135: Chapter 135 Two months of residency? Are you sure you're not just here to experience life?
At this moment, a voice came from the other side of the lobby.
It wasn't loud, but it was enough for Lu Chen to hear.
"Is that the one from Jiangcheng City Central Hospital? He looks way too green, doesn't he? Less than two months? Isn't he here just to experience life?"
The speaker was a male doctor in his early thirties, sitting near the group from the Provincial Peoples Hospital, with a name tag on his chest that read Jiangbei Medical College Affiliated Hospital.
Zhou Haoran also heard this sentence. He looked up in Lu Chen's direction, but didn't say anything.
However, the young Resident Physician who had come with him chimed in.
"A two-month Resident Physician coming to participate in the provincial-level assessment? Did their Hospital run out of people to send?"
These words were not very polite.
Zhao Yaqin's expression darkened.
Lu Chen, on the other hand, showed no change in expression. He was flipping through the assessment guide, looking at the scope of the written exam.
Zhao Yaqin lowered her voice and said.
"Don't pay attention to them."
"I don't intend to."
"If you care about it…"
"Sister Zhao, I really don't care. I'm looking at the exam scope."
Zhao Yaqin took a look at him.
He was truly looking at the exam scope.
Alright then.
This guy's heart really is made of iron.
...
8:40 AM.
The check-in break ended, and all the contestants began moving toward the examination hall on the second floor.
When Lu Chen stood up, he bumped into someone.
Section Chief He Zhongfeng.
Section Chief He Zhongfeng was wearing a dark suit, his hair combed meticulously, and he was holding a briefcase while standing at the corner of the corridor.
When he saw Lu Chen, a smile was immediately squeezed onto his face.
"Little Lu, how are you preparing?"
"It's alright."
"Perform well; everyone at the Hospital is watching."
Section Chief He Zhongfeng patted his arm, smiling very warmly.
Lu Chen nodded, didn't say much, and followed the crowd upstairs.
Section Chief He Zhongfeng watched his back, the smile on the corners of his mouth slowly fading.
A person in plain clothes nearby leaned in.
"Section Chief He, is it all arranged?"
Section Chief He Zhongfeng didn't turn his head.
"Professor Jiang from the Provincial Hospital is on the list of judges for the practical assessment this afternoon. He has some friendship with President Peng, so I've already given him a heads-up regarding the details."
"What kind of heads-up?"
"Nothing much, just asking Professor Jiang to be a bit stricter when grading. It's about being objective and fair, right? A two-month Resident Physician running over to participate in a provincial-level assessment—it's only right for the judges to be a bit stricter."
That person nodded.
Section Chief He Zhongfeng pushed up his glasses.
"There's no need to do too much; as long as he doesn't get a good ranking, that's enough. A Resident Physician with such shallow qualifications being sent to participate in a provincial-level assessment and then failing—how embarrassing would that be to talk about?"
"What about President Zeng when the time comes…"
"If the person President Zeng is heavily promoting goes out and makes a fool of himself, that's President Zeng's own problem. No one can blame us for it."
Section Chief He Zhongfeng straightened his suit collar and walked toward the elevator.
...
Second floor, examination hall.
Thirty contestants, thirty tables, spaced one and a half meters apart, arranged neatly.
Lu Chen sat in front of table number seventeen.
To his left was a thirty-two-year-old Resident Physician from the Emergency Department of the Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated Hospital, who had been working for six years.
To his right was a twenty-nine-year-old Resident Physician from the City First Peoples Hospital, who had been working for four years.
Both of them glanced at Lu Chen, but didn't speak.
9:00 AM sharp.
The proctor announced the start of the exam.
The exam papers were handed out, and Lu Chen flipped through them first.
A total of 120 questions.
Eighty multiple-choice questions, twenty true/false questions, ten short-answer questions, and two comprehensive analysis questions.
The exam time was two hours.
Lu Chen picked up his pen and began answering the questions.
The multiple-choice questions didn't pose much difficulty for him. Although the skills the system gave him were named operational skills...
the theoretical knowledge included in the process of acquiring them was also quite extensive. Plus, having crammed the textbooks for the past few days, he could answer most of the questions.
However, some questions were indeed quite obscure.
For example, question forty-three asked about the specific scoring breakdown of a certain rare trauma scoring system.
