Xu Ze couldn’t help but feel a bit frustrated. He had been passed around like a hot potato—from one person to another, and then suddenly to a different one again.
Overall, though, things weren’t too bad. Even though he’d been shuttled back and forth, each supervising teacher he was assigned to held a higher rank than the last, so it wasn’t exactly a loss of face…
After all, Zhang Lide was the director of the Department of Internal Medicine. No one else in the entire hospital had more seniority or experience than him. Being assigned to shadow him for clinical rotations was actually quite an honor.
So, under the envious gazes of his own small group, Xu Ze left them behind and headed straight for the Cardiology Department where Zhang Lide was based.
Zhang Lide’s background was in cardiology, so his director’s office had always been located in the Cardiology Department. And now, here was Xu Ze, wearing a work uniform emblazoned with “Xingda Medical School,” showing up in Cardiology.
He knocked on the door of the Internal Medicine Director’s office. Luckily, Zhang Lide’s voice came from inside: “Come in…”
Xu Ze pushed the door open and entered. He saw Zhang Lide sitting at his desk, reading a magazine. Zhang Lide looked up, spotted Xu Ze, and a slight smile appeared on his face. “So, you finally made it, kid…”
“Well… what choice did I have? I’m here for my clinical rotations. I have to show up…” Xu Ze said with a wry expression. No one would be too happy being tossed around like this.
Seeing Xu Ze’s sour look, Zhang Lide snorted. “What’s this? You’re not happy about being assigned to me?”
Xu Ze sighed and looked at Zhang Lide. “Director Zhang, how could I not be? It’s just… you’re the director of the entire Department of Internal Medicine. Isn’t it a bit… excessive for you to be supervising a mere rotation student like me?”
“Hmph… You’ve got some nerve saying that. If you hadn’t made things so awkward for Qian Zhixun and the others that they couldn’t keep supervising you, would I have needed to step in?” Zhang Lide snorted coldly. “You’re looking a gift horse in the mouth… I haven’t taken on a student for years, let alone a rotation student.”
“Let’s go. Since you’re with me now, I should at least take you to see some patients. Wouldn’t want anyone saying I’m an incompetent supervisor…” Zhang Lide hmphed again, then stood up and walked out of the office.
Seeing Zhang Lide leave, Xu Ze scratched the back of his head, sighed in resignation, and followed him towards the doctors’ office.
The Cardiology Department office was quite lively at the moment. Besides two doctors, there was also a group of about ten rotation students from Xingda University.
Seeing Director Zhang of Internal Medicine—who usually didn’t appear unless there were severe cases—walk into the office, the two doctors quickly stood up, smiling respectfully. “Director Zhang…”
Zhang Lide nodded. “Do either of you have any patients in more serious condition? Let me have two of their charts.”
“Huh? Charts? Is this a ward round? Why is Director Zhang suddenly doing a round this afternoon?” The two doctors were momentarily taken aback by his words. One of them quickly picked out two charts from his pile and handed them over, simultaneously explaining with a smile, “Director Zhang… One of these patients has coronary heart disease with heart failure… the other is a myocardial infarction case…”
“Mmm.” Zhang Lide took the charts. “Alright… You two carry on with your work. I’ll just have a look.”
“Of course.” Hearing this, the doctor breathed a quiet sigh of relief. So it wasn’t a formal ward round. That was good… He couldn’t help but glance curiously at Xu Ze standing behind Zhang Lide, wondering who this young guy was.
Zhang Lide took the charts and sat down to read them. Xu Ze, without ceremony, found himself a chair nearby and sat down as well. He then nodded and smiled at the students in the rotation group.
Although they weren’t from his class, there were a few familiar faces, so Xu Ze exchanged quiet greetings.
Seeing Xu Ze suddenly appear in the Cardiology Department, the students from the other Xingda University affiliated hospital rotation group assigned there were utterly confused. They had no idea why Xu Ze had shown up. Seeing him sit behind what seemed to be a very important director only deepened their curiosity.
After finishing one chart, Zhang Lide handed it to Xu Ze beside him. “You take a look too… We’ll go see this patient in a moment.”
Over at their desks, the two doctors who had been covertly observing Zhang Lide’s actions were stunned to see him hand the chart to the young man who also looked like a rotation student. They exchanged a puzzled glance. What was Director Zhang doing?
They were thoroughly baffled. What exactly was Director Zhang here for today? Could it be that he came all the way to the office just for this kid, to show him patient charts?
Their confusion didn’t last long. After Director Zhang and the rotation student finished reviewing the charts, the two of them picked up stethoscopes and headed for the patient wards.
Watching them go, it seemed they were heading straight for the room of one of the patients whose charts they had just reviewed. One of the doctors finally exclaimed in a hushed, shocked voice, “Director Zhang is personally supervising a rotation student?”
