Chapter 235: Doctors ecosystem

The west wind was blowing as it brought the sounds of mortals' worries. A place like a hospital would usually have daily occurrences of either great joy or great sadness. Joy at newborn life or sadness from final parting would repeat here every day.

From an outsider's perspective, maybe they would think that the doctors and nurses working at a Chinese hospital would lack emotion and be completely numb to everything already. Zhang Fan wasn't accustomed to how others thought like this when he first started working as a doctor, but now he became used to it after working as a doctor for two years. The most important thing for a doctor would be to maintain your original sense of self. As long as a doctor could successfully treat illnesses, then that would be the best doctor around.

This was a hospital, not a place for having fun. Patients were here to get their illnesses treated, not to make friends. Zhang Fan slowly learned and understood that the core of a hospital was to treat illnesses. Being friendly wouldn't be as useful as having excellent medical skills.

The most major type of surgery in the proctology department was for rectal cancer. This type of cancer was relatively more common in northwestern China. The scary part about rectal cancer was that just about anyone could get it. Still, medical scholars were slowly unraveling the mysteries behind rectal cancer as the medical field developed.

Even people in the prime of their youth might suddenly come down with rectal cancer. If that person was the breadwinner for their family, this could cause dire financial straits for the entire family! Not only that, quality of life would be quite low right after the surgery. For someone in the prime of their youth, it would be no different from torture to constantly smell like their own feces.

Before, the general surgery department of Chasu City Hospital would usually take care of rectal cancer surgeries, but now that Zhang Fan had become the acting proctology director, he was quite forceful about stealing all proctological surgery patients that he possibly could. The other proctologists in his department were really cooperative! They all wanted to finally have a chance to show off! Even pigs would be able to fly if given enough assistance. That was how things currently were in the proctology department. Everyone had been given a major boost due to Zhang Fan's arrival.

Zhang Fan held a departmental meeting on Monday. "Comrades, we've had a large number of patients over the past two weeks, but there's also quite a few problems, such as not changing medicine in time, having a poor attitude towards the patients, and so on. I won't call anyone out by name, as I figure everyone probably didn't mean it. That's why I'm talking about everything together. Treating patients is serious business. There's no such thing as a small incident. I hope that similar problems won't occur in the future. The gods above are watching us. Please pay more attention to this. Let's begin work!"

The weekly Monday morning departmental meeting was highly important. This was where last week's work would be summarized and the current week's work arranged. Anyone who had work plans would announce them here, and any problems would be quashed. That was why the weekly Monday morning departmental meeting was so important for any hospital department. This was also why most people wouldn't be able to find any department directors or expert doctors if they went to get treated on Monday morning.

Zhang Fan now typically brought two nurses and a rotation doctor with him to perform outpatient services. Since Zhang Fan was still young, he pretended to be naïve and not know the unwritten rules as he openly stole patients from the general surgery department. It was unknown what other departments thought of this, but the doctors in orthopedic departments #2 and #3 trembled on seeing how forceful Zhang Fan was.

Nobody was able to surpass Zhang Fan in medical skills. The hospital leadership also valued him greatly. Graduate students who had newly joined the orthopedic departments had despairing expressions as they learned about Zhang Fan. Although they were of similar age, Zhang Fan was so incredibly outstanding. Any graduate student who didn't leave Chasu City Hospital would likely find themselves in Zhang Fan's shadow for the rest of their life! They had originally felt that having a master's degree had given them an advantage against their competition, but Zhang Fan had far too much more of an advantage.

Zhang Fan didn't know about such things, nor was there a need for him to care about such things. Back when he'd joined Chasu City Hospital, he had needed to keep a low profile since he had yet to establish his reputation. But now, things were different. Zhang Fan was now extremely well known within Chasu City Hospital. He was so skilled that even the general surgery director would have to give Zhang Fan a certain amount of respect. This was all because of Zhang Fan's strength.

