Chapter 11 — Emergency Night Watchman

"This cannot be taught. What is there is yes, what is not there is not there. You have it."
My nose suddenly stings. I bit my lip.
“Director Phuong…”
“Don't pour honey into my ears.” He raised his hand to interrupt, "Go back to writing the records. You added all the classified notes of the twelve wounded soldiers for me, and an hour later placed them on my desk."
He turned away. After two steps, he turned his back to me and threw back a sentence:
"Next Monday, the hospital has a spot—the first pilot batch for master's in emergency medicine will be transferred directly to the fast-track certification path, reducing three years to two years. I've already registered for you."
I stood in place. Two years of certification. One year faster than usual. Which means—this time next year, I will no longer be a recursive doctor. I will be an official Emergency Department doctor with prescribing authority. 【Chapter 7】 News of the route quickly spread throughout the hospital. There were three places in total, more than two hundred doctors from the whole hospital selected three people. Phuong Chinh Thanh signed me up for a spot. The remaining two positions are in the Department of Cardiology and the Department of Orthopedics, respectively. The day the news reached the Emergency Department, I don't know how to describe Trieu Due Minh's expression—something between swallowing a live toad and being slapped in front of a crowd. He said nothing. But I know what he's thinking. He guided me for three months, teaching me nothing. Phuong Chinh Thanh guided me for a month, directly taking me to the fast lane. This debt is not a denunciation of him, but a negation of his abilities. It made him even more upset than being scolded. Late November. Fast track application documents need to submit: three case reports, operation notes, supervisor's evaluation, and—dissertation research intention. I already have the previous entries. The last item was Phuong Chinh Thanh who helped me connect—under Chu Yen Binh, there was a topic related to cardiovascular emergency that was recruiting people.
“Go find Chu Yen Binh to talk.” Phuong Chinh Thanh said, "His side lacks a clinician to collect data. Once you've done it, the article has a joint first authorship, which is beneficial for you to get your certificate."
"Yes."
On December 1, I officially went to the office of the Cardiovascular Surgery Department for the first time. When not in surgery, Chu Yen Binh is usually in his office filled with documents. I knocked on the door and entered. He sat in front of the computer, on the shelf behind were three models of artificial heart valves made of different materials.
"Already here? Sit down." He didn't look up, still answering an email.
I sat across from him and waited half a minute. He finished typing the last few words, turned his chair to look at me.
“Phuong Chinh Thanh told you to come follow my topic?”
"Yes. Retrospective analysis of clinical features in early identification of aortic dissection in emergency chest pain patients."
"Yes. Have you seen the opening outline?"
"See. I have an idea."
He raised his eyebrows: "Speak."
"In the opening outline, we use traditional logistic regression to build a prediction model. But the sample size is not large, there are many variables, and it is easy to overfit. It is not as good as using LASSO regression to screen variables and then build the model..."
Chu Yen Binh leaned back in his chair, clasped his fingers in front of his stomach, and looked at me.
“Where did you study statistics?”
“Self-taught in college. In addition, I did two meta-analysis articles on evidence-based medicine for my university graduation thesis."
“Posted yet?”
“Published a short communication article in the Chinese Emergency Medicine Journal.”
He was silent for a second.
“When I was in college, I posted Chinese First Aid?”
“The topic is quite clever.”
“You really don't look like a recovery doctor.” He stared at me, "That old fox Phuong Chinh Thanh found the treasure, you know?"
I didn't reply.
“Okay, I'll follow this topic. The data collection she was in charge of, the statistical analysis she did, the first draft she wrote. If you have any problems, find me directly, my door and phone are always open for you.”
"Yes. Thank you boss…”
“Call senior brother.”
“What?”
“Phuong Chinh Thanh and I share a PhD supervisor. He is considered your tutor, I am considered your uncle, it's too complicated. It's convenient for me to call senior brother."
I was a little stunned.
“… Senior Brother Chu.”
The corner of his mouth curled up: “Yes. It sounds more convenient than calling the homeroom teacher. Go ahead, I have surgery this afternoon." I stood up and prepared to go.
“Wait.” He called me back.
I turned my head. He took out a card from the drawer and gave it to me.
“Access card to the document database of the topic group. Inside is a collection of global core documents on aortic dissection over the last five years. She spent a week reading all the documents first, and made an overview note for me.”
I received the card.
“Yes.”
Leaving the Cardiovascular Surgery Department building, the winter wind was colder than October. But when walking on the street in the hospital campus, my steps are very light. Someone taught me how to examine patients. Someone took me to do research. Someone is pushing me forward. Three months ago, I was still an anonymous doctor who was scolded by Trieu Due Minh pointing at his nose.