Chapter 165: Let's Create It (1)

Vrrr…

The patient was quickly transferred to the thoracic surgery intensive care unit.

“He underwent an aortic valve replacement and mitral valve repair, so please monitor his wounds closely.”

“Yes, Professor.”

Due to their extensive experience with these types of surgeries, communication between the professor and nurse was swift and efficient. There was no need for unnecessary instructions like when to administer medication or how often to check vital signs. Just mentioning the name of the surgery sufficed, as they knew exactly what needed to be done.

“Aside from acquiring data, it seems we made the right choice coming here,” Baruda observed.

He was correct. Had Jinwoo returned to the Internal Medicine ICU, there would have likely been more trial and error involved. Not all ICUs were created equal.

I agree. It’s reassuring to see this level of expertise.

The scene made it clear that surgical cases should be handled by surgeons.

After approximately five minutes, the patient was stabilized enough to secure a spot in the intensive care unit.

The professor briefly examined the ventilator set up by Anesthesiology before locating the responsible nurse.

“Oh, you might have heard already, but this case isn’t ours; Internal Medicine will handle it. You…know Shin Hyun-tae, right? The manager.”

“Yes, I know him. Professor Shin Hyun-tae. Should I contact his primary physician?”

“Oh, he’s here with us. Over there.”

“With us? Oh, yes.”

As soon as the charge nurse saw Suhyuk, she recognized him instantly. After all, there was only one other doctor in the hospital known for carrying a staff while working in Internal Medicine.

‘Strange.’

The nurse found this odd because, although not a chief nurse, she was a senior staff member with extensive knowledge of thoracic surgery and had a good understanding of relationships between different departments.

‘He is the son of Professor Lee Hyunjong…yet they interact so casually?’

Lee Hyunjong’s name alone could wake up everyone from the thoracic surgery department at Taehwa Medical Center.

“Ah. He is the primary physician, but…he stayed in the operating room from start to finish. Without him, today’s surgery might have ended badly. Thanks to his help, it went smoothly.”

“Wow…really? From beginning to end?”

“That’s right.”

After hearing the professor’s explanation, the reason behind their friendly interaction became clear.

‘From start to finish?’

A thoracic surgery usually takes more than 10-20 minutes, yet Lee Suhyuk was present from beginning to end. Moreover, based on the professor’s expression, it seemed like Suhyuk provided crucial assistance. The professor wasn’t inherently a bad person, but he also wasn’t someone who would readily give praise without merit.

“I understand, Doctor Lee Suhyuk. If anything happens, I’ll contact you immediately.”

“Yes, thank you. For now… I will pick up my prescription and leave.”

“Understood, Doctor.”

Strictly speaking, intensive care unit nurses weren’t officially assigned to any specific department. However, units heavily focused on one department, such as the thoracic surgery ICU, inevitably developed a sense of affiliation with that particular field.

Moreover, thoracic surgery was considered one of the more sociable departments among all surgical specialties. Whenever there was a department event, they invited everyone they knew.

“Thus, if we treat the nurses well, information will naturally spread.”

At least, that’s what Baruda believed.

‘I agree with him. Moreover… professors highly value their reputation among the nurses.’

Suhyuk concurred with this sentiment.

For some reason, doctors who were jerks tended to mistreat nurses. This might stem from viewing the doctor-nurse relationship as hierarchical rather than equal. Interestingly, younger doctors often held this perspective.

As soon as one becomes a specialist, they realize that their superior is a professor while their subordinate is a resident doctor, meaning nurses often get overlooked. However, it was difficult for junior residents to grasp this concept. Perhaps due to their overwhelming workload, their perspective tended to be narrow.

“Yes. Before selecting fellows in Internal Medicine, we always consider the opinions of the nurses.”

On the flip side, it could also imply that there were no strange individuals among those who treated nurses well. Whether it was due to broad-mindedness or good character, either way, it meant they possessed at least one positive trait.

‘Okay. How many people are here now?’

“There are six currently. Including those on shift changes, it could be up to twelve.”

‘Let’s assume generously, around fifteen including the intensive care unit intern.’

“Well… since you don’t really need money anyway, thinking generously won’t hurt.”

There were various ways to win over people’s hearts, but offering food was the quickest method to become friendly with someone. Suhyuk had already employed this strategy in multiple hospital wards, so he was highly skilled at it.

‘Why do I have no expenses?’

[None whatsoever. Are you trying to court her by peeling potatoes or what?]

‘H-…I’m seeing Ha-yoon though…’

[Do you consider exchanging greetings and having meals together when we’re on the same shift as dating?]

‘That…that’s not true.’

Suhyuk quickly looked crestfallen. Honestly, he knew very well that his claim was forced; he wasn’t actually dating Ha-yoon. They merely maintained a respectful senior-junior relationship. Although Suhyuk wished for their connection to progress further, previous missteps made it difficult.

[Please don’t make that expression. I like Soohyuk as he is.]

‘Like this because you’re single?’

[A scholar should be like this. Has any scholar ever been involved in…romantic relationships? Look at Lee Hyunjong. He became a great doctor precisely because he didn’t get married.]

‘Shouldn’t Manager Shin Hyun-tae seem happier…?’

[Regardless, it’s not a future available to Suhyuk. Being single suits him.]

‘This bastard… Why does he keep saying such things…?’

[Has anything good happened for you so far? If not, then I will reserve my judgment.]

‘That… no…’

As Suhyuk continued talking, he felt increasingly miserable and his heart ached. Consequently, Suhyuk shook his head vigorously, abruptly stood up from his seat, and headed towards the convenience store.

“It’s 20,000 won.”

“Here you go.”

After buying fifteen drinks, I felt slightly better.

