Plague Doctor

Brother Qiang’s words sent waves of pressure throughout the room. Everyone’s brows knitted tightly as they felt a mountainous weight fall onto their shoulders.

A new batch of patients? Gu Jun thought in his heart. Looks like Banyan Malformation Disease was not as easily controlled as we thought. Most likely, these patients are not from Gurong Village. Probably, a new source of Banyan Malformation Disease appeared, making the number of infected villages increase.

Without delay, the crowd changed into sterile clothes, shoes, caps, and gloves and prepared to enter the operating theater in their respective changing rooms. Then, they disinfected themselves thoroughly and put on surgical gown and disposable gloves.

The members present during a major surgery were the primary surgeon, anaesthetist, first, second, and third assistants, and the 2 nurses; scrub nurse and circulating nurse.

For medium-scale surgery, the third assistant was not necessary. For minor surgeries, both the second and third assistants were optional.

During the operation, the third assistant’s role mainly consisted of miscellaneous works like using cotton swabs to remove blood stains and to remove the mist and residue from the electrosurgical equipment. The second assistant would do basic procedures like ligation and stitching. Should the first assistant be available, he could do these errands as well.

In surgeries involving animals, a “restraining nurse” was essential to hold down and hold the animal in place.

This time, their surgery practice also involved animals. Hence, their manpower allocation was not sufficient. With a total of 11 people, they were allocated into teams of three with the remaining two acting as circulating nurses.

The circulating nurse was commonly seen as the one to wipe sweat for others. They were not allowed to directly touch any of the equipment due to the nature of their work involving contact with non-sterile items. The two appointed circulating nurses were also carrying the 4 jinmenken into the operating theatre. The laboratory animals were laid on their sides on the attached restraining frames on the operating table.

Within the groups of 3, Cai Zixuan, Wang Ruoxiang, and Gu Jun were in the same team again.

For this operation, Gu Jun was the primary surgeon, Wang Ruoxiang was his first assistant, and Cai Zixuan, the scrub nurse. The scrub nurse had a critical duty. He always stood by the right side of the primary surgeon and was to arrange, place, disinfect, and pass whatever equipment the primary surgeon needed. Occasionally, they also played the role of the third assistant, clearing up any stain or residue throughout the entire operation.

The surgery this time, canine thoracotomy, was not minor. With 3 people in each team, every member was stretched to their limits. Throughout the process, 100% effort was demanded at every moment.

Clad in his sterile surgical outfit, Gu Jun took a deep breath as he strode towards the operating theater. Silently, he opened the system menu in his mind.

[NORMAL Mission: By today, complete 1 Surgery. Mission Rewards, 1 box of Human Anti-inflammatory Medicine.

Accept Mission?]

[Mission Successfully accepted!]

While it may be a veterinary surgery, this was still Gu Jun’s first time being involved in actual operation. Moreover, it was also his first time in surgery as the primary surgeon.

For Eastern University eight-year course clinical students, the primary surgical techniques were taught in the first semester of their 4th year. After that, they would have an internship throughout their 4th-year 2nd semester and their fifth year at a hospital. The semester should have begun on September 7th , yet who knew, things would progress to this stage.

For his first surgery, which was already as the primary surgeon, it was not a venesection, small intestine resection, or any other more basic surgery processes. This time, Brother Qian really placed them in a tight spot. Perhaps, they should be grateful that their first surgery was not a surgery on the face. However, Brother Qiang did emphasize to not only leave the face of the jinmenken visible, but also to not intentionally avoid looking at it.

His intentions were clear, to pressure the trainees mentally but not too much to crumble.

Upon entering, they found that the operating room was very spacious and clean; four operating tables were arranged side by side. Gu Jun , followed by Wang Ruoxiang and Cai Zixuan, walked towards the middle operating table. The other three groups took the tables on the left and the right.

“Which surgery method to use will be decided by the primary surgeon,” Zhou Jiaqiang said to the crowd while walking along the edge of the row of operating tables. “Remember that the jinmenkens are also dogs, except that they have a human face.”

