Surgery Godfather-Chapter 2011 - 1358: Newcomers_2

No one dared to move.

Li Guodong walked over, picked up the notebook, opened it, walked to the first person, paused for a moment to let him see clearly, then moved to the second person, third person, fourth person...

The notebook’s pages had turned yellow with age, but the handwriting was still clear. The first page read: "Coronary Bypass Surgery Record (1)".

A surgical illustration was drawn on the following page, showing the ascending aorta, coronary arteries, and anastomotic sites, each line drawn with careful attention. Tiny words surrounded the diagram, written in black, blue, and red annotations.

Someone read softly: "The cannulation position of the ascending aorta is 2.5 centimeters from the innominate artery. Vein graft material: Great Saphenous Vein, care must be taken not to damage the intima during removal, avoid excessive stretching. The angle of the anastomosis: 45 degrees, not too steep, or a blood flow vortex may form. Anastomotic size: 3-4 millimeters. Suturing technique: insert the needle from inside to outside, exit from outside to inside, with a stitch distance of 1 millimeter and edge distance of 0.5 millimeters..."

The notebook was turned page by page.

The second page was a post-operative review: "Today’s second bypass was smoother than the first. However, the last stitch of the anastomosis was a bit tight, sufficient suture length should be reserved next time. Additionally, the assistant’s excessive traction during vein extraction might have damaged the intima, remember to remind him next time."

The third page was pre-operative preparation: "Tomorrow’s case involves a three-vessel bypass, requiring three graft vessels. The Great Saphenous Vein is not long enough, so the radial artery needs to be used. The radial artery spasms easily, requiring papaverine intraoperatively. Order of anastomosis: start with the most difficult, end with the easiest..."

The fourth page was a surgical diagram, the fifth page an anatomy diagram, the sixth page an abstract from a paper, the seventh page...

They looked at the notebook, at the densely packed handwriting, the hand-drawn diagrams, the traces of corrections, the cautions marked in red pen, and the notes in the margins reading "Remember," "Notice next time," "Be very careful."

No one spoke.

Yang Ping stood up.

"Everyone take a blank notebook," he said, "in a few years, you’ll discover how strong you’ve become."

He finished speaking and was about to leave when he stopped at the door.

"Oh, by the way, among you twenty people, elect a leader. Any questions, first find Li Guodong. If Li Guodong can’t solve them, come to me."

He pushed the door open and left.

The meeting room remained silent for a long time.

Then someone whispered, "That notebook..."

No one responded.

Li Guodong took a stack of brand-new thick notebooks from the cupboard, identical in deep blue color and size, and began distributing them, one for each person.

"Write down your name," he said, "this is your first notebook."

Someone received the notebook, opened to the first page, picked up a pen, and wrote down their name.

Chen Xi received the notebook, opened it, and neatly wrote on the first line: "Chen Xi — First Day."

Lin Yuan received the notebook, looking at the blank page, recalling the question he failed to answer earlier, and Yang Ping’s look, he picked up the pen and wrote on the first page: "First day, Professor Yang’s case review, I didn’t answer correctly..."

Next, Li Guodong led them to familiarize themselves with the environment.

The institute wasn’t large, but it was well-equipped. Two floors of laboratories, three floors of clinical wards, one floor for the surgery center, and one floor for the demonstration room and meeting room. From the outside, it appeared to be a regular eight-story building. Once inside, it was a whole different world.

"From now on, your main area of activity is this building." Li Guodong walked ahead, speaking as he went. His steps were quick, and twenty people followed behind, some taking notes softly, others looking around.

"The clinical wards are from the first to third floors, with a total of eighty-six beds. The operating room is on the fourth floor, with five operating rooms, two of which are hundred-level laminar flow. Laboratories are on the fifth and sixth floors, including the cell laboratory, tumor laboratory, and so on. The seventh floor is the administration office area..."

He pushed open a door.

"This is the demonstration room. Every morning at seven o’clock sharp, gather here."

The demonstration room was large enough to seat over fifty people. A giant whiteboard hung on the wall, with notes from the last lecture, highlighting critical points of surgical procedures. In the corner was a projector, with several rows of neatly arranged desks and chairs, and the desktops entirely clean.

"Every Friday morning, Professor Yang will lecture here," Li Guodong said, "The topic is uncertain; it could be case analysis, surgery video review, or a full review of a particular patient. Be prepared, as you may be called upon to answer questions at any time."

Someone asked in a low voice, "What if we can’t answer the questions?"

Li Guodong looked at him. He was a tall, thin male student wearing glasses, his eyes slightly anxious.

Li Guodong said, "If you can’t answer, think about why you couldn’t answer, where the knowledge gap is, and make sure you can answer it next time. Not being able to answer is not a problem; constantly not being able to answer is the problem."

The student who asked the question shrank slightly.

Li Guodong continued walking forward. He went through the corridor and opened another door.

"The Surgery Center."

On both sides of the corridor were tightly closed doors, marked with signs saying "Clean Zone," "Sterile Zone," "In Surgery." Through the glass on the doors, the lights of operating lamps could be seen, nurses preparing instruments, and the surgical beds quietly waiting.

"You are already doctors, with a solid foundation in theoretical knowledge," he said, "Now the focus is on training clinical thinking, surgical operations, and accumulating clinical knowledge and experience. Simply put, it’s about hands-on practice, hands-on practice, and more hands-on practice, thinking, thinking, and more thinking."