Chapter 53: Calculation (1)

“It’s over?”

After approximately ten minutes, a panting thoracic surgery fellow arrived with disbelief on his face.

Although he was older, Lee Hyunjong, who felt less discomfort than Suhyuk, nodded. He had already removed his surgical gown and was now taking off his scrubs. In contrast to Suhyuk, who was limping around awkwardly, Hyunjong moved swiftly.

“Yes, it is finished. Do you see that? It shows what happened at the end.”

“Ah…”

The thoracic surgery fellow was indeed an expert when it came to hearts. With just one glance at the brief video displayed on the monitor, he immediately understood what had occurred.

“But…did you enter another blood vessel in that condition? Despite how twisted they were?”

From the video, it appeared to be a completely new form of coronary arteries for the fellow doctor. A single coronary artery branching into three? Additionally, the vessel heading left twisted both upwards and downwards? It was something he had never seen in textbooks.

As a result, there was clear reproach in the fellow’s voice. His tone implied that this procedure could have led to death.

“Uh, uh… This is your first time seeing such a thing, right? This happened in 1994.” Lee Hyunjong responded nonchalantly with an audacious expression on his face.

His shamelessness was so blatant that even Suhyuk, who remained silent behind them, felt flustered. Naturally, Baruda shared similar sentiments with Suhyuk.

“In 1994? Could it be?”

‘Dr. Choi…’

[He is indeed a con artist.]

‘Indeed…’

However, Suhyuk didn’t interfere as he was aware of his place.

“1994? What does that mean…”

Even Professor Lee Hyunjong wasn’t familiar with this case. It was understandable since it involved someone who had just started their second year as a fellow. If not for Baruda’s insistence on accumulating data, Suhyuk wouldn’t have bothered to research it either.

“As expected, you don’t know. Study more during your free time.”

“Uh…”

Lee Hyunjong continued, ignoring Suhyuk’s bewildered expression.

“There’s a university called UC Irvine, located near LA. Familiar?”

“No, I’m not.”

“You should at least know the hospital names. Anyway, they reported a case in 1994. It’s a mortality case.”

A mortality case referred to a patient who could have been saved but died. Naturally, such cases were significant. Consequently, the fellow’s expression shifted slightly from before.

I heard he was relentless…

Lee Hyunjong held immense influence within the hospital, enough to be appointed as both director and professor. However, his reputation wasn’t particularly good among thoracic surgeons. In fact, even in cardiology circles, his standing had once been low due to being perceived as overly reckless.

Yet now, he brought up this specific case, which caught the fellow off guard.

“At that time, I wasn’t actively publishing papers on stent procedures yet; they weren’t widely accepted,” Lee Hyunjong chuckled while observing the fellow’s reaction. His face radiated pride, rightfully so, given his contributions.

Lee Hyunjong was one of the key figures who helped spread stent procedures worldwide.

“So, whenever there was myocardial infarction, I would immediately open up… You know very well that if there’s any anatomical variation, the surgical risk increases, right?”

“Yes.”

“And opening someone up like this takes quite some time too.”

“Y-yes…”

“In that particular case, the patient died due to our approach. It wasn’t just about exposing the chest cavity. Do you understand what I mean?”

“I do.”

Despite witnessing the procedure unfold before his eyes, Lee Hyunjong spoke dismissively. As a fellow, he internally seethed at this situation.

Seriously… Whenever they mess up, we always have to clean up their mistakes…

Even Lee Hyunjong himself had asked for assistance multiple times. It was inevitable for cardiologists dealing with heart-related issues, but it didn’t diminish his frustration.

Yet here he was with this expression on his face. It wasn’t surprising that Lee Hyunjong had become the public enemy of thoracic surgeons.

“The case from back then is exactly like this patient’s condition. This isn’t a sudden mutation but rather an extremely rare anatomical variation.”

“Ah…”

“That’s why I went prepared this time. Studying beforehand can be helpful in situations like these.”

“Yes…”

“In any case, thank you for coming. However, since we saved the patient, let’s take it easy now. You can sit down or leave as you wish.” With those words, Lee Hyunjong turned to look at Lee Suhyuk.

Look at him, pretending to be so knowledgeable.

Suhyuk appeared genuinely surprised. Just moments ago, Hyunjong himself hadn’t known anything about the year 1994 and the related issues, yet he effortlessly put up a facade of expertise.

“He certainly has a sharp mind. He pieced together quite a convincing story.”

‘Indeed. If he wasn’t the director, he would have been caught cheating.’

Lee Hyunjong laughed heartily, completely unaware of what was going through Lee Suhyuk’s mind. The fellow had already returned to his department.

“Let’s move the patient to the intensive care unit.”

“Yes, Professor. Intern Sam, please help me.”

Suhyuk followed the order and started pushing the bed with the intern. Due to his leg injury, it was challenging for him. Realizing this, Lee Hyunjong finally stepped in to assist, all while continuing his chatter:

“And…what’s happening between you and Professor Kim Jinsil?”

“Oh, next year’s rese… no, research, right?” Suhyuk initially mentioned ‘reassignment,’ but upon noticing the intern, quickly changed his words. Regardless, the intern wouldn’t know the full details anyway.

