Chapter 170: [170] On-site Learning

The man who brushed past her had broad shoulders and wore a straight, neatly-pressed white coat that had a tinge of cold, grey steel to it.

Xie Wanying’s mind stirred, and she could roughly guess who this man was.

He must be the teacher who, over the phone, was cold yet displayed great skill, guiding her to successfully perform a puncture.

Zhao Zhaowei standing beside her muttered, “So he is Fu Xinheng.”

Who was Fu Xinheng? She had never heard of him before since she was never into gossip. Even the matters concerning Cao Yong were only known to her because others talked to her about them.

“From cardiothoracic surgery,” Zhao Zhaowei said, noticing her lack of knowledge and whispering into her ear, “My grandfather said he is very impressive, definitely the future chief of cardiothoracic surgery.”

So he was a formidable teacher from cardiothoracic surgery. Xie Wanying’s eyes lit up, and she thought about ways to learn the skills of such an impressive teacher.

Doctor Fu Xinheng, approaching the patient’s bed and turning slightly to the side, took in her eyes’ transformation: from the initial indifference when she first saw him, to suddenly lighting up like twinkling little stars.

Why was she looking at him as if staring at little stars? He had never seen such a gaze, neither from medical students nor anyone else.

Doctor Yang had completed a preliminary physical examination of the patient and said to Doctor Fu Xinheng, “We need to redo the chest drainage.”

The thoracic cavity puncture that Xie Wanying had performed previously was just an emergency measure for a tension pneumothorax under crude conditions; now that they were back in the hospital with proper facilities, definitely a closed chest drainage would need to be performed in order to relieve long-term pressure and vent gas from the patient’s thoracic cavity.

Before that, it was necessary to determine whether the patient had a traumatic pneumothorax, a spontaneous pneumothorax, or some other cause. What was special about this patient was that he had a severe congenital heart defect.

In short, the patient’s condition was very tricky.

Doctor Yang thought about how lucky Xie Wanying and Zhao Zhaowei were that nothing went wrong while administering first aid to the patient and that they managed to safely transport the patient to the hospital. The patient’s condition was indeed very dangerous.

While Doctor Yang was talking, Doctor Fu Xinheng’s eyes swiftly scanned over various parameters on the monitor, the patient’s complexion, breathing, consciousness, and even the nurse’s struggle to find the patient’s veins. He took in the whole scene at a glance.

“First, a CT scan, then send him to our cardio department for an echocardiogram. Get a central venous catheter placed, and wait for all the results before proceeding,” Doctor Fu Xinheng said.

The other doctors and nurses listened to his instructions; not one of them made any further comment, a clear sign of his authoritative presence.

Xie Wanying and Zhao Zhaowei stood on tiptoes, observing the teacher’s actions to learn.

They noticed that Doctor Fu Xinheng, unlike other doctors, did not rush to use a stethoscope to listen to the patient’s heart and lungs. Instead, he touched the patient’s neck with his fingertips, pressed on the patient’s abdomen, and applied pressure to the patient’s calves and ankles.

“What is he doing?” Zhao Zhaowei asked Xie Wanying in a low voice, not comprehending the teacher’s series of actions since he hadn’t learned them yet.

“He’s assessing whether the patient has right-sided heart failure progressing to congestive heart failure. A typical sign of right-sided failure is an enlarged liver, and with full heart failure, there’s definitely swelling, most commonly seen in the ankles and calves,” Xie Wanying explained, thinking to herself that indeed, this teacher was very capable.

For example, why did Doctor Yang, who appeared to be older than Doctor Fu Xinheng, listen to him? It was because Doctor Yang had only suggested closed chest drainage, which was not out of ignorance of the possibility that the patient might need immediate surgery, but rather because of a lack of confidence in performing the surgery, he did not dare to mention it. Doctor Fu Xinheng was different; he straightforwardly suggested waiting for the exam results, implying that if an emergency surgery was truly needed, he would not hesitate to perform it on the patient.