The other doctor also stared at the departing figures in disbelief, then looked up at the Xingda rotation students nearby. “Was that guy… from your school?”
The students quickly nodded. “Yes… from our Clinical Medicine College… His name is Xu Ze.”
“Xu Ze…” Hearing the somewhat familiar name, the two doctors paused for a second, then looked at each other again with dawning shock and exclaimed, “That’s the Xu Ze who performed a procedure himself in the Respiratory Department!”
“Wasn’t his rotation suspended? Why is he back… and being personally supervised by Director Zhang?” The two doctors were truly dumbfounded now.
The rotation students nearby, unable to contain their curiosity any longer, asked their supervising doctor, “Teacher, is this Director Zhang very… impressive?”
Looking at these students who failed to recognize a towering figure, the doctor shook his head and sighed. “Impressive? He’s the Director of the entire Department of Internal Medicine… What do you think?”
“Ah…” Hearing this, the students finally grasped the magnitude. The Director of Internal Medicine… meaning he was the most senior and authoritative figure for all internal medicine departments in the hospital.
Coming back to their senses, the students stared at Xu Ze’s retreating back, their eyes filled with envy. To be personally taught by the Director of Internal Medicine… what an opportunity! If he played his cards right and won Director Zhang’s favor, wouldn’t getting a job here in the future be a cinch?
Xu Ze, however, didn’t feel particularly fortunate at all. Following Zhang Lide around was just too conspicuous. No rotation student in history had ever been personally supervised by the Director of Internal Medicine. Wasn’t this just throwing him into the spotlight, bound to stir up more trouble?
“Come… take a look at this patient,” Zhang Lide said, watching Xu Ze with a scrutinizing gaze, then pointed to a patient with a smile.
Facing Zhang Lide’s obvious intent to test him, Xu Ze naturally felt no fear. Having already revealed quite a bit during his time in the Emergency Department, he saw no need to hold back now.
After conducting a careful examination, he described the patient’s condition completely, even providing more detail than was in the chart. This made Zhang Lide look at him with even greater interest…
The second patient also posed no difficulty for Xu Ze. After similarly conducting checks and analysis, Xu Ze laid out his findings point by point, with extremely detailed reasoning.
Zhang Lide watched, feeling both very satisfied and somewhat astonished. After all, he hadn’t had direct contact with Xu Ze before. He only knew the young man had considerable skill and had performed remarkably in both the Respiratory and Neurology Departments, which had piqued his curiosity and led him to decide to supervise Xu Ze himself.
These two patients today were his test for Xu Ze, and the results genuinely shocked him. Xu Ze was only a fourth-year student, yet the quality he displayed seemed on par with, if not surpassing, some of the doctors under him who had been working for years.
A very pleased Zhang Lide then took Xu Ze to a few other internal medicine departments. He picked out several more patients to test Xu Ze, though this time he didn’t let Xu Ze review the charts first, but had him examine the patients directly.
But Xu Ze’s performance did not disappoint. Whether it was a patient with coronary heart disease, chronic bronchitis, or even those with periodic paralysis, none posed any obstacle. Xu Ze’s proposed treatment plans were perfectly in line with the latest therapeutic guidelines…
Watching Zhang Lide’s eyes grow wider and wider, Xu Ze secretly chuckled to himself. Using these kinds of patients to test me? They’re not exactly rare or complex cases. After nearly a year of intensive training and seeing countless patients in the virtual space under Xiao Dao’s tutelage, coupled with his own powerful system functions, what couldn’t he diagnose?
Of course, Xu Ze was careful not to overdo it. After each examination, even though he already had a clear diagnosis in mind, he would still ask Zhang Lide targeted questions about the patient’s test and lab results. He would then combine that information with his own analysis before presenting his diagnosis, ensuring he didn’t appear too abnormal.
In just one afternoon, Zhang Lide took Xu Ze through three departments and had him see six patients. None of these six cases gave Xu Ze even the slightest bit of trouble.
“Good heavens… just how did this kid learn all this? How can he be this good?” Zhang Lide found it harder and harder to believe. While the patients he selected weren’t the most complex cases, this kid was only a fourth-year student. Yet, from examination to diagnosis to treatment plan, he was basically flawless.
Finally, Zhang Lide gave up on testing Xu Ze. He had to admit one thing: losing that Guillain-Barré syndrome research project to this kid back then… maybe it wasn’t such an injustice after all. At the very least, this young man’s foundational knowledge was uncommonly solid. If he had been closely monitoring that GBS patient daily, it was indeed possible he could have achieved those results…
Zhang Lide looked at Xu Ze, who still wore a calm expression, sighed, and finally said, “You… are quite good. Come with me to outpatient clinic tomorrow afternoon.”
