Chapter 230 - 153: Dr. Jiang
After a pause, Yang Xu's playful expression turned serious. "Since you've graduated from your undergraduate program early, the next step is graduate school. I've already spoken with the graduate school. You'll be on the direct-to-doctorate track, so you'll soon be my doctoral student."
"Understood, Teacher Yang."
Yang Xu suddenly chuckled. "Don't be so calm just yet. Early graduation and the direct doctorate—those aren't hard to arrange within the university's rules. But Minister Lin asked me to bring you a real gift. *This* is the main event."
As he spoke, Yang Xu took out a thick manila envelope and pushed it in front of Jiang He.
Jiang He froze for a moment, then reached out and took the envelope.
The envelope wasn't sealed. When he tipped out the contents, he found two brand-new certificates and an ID badge for Affiliated Hospital No. 1.
One was a deep red, hardcover booklet.
The other was a dark green, hardcover booklet.
Jiang He opened the dark green certificate. It was printed with his headshot, name, and ID number. And in the most prominent spot were the words:
[Physician's Practice License]
[Practice Category: Clinical]
[Place of Practice: Southern Medical University Affiliated First Hospital]
Jiang He: "?"
Back in 2008, for a regular medical student to get their practicing license, they first had to get through five years of undergraduate studies. Then, they had to slave away as an intern on rotation for a full year in a hospital. Only then would they be eligible to register for the National Medical Licensing Examination.
After passing the exam, you'd get the red booklet (the Qualification Certificate). You then had to take that red booklet to the Health Bureau to register, and only then could you exchange it for this green booklet (the Practice License).
With the green booklet in hand, you still had to submit your signature and personal seal to the hospital's medical affairs department for their records. Only then did you officially possess the legally protected right to prescribe independently.
And here he was, having just graduated early in his junior year.
Not only had he received both the red and green booklets at once, but his place of practice was already registered with the hospital?
"Teacher Yang, this is..."
Seeing the surprised expression on Jiang He's face, Yang Xu felt a deep sense of satisfaction.
'So you can be surprised after all, kid?!'
He greatly enjoyed the reaction, smiling before he explained:
"This was personally approved by that high-ranking leader who came to visit you. It went through the highest-level special exception channel for 'Talent with Special Contributions to Major National Public Health Incidents.' In essence, this license is a special permit for research-oriented clinical practice. Your administrative status is directly tied to the staffing of our P3 lab."
"The higher-ups had three reasons for making this decision."
"First, on the night of the massive pile-up on the Ring City Expressway, the emergency medical skills and lead surgeon-level abilities you demonstrated in the red zone prompted the directors of the Emergency Department, ICU, and Anesthesiology Department at Affiliated Hospital No. 1—and myself," he stressed, "to jointly vouch for your equivalent clinical competency."
"Second, you have a top-tier LNR journal publication that has the potential to change international guidelines, which serves as academic backing."
"Third, and most importantly, your accurate prediction right before the H1N1 outbreak and your whole-genome sequencing work was an immense service to national public health security. This qualifies as a major national-level contribution."
"These three points combined were enough for the leadership to reach a consensus: making you spend a year as an intern doing menial tasks would be a tremendous waste of top-tier medical talent."
"Therefore, the state has granted special approval to waive your rotational period and has certified that you are qualified to practice medicine."
"However, for now, your place of practice is strictly limited to our Affiliated Hospital No. 1. Dean Chen has already gone to the medical affairs department to personally file your paperwork. Your authority to sign prescriptions is effective immediately."
Simply put, from the moment he received this license,
Jiang He was now, in the eyes of the law, a licensed doctor with the independent authority to write prescriptions and issue medical orders.
(Limited to Affiliated Hospital No. 1, of course.)
Jiang He thought to himself.
'In Chinese hospitals back in 2008, the hierarchy was extremely rigid.'
'At the very bottom were the Interns, who could only trail behind their mentors, writing medical records, changing dressings, and holding retractors. They had no decision-making power whatsoever.'
'Above them were the Resident Physicians. They were responsible for managing patients' beds, writing routine medical orders, and working grueling 24-hour night shifts.'
'Next up were the Attending Physicians. Considered the backbone of the hospital, they could lead a team and independently perform most routine surgeries.'
'Then came the Deputy Chief Physicians. These were specialists, responsible for complex cases and high-difficulty surgeries.'
'At the very top were the Chief Physicians, the heart and soul of a department, wielding the highest academic authority.'
'Although I have my license now, in terms of official title and position, I'm just a newly-minted Resident Physician.'
'But that's just on the surface.'
'In reality?'