For Zhang Fan's outpatient services today, right before he started work, a cardiology department nurse named Chen Yan came to find him. Excellent nurses in the cardiology department like her all had the same fiery aura around them! This was due to the nature of their work. "Zhang Fan, could you help treat my older cousin?"

Chen Yan and Zhang Fan had a good relationship back when Zhang Fan was in the cardiology department. She had taken good care of him back when he first started his rotation there. This was why the two of them still kept in contact with each other even though Zhang Fan was no longer a part of the cardiology department.

"Your older cousin? Sure, bring them in. There's no need to tell me beforehand. This isn't like you," Zhang Fan said while chuckling.

"Hey, I'm worried. You're already a director. There's no need for you to give face to a little nurse like me. It doesn't matter to me if I lose face, but I can't lose face in front of my family, you know?" Chen Yan chuckled as well. Actually, this was a matter of respect. Although it wouldn't have made much of a difference to simply bring her cousin in, it would be better to at least greet Zhang Fan first beforehand!

"Just look at what you're saying. Hurry and bring them in."

"This is Doctor Zhang, the proctology director. Cousin, feel free to tell him about where you're feeling uncomfortable. Director Zhang, I'll be going back to work now. Call me if there's anything." Chen Yan then left while giving Zhang Fan a mischievous wink.

"How are you? Where are you feeling uncomfortable?" Zhang Fan asked the patient while looking him over. Observational skills would be highly important for any doctor. First, the doctor would need to determine the patient's overall health. Second, the doctor would need to determine the patient's energy state. Third, the doctor would need to determine the patient's state of mind. Thus, any excellent doctor would also become an expert at reading faces.

"I've recently had some bleeding in my feces. Also, I keep having to poop a lot more than usual. I always feel like I haven't finished pooping and keep wanting to go to the restroom," said Chen Yan's cousin. He was currently 43 years old. His complexion was poor, and he seemed to be lacking in energy. However, Zhang Fan also judged that his overall nutrition was alright as he was slightly pudgy. Additionally, the patient's appearance and clothing made it seem like his financial condition was slightly above average.

"Are you feeling unwell anywhere else?" Zhang Fan asked while beginning to write the medical report. Writing medical reports for outpatient services would usually be just about the preliminary diagnosis. Although these medical reports were simpler, it would usually still take 100+ words to write one. With 50 or more patients per day on average that Zhang Fan treated for outpatient services, this was a lot of words that he had to write.

"I don't think so."

"Do you have a fever? Are you feeling discomfort that makes you want to vomit? How is your appetite? Are you sleeping well?"

"I have no problems with any of these. All of these are fine."

"About how many times do you need to poop per day? Is it a lot each time? Do you feel any pain around your anus?" Zhang Fan continued to ask questions.

"I probably have to poop about five or six times per day. It's not very much each time. I just always feel like I need to go to the bathroom. I don't feel any pain, though. It's just that I feel like I need to go to the bathroom way too much," Chen Yan's cousin answered with some embarrassment.

"Are your feces solid?"

"I don't think they are. Every time, it's just only a little bit!"

Zhang Fan immediately felt that something was wrong. "Is it that you never feel the typical relief after you finish pooping?"

"Yes."

"How long has this been going on for?"

"About two months."

"Oh! Doctor Wang, please bring the patient over to the examination table and help him prepare. A digital rectal exam will be necessary," Zhang Fan told his assistant, who was rotation doctor Wang Zipeng.

"Alright. Please come with me, take off your belt and pants, and bend over on the examination table," Wang Zipeng informed the patient while also preparing the necessary items for the examination.

While Chen Yan's cousin prepared for the examination, Zhang Fan immediately performed consultation for yet another patient. This was because he would have to treat a significant number of patients for outpatient services every day. He also had surgeries to perform in the afternoon. If he didn't hurry and finish with all the patients here, then that would affect his surgeries in the afternoon.