Min Bo-Hoon, head of the cancer center's high-level surgery team, was dealing with patients in the center.
"There are no traces in all three places where liver cancer cells could have developed. It's very clean right now."
"Then, am I cured?"
"If you follow regular checkups and precautions, the possibility of recurrence seems low."
Min Bo-Hoon, who was looking at the chart, turned to the patient. He suddenly felt that the patient was trying to avoid looking at him, so he asked.
"How many drinks did you have?”
The patient flinched and shook his head.
"What are you talking about? I don't drink anymore. I stopped."
"That's a relief. The consultation is over."
"Is it over? Thank you for your hard work, doctor."
"It's hard to stay inside because of the heater, isn’t it? Shall we go smoke in a cool place before the blood test? But I'm out right now. Do you…?"
"I still have half, sir…"
The patient's body stiffened when he noticed that he was caught in a trap while fumbling.
"Give it to me, that half."
"I'm sorry."
Min Bo-Hoon pointed to the CT film on the monitor with a cold expression.
"Here. This is the area of the hepatic vein at risk of recurrence. If you continue drinking, your liver will be strained by its weak function, and the tumor will grow again in this area. The same goes for cigarettes. I'm not forcing you to quit anymore. Judge the situation on your own and prepare. However, there is no guarantee that the next operation will be this successful."
"Yes sir."
After the consultation, the patient walked outside.
"Aren't you being too strict to a patient who finished his surgery well?"
When he turned his head to the voice outside the door, a middle-aged woman was leaning against the door of the clinic.
Hong Yoo Seon, head of the cancer center. She came inside and continued to talk.
"That patient, if you take good care of him for about two years, he becomes the same as a normal person. Why don't you tell him that he can have a drink by then? The surgery was that perfect.”
"Habits in the body don't change easily. The moment that one glass becomes ten, you will have to declare death, not treatment.”
"Professor Min is so negative about everything but it's attractive."
Min Bo-Hoon, who was organizing the patient’s chart, asked without turning.
"Why are you disturbing me when I still have patients to see?"
"Disturbing? I just complimented you.”
Min Bo-Hoon gave a sharp look to Chief Hong.
"There are still 10 reserved patients left."
"No, you don't have any more today."
"What do you mean I don't have any?”
"If you can postpone it, postpone it, and another teacher will treat the first-time patients.”
Min Bo-Hoon took his hand off the keyboard and reflected on Chief Hong's answer just now.
"If it was this easy to adjust outpatients, I wouldn't have to suffer every time."
"It's not always easy. It is possible only under the premise that Professor Min will be the future of the cancer center."
"Why are you doing this?"
"I need you to cooperate with me. Among our cancer center patients, there was a radiation-resistant liver cancer patient, right? Developed into metastasis.”
Min Bo-Hoon hesitated.
"Did the AN Medical Center accept the transfer request?”
"It's not AN. Neurosurgery at our hospital."
Min Bo-Hoon snorted at those words.
"Even with Professor Choi expertise on the cerebrovascular system, his skills with metastatic brain tumors cannot keep up with AN's brain tumor center. Besides, it's a resistant tumor. From treatment cases to medical staff with extensive clinical experience. The level is different.”
"Who said that? I just mean that you should listen and do things as usual."
"What do you mean, as usual?”
"If you express negative opinions to your heart's content and you don't like it…"
Chief Hong pretended to slit her neck.
"Why are you ordering this?"
"The oncologist said this. If you press down on neurosurgery, they will add three more staff to the cancer center. Professor Min's outpatient work will be greatly reduced, right?”
"You're telling me to leave the patient and go to the floor."
"That's how the title of the youngest assistant professor is. Timing is more important than showing off your skills sometimes.”
"So, do I have to be careful?"
"Bingo. Go and deal with it without any pressure. The doctor, whose name everyone knows nowadays, is currently participating in the outpatient treatment."
After Chief Hong left, Min Bo-Hoon was lost in thought for a while.
Dowook looked at Professor Kim Han-sung from the Integrated Internal Medicine Department, who was sweating like a waterfall.
"That, I know. What Dr. Park said is…….”
"Do you want me to say it one more time?"
"No, it's fine."
Kim Han-sung, who shook his hand, turned his head toward the female patient who came with him.
"Ma’am. You can be hospitalized for kidney medicine and proceed with antibiotic treatment."
"Why should I do that? I heard this doctor diagnosed it correctly.”
"The diagnosis of urinary tract infection is not easy except for acute pyelonephritis. It’s only at the beginning stage now, and for a more accurate diagnosis, it's right to go to kidney medicine."
"Then you should have sent me there from the beginning. It's annoying."
The patient stood up and went outside. Kim Han-sung immediately shouted at the nurse.
"Please guide her to the Department of Nephrology department!”
