On Monday morning, just as he came out of the laboratory, his phone rang. It was Dean Xia.

"Professor Yang, where are you?"

"Just left the laboratory."

"I’m at your office door," Dean Xia said with a hint of laughter in his voice, "I’ve been waiting for you for ages."

Yang Ping froze for a moment. Dean Xia personally came to find him? What couldn’t be handled over a phone call?

He quickened his steps towards the office. Turning the corridor, he saw Dean Xia standing at his office door from afar, hands behind his back, looking up at something.

Beside him stood two people, one was Dean Xia’s secretary, Xiao Zhou, carrying a document bag. The other was a thin man in his fifties, wearing glasses and a dark gray jacket, looking quite ordinary. But Yang Ping recognized him immediately.

It was Director Zhou from the Ministry of Health.

Yang Ping paused for a moment. The director from the Ministry of Health personally came to Nandu. What was the matter?

"Professor Yang!" Dean Xia saw him and waved with a smile, "Come over quickly, Director Zhou has been waiting for you for a long time."

Director Zhou already reached out his hand to greet him: "Professor Yang, I’m sorry to disturb you."

Yang Ping shook his hand, took out his keys, and opened the door: "Please, come in, let’s talk inside."

The group went into the office. Yang Ping gestured for them to sit down and was about to pour water. Director Zhou quickly stopped him: "Professor Yang, no need to bother, we’ll just have a brief conversation and leave."

Yang Ping sat down on the sofa and looked at Director Zhou.

Director Zhou got straight to the point: "Professor Yang, I’m here specifically to hear your insights."

He took a document from the secretary and handed it to Yang Ping: "This is the latest assessment report on our country’s standardized training system for doctors. The data doesn’t look good."

Yang Ping took it and flipped through a few pages.

The report was thick, about forty to fifty pages. He skimmed through and saw densely packed tables and data. Some parts were circled in red, with handwritten notes beside them.

He closed the report and looked at Director Zhou: "You came all this way just for this?"

Director Zhou nodded: "Just for this."

He leaned forward slightly, becoming more serious: "Professor Yang, to be honest, our investment in high-standard training is significant, but the results have been consistently unsatisfactory..."

He paused and looked at Yang Ping: "The ministry wants to hear your opinion. Where do you think the problem lies? How should we address it?"

Yang Ping didn’t speak, flipping through the report again.

Dean Xia added from the side: "Director Zhou flew in directly from Beijing, arrived last night, and today he’s here just to hear your thoughts. Professor Yang, feel free to speak your mind."

Yang Ping looked up at Director Zhou: "Do you want the truth or polite words?"

Director Zhou was taken aback for a moment, then laughed: "Professor Yang, I came a long way just to hear the truth."

Yang Ping nodded and placed the report on the coffee table.

"Then I’ll be frank, the problem is at the root."

He picked up a piece of paper from the table and drew a circle casually.

"The current resident training treats young doctors as cheap labor," he said. "Hospitals lack manpower, so they bring them in. Officially it’s training, but in reality, it’s labor. Writing medical records, running errands, assisting in surgeries, night shifts—they do a lot, but it’s for the department, not for themselves."

He looked at Director Zhou and said: "After three years, they’ve done plenty of work, but haven’t gained much skill. Why? Because no one teaches them."

Director Zhou listened intently, taking a notebook from the secretary and starting to jot things down himself.

Yang Ping continued: "So first, we must ensure our young doctors are genuinely being trained, not just used as labor. This can be achieved with two basic guarantees: making sure they truly learn systematic and standardized knowledge and skills during training, and ensuring their income during training is enough to support their living. Without these guarantees, everything else is meaningless."

"The second issue is the motivation of the teaching staff. In the current system, teaching offers no benefits. Taking on an additional student means more responsibility and risk, with no increase in income, professional titles, or consideration for excellence. Why would anyone seriously teach under these conditions?"

He paused and said: "I know many veteran experts who are highly skilled but unwilling to take on students. Why? Because it takes up their time, delays their surgeries, and affects their earnings. Without an incentive mechanism, relying solely on a sense of duty won’t last long."

Director Zhou stopped writing and looked up: "Professor Yang, we’re aware of the issue, but we’ve never figured out how to properly incentivize."

Yang Ping said: "It’s simple, count it as part of the workload. For every student taught, a certain number of teaching hours per week should equate to the amount of surgery or outpatient workload, reflected in the performance. During professional title evaluations, teaching outcomes should be a hard indicator. Training a good student should be as important as writing a good paper."

Director Zhou nodded, taking rapid notes on his notepad.

Yang Ping added: "The third issue is assessment. Currently, assessments evaluate the form, not the substance. Did they rotate departments? Write medical records? Assist in surgeries? They did. But can they perform surgery? Not necessarily."

He looked at Director Zhou and said: "I’ve seen young doctors with beautifully written rotation records, but once on the operating table, their hands trembled, unable to hold the knife steadily. Why? Because the assessment doesn’t test for this. As long as they’ve rotated, they’re considered qualified. Whether they can do it or not, no one cares."

Director Zhou sighed: "You’re absolutely right. During our field studies, we often encounter such situations. But we’ve never figured out how to change it."