This was something covered in only two lines in the textbook, the kind of obscure trivia that you couldn't answer unless you specifically memorized it.
Lu Chen hesitated for a moment, then relied on his intuition to choose an answer.
Then he continued working through the rest.
The short-answer section involved emergency treatment procedures, medication protocols, and differential diagnoses. He had performed these many times in the Red Zone, so he found them easy to write.
The comprehensive analysis questions consisted of two case studies.
One was the prioritization of treatment for multiple injuries.
The other was a rescue plan for acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock.
When Lu Chen finished the second comprehensive analysis question, he glanced at the time.
10:40 AM.
There were forty minutes remaining.
He checked from beginning to end, corrected two multiple-choice questions he wasn't sure about, then put down his pen and sat there waiting to hand in his paper.
Many people around him were still writing furiously.
The contestant from Jiangbei Medical College Affiliated Hospital sitting diagonally opposite him had his brows knitted so tightly they were almost knotted.
Lu Chen withdrew his gaze and closed his eyes to rest.
...
11:00 AM.
The exam ended.
The contestants came out of the examination hall and gathered in twos and threes in the corridor to chat.
"Those last two comprehensive analysis questions were disgusting. For the one on myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock, the medication protocol alone could fill a page."
"I think question seventy-eight is controversial. Was that scoring standard based on the new version or the old version?"
"Who knows? I chose the new version."
When Lu Chen walked out, the few people nearby simultaneously went quiet.
The contestant from Jiangbei Affiliated Hospital in his early thirties glanced at him.
"How did you do?"
Lu Chen replied with two words.
"It's alright."
The other person snorted and didn't continue the conversation.
Zhao Yaqin was waiting at the end of the corridor. Seeing Lu Chen come out, she walked over and asked.
"How do you feel about the written exam?"
"Above average, I guess. There were a few obscure questions I wasn't too sure about."
"Are there many questions you weren't sure about?"
"Six or seven."
Zhao Yaqin breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's alright. In previous years, the average score for the written exam was around seventy-five. If you only had six or seven questions you weren't sure about, you should be able to score over eighty."
"Probably."
The two of them walked toward the third-floor cafeteria.
When passing through the rest area, Lu Chen saw Zhou Haoran sitting on a sofa, holding a bottle of water and chatting with the team leader next to him.
Zhou Haoran's team leader was a man in his fifties wearing gold-rimmed glasses; judging by his temperament, he was likely at the level of a Deputy Director of the Emergency Department at the Provincial Peoples Hospital.
When Lu Chen passed by, the team leader glanced at him twice more.
Then he lowered his head and said something to Zhou Haoran.
Zhou Haoran looked up, his gaze sweeping over.
This time, he didn't just glance and look away like before.
He stared at Lu Chen for several seconds.
Then he spoke.
"You are Lu Chen?"
Lu Chen stopped in his tracks.
"Yes."
"That video online of you blocking the thugs to protect the patient, that's you, right?"
"Yes."
Zhou Haoran nodded.
"I've seen that video. You've got guts."
He paused for a moment.
"But having guts and having good skills are two different things. You've only been in the Emergency Department for two months and you're here to participate in the provincial-level assessment; your Director Li really dares to let people go."
Zhao Yaqin's expression changed slightly.
Lu Chen looked at Zhou Haoran.
"Dr. Zhou, this spot wasn't given by Director Li; it was decided by the Medical Affairs Department."
Zhou Haoran was stunned for a moment, then laughed.
"Then your Medical Affairs Department also has quite a bit of guts."
He stood up and walked over to Lu Chen.
The two of them were about the same height, with Zhou Haoran perhaps two or three centimeters taller.
"But since you're here, perform well in the practical assessment this afternoon. The practical segment of the provincial-level assessment is no joke; last year, three contestants were stopped directly by the judges during the practical segment."
"I understand."
Zhou Haoran patted Lu Chen's shoulder, smiled, and turned to leave.
Zhao Yaqin walked over and lowered her voice.
"What he said wasn't pleasant to hear."
"What he said is the truth; two months of experience is indeed too shallow."
"Why are you still speaking up for him?"
"He doesn't have any ill intentions; he just thinks I'm too young. Most people would have that kind of thought."
Zhao Yaqin looked at him and was silent for a moment.
"Alright then, let's go eat."