodded. "I’ve discussed this with Ming Yu too. There have been several times when Ming Yu was overwhelmed and called this kid to help with patient admissions."

"I asked him why he didn’t call his fellow apprentices from orthopedics. He said he feels more at ease with Liu Banxia. Take today’s bilateral hip joint reduction—no one else could have done it that quickly. Even I would find it challenging."

"Regardless, even if you intend to cultivate him, don’t push him too hard. It’s not easy for such a promising talent to emerge. You need to develop him properly, not break him."

"The way we’ll balance it is by having him eventually take over the teaching and training responsibilities. He’ll primarily manage it for the Emergency Center and assist me with the training for the entire hospital," Zhou Shuwen said with a smile.

"Actually, sometimes I think we’ve all underestimated this kid. His ability to withstand pressure is truly strong. A while back, he encountered a string of difficult cases and lost some patients, which was a significant blow to him."

"But look at him now. He’s full of life and vigor again. He grows significantly with each experience. Last time, with the total abdominal organ auto-transplantation, the Chief Director wanted him to step up and take some of the limelight."

"But this kid brought up his father-in-law, telling me that while it’s good to be innovative, one shouldn’t be too unconventional. He has his own ideas, yet he can remain grounded. That’s very rare."

"I interact more frequently with other hospitals. Xie Chunli from the Municipal Hospital’s burn department, for instance, praises him endlessly," Sun Changhe added.

"For a resident physician who has just completed his standardized training to receive so much recognition from such authoritative figures is, in itself, a testament to his abilities."

"The working environment in a hospital can be a mixed bag, with all sorts of people. For him to streamline the entire workflow of the Emergency Center in less than half a year is even more commendable."

"So, I still think I’ve underestimated this kid. We absolutely must push him harder," Zhou Shuwen declared earnestly.

"Haha, actually, you’ve also been significantly influenced by him. Would you have entertained such ideas in the past?" Sun Changhe asked with a laugh.

Zhou Shuwen paused, then shook his head with a helpless smile.

It really was true. In the past, he would never have indulged Liu Banxia’s mischievousness like this. But today, for some reason, he felt that since the Emergency Center had handled the admissions so beautifully, they truly deserved to ’liven things up’ a bit.

Xu Peichen, however, looked somewhat confused, not quite understanding what this "mischievousness" entailed.

Just then, Liu Banxia returned carrying a basin, followed by Zhou Qiang and some nurses.

No more needed to be said. It was a special day, and everyone was going to eat right there in the Emergency Center.

"Banxia, you’ve worked hard all day. Eat something too," Xu Peichen said, ladling a bowl full of dumplings for himself.

"Oh, no, our guests should go first. The second batch is cooking now," Liu Banxia said earnestly.

Xu Peichen nodded, not thinking much of it, picked up a dumpling, and took a large bite. He had barely chewed once when his expression changed dramatically.

Liu Banxia quickly gave him a thumbs-up. "Director Xu, you’re truly lucky! The first lucky one!"

"Hahaha, I actually ate two of those today! Let’s be lucky together," Zhou Shuwen chimed in from the side.

Xu Peichen shot him a look of exasperated amusement. No wonder they were talking about ’mischievousness’ earlier. This really was quite the prank!