Return (1)
My first vacation from Meijo.
Ki-Seok Choi sent it off with satisfaction.
It’s been a while since I met up with my colleagues from Uijin University, had a company dinner, and went on a trip with Jeong Seol-hwa and her family.
Not forgetting my senses, I entered the training room and spent a lot of time studying neurosurgery.
As time passed, the day to return to Meijo Hospital arrived.
The morning of the day of return.
Choi Ki-seok was looking up at Mayjo’s clinic.
The time I spent in Korea was happy, but there was something lacking.
Would you say it wasn’t intense at any moment?
So, when I arrived at Meijo, I actually felt like I had returned to my hometown.
‘Let’s try our best.’
Choi Ki-seok lightly tapped his cheek.
There is still a long way to go.
With the Hire system, you need to quickly get through surgical rotation and go to thoracic surgery.
Afterwards, you must complete fellowship in cardiac surgery and pulmonary and esophageal surgery using Meijo’s unique concurrent specialty system.
The process might not be easy, but I was full of confidence.
“Mr. Choi!”
I turned around at the sound of a familiar voice.
Morgan was approaching him waving.
“good morning.”
“Your face has become brighter after going on vacation?”
“Do you see it that way?”
The two people looked at each other and smiled.
While there was a moment of silence, Ki-Seok Choi used the Eye of Hippocrates on Morgan.
I was worried that I might have a hard time due to the aftermath of the shooting incident, but it was unfounded.
No special abnormalities were seen.
The categorical imperative I used before was also working properly.
“Did you buy me any presents?”
“I bought something, but I forgot and left it at home.”
“Hmm… It kind of smells like an excuse, doesn’t it?”
“It’s true. I’ll definitely bring it next time.”
“That means you’re going to get vacation time through the higher system. You’re too greedy.”
“I was originally greedy.”
The two started walking while talking.
We got into the elevator together, and Choi Ki-seok made a gesture to get off midway.
“What are you doing? This is the 5th floor?”
“I start working in neurosurgery starting today.”
“You forgot all that… Do well in neurosurgery. Come visit our department sometimes.”
“of course.”
match!
I gave a high five to Morgan and got off the elevator.
I never trained in neurosurgery in my past life.
Even when I started a new life and was training at Medical University, I had no connection with neurosurgery.
After taking a long, long journey, I ended up training as a neurosurgeon in the United States.
I couldn’t help but feel special.
Tiring!
[A new general mission is given. Talk to Larry. Upon completing the mission, 200 P.P.
is provided.]
A notification window flashed through my head.
“Hello. My name is Ki-Seok Choi and I am starting my neurosurgery training today.”
“Nice to meet you, Dr. Choi.”
“I’m finally seeing Dr. Choi, whom I’ve only heard about through rumors.”
The nurses at the station said something one by one.
Even though he was a new resident, there was no one in the hospital who did not know him.
Saving a suicidal patient and surviving a gun accident.
He was already famous for being promoted early for the first time this year.
“Do you know where Larry is?”
“Doctor Larry is seeing a patient. Go to room 506.”
“Thank you.”
I talked to the nurse and walked down the hallway.
Just then, a white male doctor came out of the hospital room.
The overlock N.S (NeuroSurgery) Larry was engraved
on the pocket of his gown .
“You’re Mr. Choi, right? Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, Larry.”
“You came earlier than I expected? I thought you’d arrive at 6:30.”
“I wanted to hear about your work.”
“Then let’s talk about it over coffee.”
The two moved to the lounge and sat on the sofa, facing each other.
“Have you ever trained in neurosurgery?”
“Not at all. So honestly, I’m a little nervous.”
“It would be best to talk about the details first.”
Larry took a sip of coffee and continued.
Neurosurgery is largely divided into three branches.
Cerebrovascular surgery, brain tumor surgery, and spinal neurosurgery.
The working method is similar to general surgery, where residents belong to one department and handle work, but are also responsible for other departments.
“I don’t know because I haven’t been to the general surgery department yet, but I’m sure there are more emergency cases in the neurosurgery department.”
“
Because of T.A (Traffic Accident)?”
“Bingo.
Head trauma cannot be left out in T.A patients. That’s why there are a lot of emergency surgeries.”
“What kind of surgery do you usually perform?”
Choi Ki-seok asked, his eyes shining.
“Well, because there are a lot of surgical cases overall… we do craniotomies, endoscopic surgeries, radiosurgery, and pain management surgeries. Most of them are surgeries using a microscope.”
“Of course it is. There is a difference between a laparotomy and a craniotomy.”
After a moment of silence, Larry spoke first.
“Even if this is your first training in neurosurgery, you will do well. You were the first among your classmates to be promoted early, right?”
“Still, I’m jealous of you now? I’m just starting out as a toddler, and you’ve already been in the neurosurgery department for six months.”
“As you know, training period and skill are not necessarily proportional.”
A look of concern passed across Larry’s face.
There was something he wanted to say, but Choi Ki-seok held back for now. There are things you naturally learn over time.
There is no need to be aggressive from the beginning.
“Now it’s handover time. Shall we go to the duty room?”
“Weren’t you on duty?”
“I came out early to see the patient?”
Larry chuckled and stood up first, followed by Ki-Seok Choi.
Drurr.
When I entered the on-call room, two doctors were having a conversation.
“Who is this? Isn’t this Mr. Choi you’ve only heard about?”
“Nice to meet you.”
Two people got up and approached him.
Choi Ki-seok shook hands with the two people and exchanged a brief statement.
The male doctor is Nikolai from Russia, and the black female doctor is Janet.
“Wow. I never thought I would see the hero of general surgery in neurosurgery. It’s an honor, it’s an honor.”
“Yes. It’s nice to feel honored.”