He decided it was better to err on the side of caution.

Indeed, he is meticulous.

Lee Hyunjong, already biased towards Suhyuk, perceived him overly favorably.

“Yes.”

“I did propose one experimental research project.”

“Experiment? What… Ah, let’s finish checking on this patient first and continue our discussion later.”

“Understood, Professor.”

As they talked, they arrived at the intensive care unit for Internal Medicine. The strong smell of disinfectant immediately stung their noses upon entering.

One spot had been secured thanks to the veteran radiographers contacting ahead. With satisfaction, Lee Hyunjong positioned the patient there.

“Let’s prescribe these medications. Uh-huh, yes. Like that. Good job?”

Meanwhile, as the primary physician, Suhyuk swiftly arranged the artificial respirator while issuing prescriptions rapidly.

It was truly ‘tick-tock’ fast. Lee Hyunjong observed this and raised his eyebrows.

‘Does he owe me money? Why is he only using my preferred medications?’

This was due to Baruda’s excellent analytical abilities. By comparing Lee Hyunjong’s prescriptions over the past month, Baru could create almost perfect prescriptions according to Lee Hyunjong’s preferences. Naturally, Lee Hyunjong was extremely satisfied with the results.

The extent of his satisfaction was evident:

“Hey, Suhyuk.”

“Yes?”

“Doesn’t that experiment with Professor Kim Jinsil take some time?”

“Huh? Well… The actual experiment doesn’t require much time, but Professor Kim Jinsil is quite busy. We probably won’t be able to conduct it until winter.”

“Really?”

Lee Hyunjong didn’t ask about the specific experiment.

‘If it is Kim Jinsil… She is a machine when it comes to writing papers.’

Initially, there were concerns that Lee Hahyun’s retirement and subsequent appointment as a professor would leave a gap in Radiology, but her replacement had quickly emerged.

‘She will likely handle things well.’

After all, more papers are always better. With this thought, Lee Hyunjong spoke:

“Then let’s create a presentation for the winter conference.”

“Winter conference?”

“Yes. Has anyone asked you to submit an abstract yet? You’re just in your first year.” Lee Hyunjong asked cautiously.

While it was rare for someone in their first year to present at the winter conference, Lee Suhyuk wasn’t an ordinary intern.

Naturally, Shin Hyun-tae and Taejin Jo were closely watching him.

“Nope.”

“Good. Let’s create one based on this case.”

“Oh…”

Lee Suhyuk had read papers by Suhyuk or Baruda but never written one himself. Despite seeing numerous cases, he lacked intuition for writing a paper.

[What type of paper is it?]

‘Isn’t it a case report?’

[Will it help when you become a professor?]

‘No… Why would it? Many places don’t consider case reports as formal papers.’

While presenting at academic conferences was feasible, publishing a paper seemed implausible. Decades ago, even reputable medical journals used to publish case reports as formal papers, but times have changed significantly since then.

“Then it would be pointless suffering with no gain. Let’s say ‘no’.”

‘Crazy. How can you say “no” to the director?’

“He might accept if Suhyuk says ‘no’.”

‘That is…’

Thus, they began discussing how best to politely decline the offer. Naturally, Lee Hyunjong was oblivious as he typically had little interest in others’ feelings or thoughts. He simply spoke his mind.

“You can find the 1994 paper, right? Using that as a reference, we can argue this isn’t a mutation but rather an anatomical variation, and it could end up in textbooks.”

“In textbooks?” This caught Suhyuk completely off guard. Textbooks?

“Do you have hearing problems?”

‘What?’

[I don’t think so?]

‘Then it is for real textbooks?’

Lee Hyunjong nodded as he observed Suhyuk’s flustered appearance.

“Yes. Textbooks. This will be published in NEJM.”

“But there are only two citations?”

“It is about anatomical variations. Moreover, this has never been mentioned before. Hey, even I didn’t know about this. Such things always get published.”

“Wow… In NEJM… by me…”

“Yes. Are you thinking of becoming a professor? It will definitely help. Even if it doesn’t count officially, it still provides significant assistance. NEJM. NEJM. You understand right? Shin Hyun-tae hasn’t written anything yet. Don’t mention this to him. He can be petty, more than you might expect.”

“Yes, Professor. Absolutely. I will definitely do it.”

“Great, then…,” Lee Hyunjong took out his wristwatch from his pants pocket, which he had removed earlier during the procedure. He looked again at Suhyuk - more precisely, Suhyuk’s leg and cane. “In ten minutes. Meet me in my office in ten minutes. Write an abstract immediately for estimates or something like that.”

“Huh? Immediately?”

“Well, since we’re discussing this now, let’s get it done right away.”

“The abstract…”

“It’s not difficult. You can handle it once you see an example, right? Anyway, see you later.”

“Oh, yes. Understood, Dr. Choi.”

As Suhyuk watched the director walking away, he muttered to himself:

‘NEJM…’

It still seemed impossibly far off, but he felt as if he was getting closer to becoming one of the world’s best doctors.