In the first stage of training, they had simulated canine thoracotomy. However, there were no review sessions before entering the operating room today. Brother Qiang would also not be going to display the video of the operation while the practical course was going on. Hence, it was a perfect test to see if this group of students had been consistently keeping up with their learning by themselves.

As Gu Jun walked to the right side of the jinmenken, Wang Ruoxiang followed along and moved directly opposite him on the left side. Cai Zixuan had taken his place beside Gu Jun which was beside the equipment table.

“Phoo...” Gu Jun set a strict control over his breathing. Under the bright shadowless lamp, the jinmenken was clear and stationary. Gu Jun said, “Let us proceed with an incision from the side of the chest. The gap at the 6th rib will be the entrance to the chest cavity. First assistant, please sterilize the skin of the area of the procedure.”

“Understood,” Wang Ruoxiang acknowledged. Her stern face was half-covered by the light blue surgical mask.

One of the circulating nurses had approached and handed Wang Ruoxiang some cotton balls soaked in a mixture of 3-5% iodine tincture and 75% alcohol. Wang Ruoxiang began taking on the role of the 3rd assistant, sterilizing the skin in preparation for the operation. First, a layer of iodine tincture, then a layer of alcohol. Lastly, she marked the operating region with a line of iodine. 𝐟re𝐞w𝐞𝒃𝓃𝒐𝐯𝚎𝒍.c૦𝚖

While she was sterilizing the region, Gu Jun examined the surgical equipment. Preparation Of the tools was technically the job of the circulating nurses. However, other staff had prepared all of these a step ahead of their arrival. Otherwise, it would not have been possible for a group of restricted authority brats to find all of these items.

As his gaze swept across, he saw all that he needed; scalpels, surgical scissors, hemostat, surgical hooks, needle holder...

After his thorough inspection, he saw that Wang Ruoxiang was almost done. “Scrub nurse, pass me the no.4 scalpel with the no.22 round blade.”

“Okay. Okay.” Cai Zixuan got into action. Gu Jun’s choices were conventional in veterinary operations, and he quickly attached the blades for Gu Jun.

Holding the scalpel, Gu Jun felt a familiar and dexterous sensation. Owing to his strong foundation in dissection and his half a month of harsh and rigorous training, he had wholly accustomed himself to the touch of a scalpel.

“The sterilization is complete,” Wang Ruoxiang reported.

“Alright.” Holding the scalpel with a fingertip grip, Gu Jun bent over and officially began the operation. In one smooth motion, he made an incision on the skin of the jinmenken. Slowly, a 15cm length of skin had separated, and fresh crimson blood surged out. Within instants, the pungent smell of iron fumed the room.

Beside them, Sun Yuheng and Jiang Banxia had also begun which further intensified the stench of blood.

As the operation continued, Zhou Jiaqiang paced around the 3 tables while observing the techniques and skillfulness of his trainees.

Oh! This bunch are really talented. What about Gu Jun?

At that moment, the doors of the operating theater slowly opened. However, only the 2 circulating nurses and Zhou Jiaqiang turned to look. The others were entirely focused on the operation at hand.

Seeing the man that walked in, Zhou Jiaqiang immediately approached and courteously bowed, “Team Leader Qiu.”

This man was Team Leader Qiu. He had brought several colleagues from the Clinical Team to observe the operation and had all put on surgical gowns. These five colleagues were not foreign to Zhou Jiaqiang. They were all previously 1st assistants. Now, they were going to be promoted as primary surgeons and had come here to choose their assistants. The moment they entered, they probed Team Leader Qiu.

“Leader Qiu, which of them is the Gu Jun that you spoke about?”

“Which of them is Gu Jun?”

Before coming in, they had already caught wind of an intern named Gu Jun, who had particular potential, from Team Leader Qiu and Zhou Jiaqiang.

Even though everyone was almost wholly covered by personal protective equipment, he could easily recognize that rascal at a glance. “He’s the one over there.” Elder Qiu thrust his finger towards Gu Jun.

It was not surprising. Gu Jun had really impressed every judge at the competition half a month ago. Of course, there were also excellent results on the review report.

“Oh?” The newly appointed primary surgeons approached the surgical tables.

Is this kid really such a god?