[That’s it. Enjoy spending money, and let’s focus on our studies.]

‘Shut up, you bastard…’

[What’s wrong? Do you hate money?]

‘No… That’s not it.’

[Let’s make lots of money together.]

‘Understood…’

To achieve this, I needed to excel not only in patient care but also in research. In fact, focusing solely on making money through treatment seemed somewhat inappropriate. As a doctor, viewing patients merely as sources of income contradicted the core principles of medical ethics.

“Go ahead, please enjoy these snacks.”

“Wow, Doctor Shin, how thoughtful!”

“Please tell the next doctors to share whatever is left.”

“Yes, I will pass along your message. Thank you!”

The first step towards this goal was data collection. To gather data efficiently, it was necessary to win over the nurses and establish a good reputation among them. Of course, there were places where data naturally accumulated without these efforts - specifically, the intensive care units of internal medicine departments and infectious diseases wards.

“He underwent surgery yesterday too?” Shin Hyun-tae looked at Suhyuk before diving into their main topic.

As always, Suhyuk displayed a courteous smile. “Yes, I believed that would be best for the patient.”

“As expected. Indeed, you embody what it means to be a true doctor.” Shin Hyun-tae smiled benevolently at Suhyuk’s dedication.

How could one possess both exceptional skills and such admirable character? No matter how he thought about it, having such talent join Taehwa Medical Center’s Internal Medicine department was truly fortunate.

“Why bother so much? The thoracic surgeons always brag about monitoring vital signs well. Let them handle it.”

On the other hand, Lee Hyunjong continued to mock Suhyuk. It seemed like he was still holding onto resentment from their childhood due to some minor misunderstanding. Both doctors were equally childish, but I had to side with Lee Hyunjong on this matter.

“Well…I’m still uneasy. Internal Medicine needs to maintain control…”

“Yes…indeed. You saved that patient, not thoracic surgery.”

“Yes, umm…internal medicine is the best.”

“That’s right! We’re the best!” As expected, Lee Hyunjong pumped his fists enthusiastically at the praise for internal medicine.

How could someone remain so innocent even after turning sixty?

As I pondered this thought, Baruda interrupted me:

[It is due to his focus on academics. This is what Suhyuk should aspire towards.]

‘Isn’t it more like something he should avoid?’

[Currently…currently, you might be right. Has he been drinking?]

‘Yes…I want to drink moderately…’

Now, Lee Hyunjong not only clenched his fists but also stood up and pointed aggressively in the direction of the thoracic surgery ward, cursing under his breath.

“H-Hyung. Please sit down…sit.”

Seeing Hyunjong’s state, Shin Hyun-tae intervened, bringing him back to reality. With some coaxing, Lee Hyunjong reluctantly sat down while grumbling. Afterwards, Shin Hyun-tae gently patted Hyunjong’s shoulder to calm him before continuing their conversation.

“Anyway, we gathered here today because…we received funding. Initially, I expected 200 million won, but we got 500 million.”

“Wow.”

“Whoa.”

“As expected from Taehwa.”

The other professors, including Taejin Jo of Hematology-Oncology and Hong Changgi of Respiratory Medicine, cheered at this news.

Five hundred million won! Unless it was for a national-level project, obtaining such a large sum would be nearly impossible. Even then, securing that amount for a single project was quite rare.

“The original plan was to outsource development instead of involving Taehwa directly, but…due to Chairman Lee Yoo-won’s decision, Taehwa Electronics will now handle the development. Consequently, the research budget must go through them. The cost will be higher compared to smaller companies.”

“Ah…”

Taehwa Electronics wasn’t some small-time company. Even just one of their departments, albeit consisting of only two or three employees, commanded a significantly higher rate due to their expertise and reputation.

“So, we’ll receive around 100 million won for our labor costs, while the rest goes to Taehwa. The project duration is one year, and they will provide three personnel.”

“Three people for 400 million won? That’s quite expensive…” Hong Changgi immediately expressed his dissatisfaction upon hearing the amount, mirroring Shin Hyun-tae’s earlier reaction when faced with the electronics team.

“Yes… These three individuals are from Taehwa Mobile, responsible for creating popular in-app features. You know, like Taehwa Health? They’re the ones behind it.”

“Oh… Then it’s quite reasonable.”

Just like Shin Hyun-tae earlier, they immediately accepted his explanation. The price didn’t matter if their expertise was undeniable.

“So, we need to gather as much data as possible quickly. We’ll use it for training and such. Do you have any existing data?”

Having swiftly resolved the pricing issue, the professors moved on to the next agenda item: data collection. Naturally, this posed its own set of challenges.

This time, Taejin Jo raised his hand first.

“The problem is…it’s difficult to obtain retrospective data. Even though we monitor patients in real-time, we don’t typically maintain detailed records afterward.”

“Uh…I think so too. How about you, Jongi hyung?”

“I agree with that. That…that wouldn’t be saved.”

There was no need to store signs of vitality after monitoring them. Naturally, none of the devices had an automatic storage function. No one initially anticipated this type of research being conducted.

“So we have to start collecting data now… According to your information, at least a thousand cases are needed for reliable running data? Can we do this alone…?” Shin Hyun-tae inadvertently glanced at Lee Hyunjong.

If Lee Hyunjong went to thoracic surgery now, apologized, and accepted his punishment, he could immediately receive the data.

‘This man will never do that…’

If he were politically savvy, he would have been a minister instead of just a director by now.

‘Can Suhyuk resolve this?’

Thus, Shin Hyun-tae turned towards Suhyuk with hope. Of course, he was aware how unrealistic it sounded. If even professors couldn’t achieve it, how could a resident?

However, he genuinely believed Suhyuk might be able to accomplish this feat, considering his track record so far.