As Choi Ki-seok responded with sarcasm, Nikolai’s eyebrows twitched.
“What did you just say?”
“Why? Did I say something wrong?”
The gazes of the two people clashed tightly.
“Nikolai. This is your first meeting with Mr. Choi. Why are you picking a fight?”
“dispute?”
“Yes. Anyone who heard your tone a little while ago was sarcastic.”
Despite Larry’s criticism, Nikolai maintained his expression that there was nothing wrong.
“It looks like you’re already on the same side as Mr. Choi, right? Well, then you too…”
“Everyone, stop it. What are you doing during handover time?”
Janet, who had been quiet, joined the conversation.
Amidst the tense atmosphere, Nikolai spoke first.
“The handover is starting. Jesse in room 501…”
Nikolai, the doctor on duty,’s handover was neat and accurate.
Without any unnecessary details, only the facts that the next worker needs to know were conveyed.
So there was no need for separate notes.
“What do you do with the patient who was hospitalized with cerebral infarction yesterday?”
“I’m currently at capacity (the maximum number of patients one attending doctor can take on).”
“I also
had a T.A patient earlier, so I don’t have much free time.”
Larry and Janet expressed their disapproval.
“Good. This patient, Mr. Choi, can take it.”
Nikolai’s eyes were fixed on Choi Ki-seok.
“There is no need to treat this patient. He will be operated on and discharged the day after tomorrow.”
“Let’s give Mr. Choi a patient already? We should at least give him about a week to adjust. Mr. Choi has never trained in neurosurgery.”
“That’s the situation there.”
Despite Larry’s opposition, Nikolai did not give up his will at all.
“Mr. Choi is in charge of this patient. Why? You don’t like it?”
“….”
“Is the doctor leaving the patient because he doesn’t want to take it on? Well, there’s nothing we can do if he’s scared.”
“I’ll take charge.”
Choi Ki-seok answered calmly.
“But I would like you to correct one of the things I said a little while ago.”
“What?”
“You said there was no need to treat this patient. When I saw it, it wasn’t like that at all, right?”
Choi Ki-seok approached the desk and pointed at the monitor with his index finger.
“The patient’s intracranial pressure (the empty space inside the head) is 16mmHg. It’s much higher than normal pressure. Isn’t this a situation where a brain puncture is needed? Moreover, in this condition, I think I’ll need to use additional muscle relaxants or osmotic diuretics, right?”
“….”
Nikolai became dumbfounded by Choi Ki-seok’s point.
“The handover of other patients was accurate, but this patient in particular was overlooked. You were planning to hand over the difficult-to-manage patient to me from the beginning, right?”
“Don’t write a novel. It just happened that way.”
“Today is the first day, so I’ll just skip it. But…”
Choi Ki-seok glared at Nikolai with sharp eyes.
“If you’re planning on giving me trouble, you’d better quit. I’m the type of person who pays double for what’s been done to me.”
“Are you scaring me? I’m scared to death.”
Nikolai sarcastically pretended to shiver.
The handover ended with the two people not hiding their hostility toward each other.
Drurr.
Nikolai left the duty room and went to the bathroom. When I washed my face with cold water, I came to my senses.
“Mr. Choi… he’s an interesting guy.”
Honestly, I was surprised.
Choi Ki-seok saw through his intentions and even pinpointed the patient’s condition.
Even though he said he had never trained in neurosurgery.
It seems like he wasn’t promoted early for nothing.
“Okay. Like you said, we’ll see.”
thud!
Nikolai slammed the sink.
* * *
That morning.
Choi Ki-seok was attending a morning meeting with his classmates.
The morning meeting in neurosurgery was not much different from that in general surgery.
Cerebrovascular surgery, Brain tumor surgery, Spinal neurosurgery.
These three departments held meetings at the same time, and the meeting order was similar.
Following the meeting, rounds were completed and the workday began.
“Larry. I want to ask you something.”
“Uh, tell me.”
“The Head Chief is away? I feel like I haven’t seen him in a while.”
Choi Ki-seok asked what he had been curious about.
Unless there are special circumstances, the Head Chief does not miss meetings. Smith, the head of general surgery, also always attended meetings, except when he went to Korea to learn technology.
The higher the rank, the stricter the Meijo was on meeting attendance.
“Ah. Head Chief?”
Larry chuckled and continued.
“The previous head chief was appointed as the hospital director of the affiliated hospital a week ago. The position is currently vacant, and either Manager Lucas or Manager Matthew will probably become the head chief.”
“I see. Thank you.”
“I’m scrubbing, so if you have any questions, ask Janet or Leon. I couldn’t tell you earlier, but Leon
is our T.R (resident in charge of training new teaching residents).”
After breaking up with Larry, Choi Ki-seok headed to the medical office.
I wanted to look at the test results of the first patient I took on in more detail.
Click. Click.
EMR His face grew darker as he checked.
“Mr. Choi. It’s been a while.”
The door to the medical office opened and Leon appeared.
“Hello. Leon.”
“I knew I’d see you again, but I didn’t know it would be this quick.”
Leon approached him and placed his hand on his shoulder.
Ki-Seok Choi met Leon while observing a surgery in the past.
Leon accurately counted the number of gauze used during the surgery. I got it right, but through conversation, I found out that he was suffering from hypermemory syndrome.
“Please take care of me in the future.”
“That’s what I want to say.”
“I think I need to do a brain puncture on this patient. Could you please take a look?”
“Have you had patients since the first day?”
Leon tilted his head and stared at the monitor. The more he scanned the chart, the darker his expression became.
“Hmm… Looking at the condition, I suspect ventriculitis. “I need to puncture it right now.”
“Then I will do it myself,”
Choi Ki-seok said confidently.
