Surgery Godfather

Chapter 369: Chapter 0350: Formidable Enemy

Magic City Sixth Hospital, Professor Hong Zhigang’s office.

The Golden Knife Award trophy is placed on the office desk. In principle, the Golden Knife Award is presented to the team, but among the team members, the chief surgeon makes almost all the significant contributions.

Therefore, by unwritten rules, the trophy is received by the chief surgeon representing the team and is kept by him.

When discussing, it is generally said which doctor from a certain hospital won the Golden Knife Award.

On the exquisite base, there stands a gleaming surgical knife model, inscribed with the Chinese characters for “orthopedics”. This represents the highest surgical standard in the field of orthopedics nationwide.

Hong Zhigang was staring at the trophy in a daze. He usually kept this trophy hidden. Now, he had taken it out and placed it on his desk.

It was not for any other reason that he kept it hidden, but because this trophy stirred up too much controversy.

There was talk within the industry that the Golden Knife Award would definitely fall into the hands of Magic City Sixth Hospital. Teacher and student competing, whoever loses or wins, it would belong to Magic City Sixth Hospital. Everyone was in agreement, however, that the champion should have been Han Jiangong.

Because Han Jiangong abruptly left, Hong Zhigang had the opportunity to reach the top. If Han Jiangong had completed the competition, Hong Zhigang’s chances of winning would not have been great. According to technical strength, Hong Zhigang was slightly inferior.

This was the mainstream understanding of orthopedic doctors who participated in the Golden Knife Award that year, because Han Jiangong’s performance had been leading Hong Zhigang before the finals.

Wen Rentao had just returned from the United States yesterday. After performing several surgeries in the morning, he received a call from his mentor, took off his surgical gown, and hurried to Hong Zhigang’s office.

For this student, Hong Zhigang had invested his life’s work. There are not many students who fully possess the qualities of talent, diligence, interest and perseverance, but Wen Rentao is exactly one of them.

“Teacher, did you want to see me for something?” Wen Rentao was very respectful.

Without his teacher, he would not have his present day. He might still be working at a private orthopedic hospital. Although he could also lead a barely acceptable life, compared with his present, it would be worlds apart.

At a private hand surgery hospital, even if he became the hospital director, he would still not be comparable to an ordinary associate director of Magic City Sixth Hospital, let alone Wen Rentao, a technical backbone, and future successor.

In the future, he will become Hong Zhigang’s successor, the head of the top orthopedic hospital nationwide, and if he strives, he could even attain the position of a hospital board member like his mentor. His future was brighter.

“Rentao, sit! You’ve worked hard these few days. I want to talk to you about the Golden Knife Award. We must do our best for this Golden Knife Award. The Golden Knife Award has returned to Beijing two terms in a row, this term it must fall into Magic City.” Hong Zhigang asked the standing Wen Rentao to sit down.

“Understood, teacher, I will definitely live up to your expectations.” Wen Rentao replied calmly and confidently.

The aroma of coffee filled the entire office. Hong Zhigang poured a cup for Wen Rentao: “This coffee bean isn’t bad, you should try it.”

Hong Zhigang actually preferred hand-ground coffee, but where would he find the time to prepare it? So, he had to settle for a cup from the coffee machine.

“The competition for this Golden Knife Award is fiercely contested. There are so many talented young people among your generation. In Beijing alone, you know there are four to five who could challenge for the award. There are also many powerful competitors in the South, Central, and West China regions. Among them, several young candidates from Nandu Affiliated Hospital One are not bad and have comprehensive and exquisite technical skills.”

In the past, the selection of the Golden Knife Award was difficult. Contestants would make a video recording of their surgery and mail a disc to the judges for scoring.

With the popularization of the internet, the surgical procedures could be broadcast live through the network platform, and the videos could be transmitted instantly, thus upgrading the enthusiasm for the Golden Knife Award.

Hong Zhigang was full of confidence in this student of his. After careful comparisons, no matter who his student was up against, he would always be a cut above the rest. However, young people need some pressure to perform to their fullest.

“Have you paid attention to the academic conference at Sanbo Hospital last year? Zeng Ran attended that conference, and he subtly expressed in his speech that Sanbo Hospital could become a dark horse.” Hong Zhigang brought up Sanbo Hospital.

Hong Zhigang brought up this topic himself. Otherwise, Wen Rentao would never dare to mention Sanbo Hospital and Han Jiangong.

Everyone had some understanding of the grudge between the teacher and Uncle Han Jiangong. It was a taboo topic for the teacher.

“I have not seen the original surgical video, because it was only an internal live broadcast at that time, and no original video was leaked. The video taken by Zeng Ran on his phone was not clear. I think the teacher is too worried. Sanbo Hospital does not have a well-known young talent. As far as I know, even the young doctor who performed the five-section replantation surgery only has a bit of talent in trauma orthopedics. For other types of final surgeries, such as scoliosis correction, upper cervical surgery, and spinal tumor, Sanbo Hospital does not perform many of these types of surgeries. Especially for scoliosis correction, they only perform a little over thirty surgeries a year, which can’t even be considered third-tier at a national level. If he relies solely on trauma orthopedics, he would be doing well just to make it out of the regional competition. The chances of winning the final is slim.” Wen Rentao’s analysis made sense.

Hong Zhigang pondered for a moment: “Well, as long as you perform at your usual standard and make no mistakes, it should not be a problem. However, if it is as Zeng Ran said, that was a complex huge abdominal vascular aneurysm accompanied by abdominal visceral injury. Being able to rescue that in the operating theater is not an ordinary achievement. I heard that Takahashi went up to the stage but couldn’t finish it. In the end, that young doctor completed the surgery, which caused a sensation among the doctors attending the conference.”