Kim Han-sung then sat close together with a chair next to the table, even though he was not a patient.
"Hey, Dr. Park."
"Yes?"
"The diagnosis just now. I'm so embarrassed. Can you just pretend it didn't happen?”
Dowook turned his head while recording a prescription for "left simple pyelonephritis" on the computer chart.
Among the checks under the guise of today's cooperation, Kim Han-sung, the fifth batter, had very different results from other departments.
Even Kim Han-sung was judging the patient's actual symptoms as acute gastroenteritis.
"How did Dr. Park find pyelonephritis just by pressing the abdomen? You didn't even major in kidney medicine."
The reason why he could successfully diagnose pyelonephritis of the patient suffering from nausea, vomiting, and body aches was due to there being a special sense of a nephrology professor nearby.
Thanks to the initial diagnosis of integrated internal medicine, the patient's symptoms, which should have been transferred to other departments, could be treated quickly.
Kim Han-sung, who saw Dowook placing his hand on the mouse and thinking about whether to press the transfer button, politely put his hands together and begged.
"Save me, Dr. Park. In fact, if there's a rumor about this outpatient clinic, I'm just a messenger.”
"I heard rumors that you're trying to bury me today. Are you saying that I should just lay down and die?"
"That's… Dr. Park…"….”
When the mouse moved slightly, Kim Han-sung was embarrassed and grabbed Dowook’s arm.
"What should I do for you? Tell me anything. I'll do anything.”
"Even if it is against the will of the integrated internal medicine chief?"
"Of course. I'm going to die, so what does it matter?"
Dowook weighed the pros and cons in his head.
This case had a completely different wavelength from the proper response of the other four requests for cooperation.
If the rumor spread significantly, Kim Han-sung was likely to be excluded from outpatient work.
Because the patient wouldn’t look for him. It was natural that his career as a doctor would fall into the abyss.
‘Would it be too cruel if I pushed forward with this? I also accidentally diagnosed it because of the sense from the doctor nearby.’
Dowook, who finished the calculation, told Kim Han-sung straightforwardly.
"From now on, don't push the cases except for patients who need proper consultation."
"Of course, of course."
"A case of requesting cooperation from Professor Shin in the morning. Please pretend that all of that didn't happen."
"Okay, okay. Is that enough?”
Of course, Dowook shook his head.
"Until now, you had to take care of yourself morally. I'm a little tired. Please assist the doctor next to the doctor who hasn't requested a consultation. You have a lot of time today, right?”
"Huh?"
Dozens of outpatient clinics in hospitals.
Now, only five places had called on him. It would be tiring to run around every time he was called. It would have been much easier for an experienced professor of integrated internal medicine to help from the side.
When asked to side with the enemy, Kim Han-sung's face displayed a big embarrassment.
"It's…"
"If you don't like it, follow the procedure."
When the mouse pointer went up on the diagnostic transmission button, Kim Han-sung immediately answered.
"I'll do it. I'll do it!"
And he immediately lowered his voice.
"Instead, keep it a secret that I'm here. Don’t tell Director Won."
"I'll protect you even if you don't tell me that much. It's common sense."
Negotiations that went in his favor were soon finished.
From this time on, Dowook could respond to cooperation requests while barely moving from his spot.
Kim Han-sung, who was a strong hostage, continued to tell useful diagnostic findings as a 10-year professor of integrated medicine.
"Huh? This is Professor Lim's patient? He hid a myocardial infarction without chest pain."
"Really?"
"Do you see the sinus bradycardia on the electrocardiogram?"
Dowook definitely understood and nodded. Kim Han-sung clicked his tongue.
"It's too much to argue that pulling the back bone due to muscle stiffness is a neurosurgery symptom. If you've been rolling in cardiology for 10 years, you should at least put a case that makes sense. Tsk tsk."
Sometimes, Dowook got a little confused because he didn't hesitate to say things that looked down on the people on the same side as him.
He pressed the speakerphone button on the phone and called Professor Lim Ki-seok of Cardiology. And told him what Kim Han-sung said in a little refined way.
-Doctor Park!
The response was consistent. When the prescription was confirmed and posted on the computer, a scream sounded from the speakerphone.
-Doctor Park, don’t you think that was too much!
Click.
When the speakerphone was cut off, Kim Han-sung covered his mouth and laughed.
"I shouldn't be laughing here. The professors who say they’re knowledgeable acting like this. How pathetic!"
"He's the 10th one, right? I don't know why they’re calling me this much."
"I can't do anything about it since the staff told me to do it. You know it shouldn't be to this point, but you keep getting it right. If I were to find another reason, it might be because they envy you. Who among us would treat Hollywood stars like that?"
"My goal is to be the best surgeon, not the best position. I'm sorry that there are many people who can't tell that apart."