'I hold the reins of a national-level P3 lab, I'm backed by all sorts of influential figures, and I just completed a top-tier multi-center predictive model for SAP...'
'I'm basically an indescribable titan in the guise of a Resident Physician...'
But none of these titles mattered to Jiang He.
What truly excited him was that this license had saved him years of time.
'To conquer pancreatic cancer, publishing a few top-tier papers on predictive models and early screening isn't enough.'
'The ultimate solution for cancer, in an era before mature targeted therapies, is still surgery.'
'I have to accumulate a massive volume of surgeries at Affiliated Hospital No. 1 to refine the radical resection procedure.'
'In my past life, I had already reached the pinnacle of pancreaticoduodenectomy, so I know there's still a lot of room for improvement.'
'A bottom-up, reverse-entry approach, extreme dissection for vascular skeletonization...'
'All of these techniques need to be constantly polished and verified on a real operating table.'
'Only by doing this will I be one hundred percent confident that, in the future, if Shen Yu develops a pancreatic lesion, I can snatch her back from the jaws of death.'
This was his ultimate motivation.
According to the *Regulations on the Management of Surgical Procedure Tiers*, the Whipple procedure was a Level 4 Surgery.
And a Level 4 Surgery could only be performed by a Chief Physician.
Therefore, to be able to lead this type of procedure in the future,
'I have to become a Chief Physician as quickly as possible.'
"Thank you, Teacher Yang." Jiang He solemnly placed the certificates back into the envelope. "Please thank Minister Lin for me as well. I'll be on time for the commendation ceremony next week."
"Alright." Yang Xu stood up and patted Jiang He on the shoulder. "Go on, your friends are probably getting impatient waiting outside. Go celebrate. Starting tomorrow, you will officially report to Affiliated Hospital No. 1, Dr. Jiang."
Jiang He nodded. "Understood."
...
The conference room door was pushed open.
In the hallway, Chen Hao, Cheng Xiyao, Tang Pei, Lu Xiaolin, Yi Xiangwan, and Gu Yizhou all turned their heads in unison.
Chen Hao called out, "Old Jiang... Old Jiang, how'd it go? Did you pass?"
Jiang He nodded. "I passed."
"Nice!"
Chen Hao pumped his fist, exclaiming excitedly, "Holy shit! Graduating early as a junior! The first person in the history of Southern Medical University to do it! Old Jiang, you're fucking insane!"
Cheng Xiyao let out a long sigh of relief, a brilliant smile spreading across her face as she turned to give Tang Pei a hard high-five.
Lu Xiaolin pushed up his glasses and said with emotion, "Junior, no, should I be calling you Professor Jiang now? Congratulations."
"Hello, Professor Jiang!" Yi Xiangwan immediately chimed in, then turned to poke Gu Yizhou. "Senior, why don't you call him Professor Jiang? Let's hear it."
Gu Yizhou shot him a look but still turned to Jiang He and said earnestly, "Congratulations, boss."
Jiang He smiled and casually handed the manila envelope to Chen Hao, who was closest. "Hold this for me. I'm going to wash my face."
Chen Hao took the envelope, feeling its thickness. "What's this?" he muttered curiously. "Did the university print out your diploma ahead of time, too?"
"Not the diploma," Jiang He said casually as he walked toward the restroom. "It's from the provincial department. Teacher Yang just picked it up for me."
Hearing the words "provincial department," Chen Hao's curiosity was piqued, and he peeked inside the unsealed envelope.
Inside were two hardcover booklets, one red and one green.
Chen Hao opened the dark green booklet on top.
In the next instant, he froze solid.
His eyes widened, as if he had just seen something unbelievable.
Seeing his expression, Cheng Xiyao leaned over from the side. "What are you staring at? You look like you've seen a ghost..."
Before the words were even out of her mouth, Cheng Xiyao snapped her mouth shut, the exact same expression forming on her face.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
Lu Xiaolin and Yi Xiangwan also sensed something was off and quickly gathered around.
A second later.
The two of them wore the exact same expression.
[Key Special Item Unlocked: Jiang He's Licenses.]
[Effect: Stuns any viewer for three seconds, inducing an expression of complete shock...]
Finally.
The group snapped out of it.
And began to exclaim in shock:
"A... A Physician's Practice License?!"
"Place of practice... Af-Affiliated Hospital No. 1?!"
"Holy shit, I must be hallucinating. Both the red and green booklets at once?!"
Jiang He, just emerging from the restroom, shook the water from his hands. He walked over with a resigned sigh, stuffed the booklets into his pocket, and said,
"Well... in any case, starting tomorrow, if any of you need to push a project in a clinical setting, or if you run into any complex cases, feel free to come find me. I'll... do my best to take care of it."