Wen Rentao spoke concisely: “Takahashi is a world-class master of traumology, and do you really think a surgery that he can’t handle can be done by a recently promoted young doctor? Medicine is not math or literature, where someone can skyrocket through mere talent. In front of any genius, practical experience is an insurmountable gap. On this type of rare injury, without a certain amount of surgical experience, how is it possible to succeed the first time on stage?”

Though Wen Rentao was quite arrogant, his analysis was not condescending, but rather sensible and reasonable.

“What do you think of that surgery?” Professor Hong Zhigang felt that Wen Rentao’s analysis made sense.

Wen Rentao replied calmly: “Zeng Ran’s video was shot with a mobile phone against the screen; the surgical video only shows the operation on the surgical field with only a pair of hands, appearing as the surgeon’s in the video. Whoever did the surgery is entirely dependent on the textual explanation and introduction.”

“Are you saying…” Professor Hong Zhigang guessed what Wen Rentao meant.

“If I’m not mistaken, the entire surgery was completed by Takahashi. They joined Takahashi to stage this play. With the help of Takahashi at the academic conference, Sanbo Hospital’s orthopedics department came into the limelight. Look at the development speed of Sanbo Hospital’s trauma orthopedics department after the academic conference, and you will know that their plan was successful.”

Hong Zhigang pondered for a while: “That’s possible. Sanbo Hospital’s orthopedics department and Fujiwara Masao of Tokyo University Affiliated Hospital have a certain private relationship, or for a certain cooperation project, they each get what they need.”

Professor Hong Zhigang spoke to this extent without mentioning Han Jiangong’s name, just using “Sanbo Hospital’s Orthopedics Department” as a substitute.

“What you said makes sense. As far as I know, Takahashi Fumiya has secretly rushed to Sanbo Hospital. It should be for technical guidance to help Sanbo Hospital improve its technology as soon as possible.” Wen Rentao heard about this news when he was in the United States. He didn’t want to judge whether it was true or false. He simply wasn’t interested in Sanbo Hospital.

“In the South, there are quite a few competitors. Su Nanchen and Lin Hao from Nandu Affiliated Hospital One. Both of them graduated from the Xiehe eight-year program, went to university at the age of 16, entered professional training early, and studied in the United States. They are the youngest associate professors in our orthopedic field.”

“Indeed, these two people should be taken seriously. Professor Su Qingyun has always advocated for the youth of talent, and advocates for training surgeons during their golden youth period. Their orthopedic department has many associate professors in their thirties, which is very rare in similar hospitals across the country.” Professor Hong Zhigang was very familiar with Su Qingyun, and the two were good friends.

“So, although these two are young, they’re a completely different concept from the young doctors in other hospitals. In many large hospitals, some surgeries don’t have the opportunity to be led by those in their forties, but these two have had countless surgeries before they are even thirty. They are the true rivals in the South China region.” Wen Rentao was not arrogant and had a clear understanding of his competitors.

The importance of the Golden Knife Award goes without saying. Whichever hospital ends up with the Golden Knife Award, peers will naturally think that the hospital is the most skilled and performs the surgery the best.

Every year for the Golden Knife Award, orthopedics, neurology, thoracic surgery, and general surgery competitions are the most exciting because these majors’ surgeries have a very high technical content and are quite entertaining for surgeons.

Like in thoracic surgery, Fuwai and Anzhen take turns every year. Tiantan is the sole leading force in neurology. Xiehe, Beijing Third Hospital, Jishuitan, and 301 hospital fight among each other in orthopedics, while Huaxi Hospital, Magic City Sixth Hospital, Huashan Hospital, and Nandu each hold their own.

In plastic surgery, Xiehe and Magic City Ninth Hospital go back and forth in fierce competition, with other hospitals unable to gain footing.

Basically, the Golden Knife Award can indeed represent the specialist level of a hospital.

“In the younger generation from Sanbo Hospital, Tan Boyun, Tian Yuan, and Song Zimo have published articles in top international magazines. Song Zimo is too young and is only a resident, with a very limited number of surgeries he can lead. Tan Boyun and Tian Yuan have rich experience, but they’re also limited by the type of final surgery. So, they’re not worrisome.” Wen Rentao knew his teacher’s thoughts and was worried about his uncle’s challenge.

The grievances of the older generation can sometimes carry on involuntarily to the younger generation.

Wen Rentao also heard some rumors that his uncle Han Jiangong overshadowed his teacher in momentum back in the day. His grandteacher had appointed Han Jiangong as his successor, but his teacher used some methods to disqualify his uncle before the final and ended up forcing him to leave the Magic City Sixth Hospital.

As a result, his teacher smoothly received the Golden Knife Award and naturally became the head of the orthopedic department at Magic Sixth Hospital.

These words are just rumors within the industry and are not very credible. Wen Rentao believed another version more: his uncle Han Jiangong had academic fraud and was unkind. He was exposed by his upright teacher, felt shameful and indignant, left Magic Sixth, developed in a nameless hospital in South China, and ended up sinking in the academic world.

Hospitals also value inheritance. Whether it’s Xiehe or Magic Sixth, they owe their present status to the blood and sweat of generations of people.

Sanbo Hospital’s orthopedics department, which grew to its current scale in ten years, is quite an achievement. But in the end, it still lacks the prolonged development and accumulation of an established institution.

Han Jiangong also aged, and without any shining young figures in the younger generation, they may end up in the second or third tier.

That five-section replantation did surprise Professor Hong Zhigang a lot, so he was a bit uneasy.

But after listening to Wen Rentao’s analysis, Professor Hong Zhigang felt that his worry was unnecessary and that he was overly sensitive.

After all, Professor Hong Zhigang still had a sense of fear for that particular Apprentice Brother.