Kim Han-sung, who felt stabbed at the moment, coughed awkwardly.
Ring, ring.
During a serious conversation, the 11th phone rang. Dowook, who pressed the speakerphone, looked at the clock. The deadline for outpatient treatment, 5 o'clock, was now less than 10 minutes away. Maybe this would be the last call.
"This is Park Dowook."
-Doctor Park. I’m Min Bo-Hoon.
‘Hepatopancreaticobiliary?’
[TN: Hepatopancreaticobiliary: Related to Liver, Pancreas and Biliary duct]
It was the first time a surgeon had contacted him, not an internal medicine doctor, so Dowook tilted his head and asked back.
"Did you call me for consultation?"
-Yes. It is a patient with a specific case where cancer cells in the liver have spread to the brain. Please check and contact me if you have any intention of consulting. The chart number is…….
Click.
As soon as the business was over, the phone was hung up by the other party first.
Dowook opened the computer chart, read it all the way, and let out an exclamation subconsciously.
"A cancer patient who can't be treated with radiation?”
Kim Han-sung also looked at the chart and commented.
"This is too much for me to help. Not only are the fields different, but I've never seen such tumor structures before."
"The case is really strange. Surgery is the answer, but it's not easy."
"Whose case is this? Huh? Isn't Min Bo-Hoon the head of the cancer center's high-level surgery team? The youngest assistant professor this year."
"Huh? Is Dr. Min Bo-Hoon already an assistant professor? Wow…."
Min Bo-Hoon was already a renowned doctor at the cancer center.
He and Dowook were only three years apart. Becoming an assistant professor at the time when he should be a full-time clinical instructor was like proving that his skills were enormous.
"Dr. Park. I can't tell you everything, but I heard that there was an exchange between the head of the cancer center and the head of the tumor department. You'll have to answer carefully because they’re up to something."
While quietly sending a warning, the cell phone in Kim Han-sung's inner pocket rang. Kim Han-sung, who took it out, looked panicked.
"Dr. Park. Shh. It's Director Won."
Kim Han-sung, who answered the call, spoke.
"Yes, Director."
-Where did you go after you left your seat? Don't you know that all internal medicine doctors are in a state of emergency because of Park Dowook?
"Uh…"
Kim Han-sung couldn’t say anything as it was because he was part of the reason for the emergency.
"Other departments may have lowered their evaluation scores a lot, but our department is fine. I haven't asked for a consultation yet.”
-That's what I'm going to say in this situation!
Kim Han-sung, who shrank back at the roar, gave a gesture that he was okay to Dowook when he looked over.
-Run to the director’s office right now. Professor Min Bo-Hoon has stepped up, so Park Dowook won't be able to do much. The oncologist said that if Professor Min pointed out something, there would be no doctor to respond. Let's look for this moment.
After hanging up, Kim Han-sung turned to Dowook.
Regardless of Kim Han-sung's concerns, Dowook was fascinated by the case itself and continued to look through the patient's CT and MRI data.
"Dr. Park, you…….”
"Hold on. I've seen almost all of this."
Kim Han-sung watched Dowook with a new perspective.
At first, he was so surprised that he couldn't recognize it deeply. Park Dowook was not only good at dealing with patients, but also the standards of a surgeon. To the point where he was ashamed of himself for trying to trick him.
"Dr. Park, why don't you just reject this? Professor Min is determined to bite you.”
"No way. Even if there is a problem, I'm very curious about this case.”
The smiling Dowook picked up the phone.
"Yes, Professor Min. We'll collaborate. Should I go to the cancer center? 10 minutes later? All right."
Dowook put the receiver down and pointed to the clock on the wall.
"This is the end of today's outpatient service. Let's forget about the patient with pyelonephritis. The patient chart has already been handed over to the Department of Renal Medicine.”
"I'm saying this from the bottom of my heart. If you go up to the cancer center, you'll only have more enemies. If you are humiliated there, rumors will quickly spread throughout the hospital."
Dowook picked up his bag as he calmly replied to Kim Han-sung, who was not annoyed, but rather worried.
"I think only that of a surgeon who can operate cases like this, I can’t afford to think of anything else. I believe in that one thing."
"Ha. Do you really think so?"
"Yes."
"You’re really a surgeon. That was your honest thought."
"All the doctors I want to emulate are those who say similar things. Thank you for your help."
Dowook bowed as he walked out of the room.
Kim Han-sung then came out of the hallway and shook his head once as he saw Dowook disappear.
"Oh, no. Even if I’m not honest, I should at least reflect on my actions so I feel less embarrassed."
Kim Han-sung took a step. It was not in the integrated internal medicine department which was full of schemes, but in the direction of the hospital room where a patient with pyelonephritis who was misdiagnosed due to his mistake was hospitalized.
