Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 180

#180 Taking a Step Forward (3)

‘I’ve seen this in obstetrics and gynecology. A case with a hematoma on the vulva!’

I recalled a moment I experienced three months ago in the OB/GYN department.

It was early in the morning.

Due to overlapping emergency surgeries in obstetrics and gynecology, I, as an intern, had to assist with a breech delivery.

The surgery, which had been progressing without any issues, suddenly became urgent after the baby was delivered.

The anesthesiologist shouted towards the OB/GYN team in the field (the abdomen where the surgery was taking place).

I could sense the inexperienced anesthesiology resident’s voice trembling.

However, OB/GYN Professor Jo Jae-yong responded calmly.

The anesthesiology team urgently proceeded with a red blood cell transfusion, and the OB/GYN team controlled the bleeding site.

‘Thinking back to that time…….’

I twirled the pen in front of the exam paper, lost in thought.

While transfusing blood, they incised the hematoma to find the blood vessel and stop the bleeding…….

‘Right. The answers are 3 and 6!’

I confidently checked the answers.

Experiences filled with emotion are not easily forgotten.

That day, the anesthesiologist’s trembling voice in the operating room was enough to make me feel nervous.

And that experience merged with my knowledge, becoming real, living medical knowledge.

‘……The past year hasn’t been in vain.’

I smiled.

I was certain that the various experiences I had in the hospital over the past year had grown me without my even realizing it.

‘Okay, next question.’

Shhh―

I turned the page and calmly solved the problems.

The interns, engrossed in the exam, moved their felt-tip pens in unison across the paper.

* * *

Even while our interns were taking the exam, the hospital was still running busily.

So, who would do the interns’ jobs at this time when they were gone?

The residents would.

They were experiencing the feeling of going back to being interns for half a day.

“Where did the interns go?”

“It’s their exam day today.”

“Ah, that’s right! Damn it, I already have so much work to do……!”

The residents’ morning duties became frantically busy.

With the interns, who usually took on the unpleasant tasks, absent, it was quite difficult.

“Fifteen minutes from the exam site to the hospital. If they’re late…… I’ll call them immediately.”

While taking an EKG [electrocardiogram], OB/GYN Cheon Sa-yeon gritted her teeth.

“When are the interns coming? They’ll come right after the exam, right……?”

While removing a Foley catheter [a flexible tube passed through the urethra into the bladder to drain urine], thoracic surgeon Ahn Gyeong-sik also wore a distressed expression.

In common parlance, interns are described as the .

However, for a hospital to function, all members must operate like an organism.

If even one of the interlocking gears is missing, the whole thing can stop.

“They should be here by now. That punk isn’t even answering his phone, damn it!”

Internal medicine Kim Viper spat out rough curses towards the call phone on his way out after inserting an L-tube [a nasogastric tube used for suctioning stomach contents].

It was only half a day, but the residents were keenly aware of the interns’ importance.

* * *

That’s how the passed, and now it was time to prepare for the upcoming interviews.

The day before the interview, the news reported a heavy snow warning.

In the evening, Joong-won hyung [older brother/friend] , who had gone outside and was coming back in, entered the break room and said,

“Hey, it’s snowing a lot, you know?”

“Is it?”

“Can’t you tell by looking at my head?”

Snow was piled up on Joong-won hyung’s exposed forehead as he wore his coat.

“I got caught up in the sentiment while walking in the snow and came back to the hospital. How is it? Do I look like a winter man?”

“You look like a quail egg with cheese powder sprinkled on it, hyung.”

“Geun-wook, you look like a chicken leg in half a samgyetang [Korean ginseng chicken soup] these days because you’ve gained weight.”

Joong-won hyung and Geun-wook bickered and chuckled as usual.

Looking at them, these two really seem like a comedy duo.

[Yeon-seo] Let’s go outside, those who are off!

Ding―

Yeon-seo posted a message in the group chat.

The attached photo showed some interns making a snowman.

Seeing them rush out as soon as the snow piled up, Yeon-seo must have been a puppy in her past life.

“That looks fun. They’re making a snowman outside! Seon-han, let’s go out too!”

“Have fun.”

At my lukewarm words, Geun-wook stared at me for a moment before throwing out a comment.

“You’re such an old man.”

What?

I couldn’t hide my shock.

To be called an old man by Geun-wook of all people…….

“Why am I an old man?”

“They say you’re an old man from the moment you’re not excited about a snowy day.”

That’s the first time I’ve heard that.

But it’s strangely convincing, so I feel bad.

“Seon-han, what’s the point of having a fresh face? The moment your emotions dry up, your youth ends! You’ve been rolling around in the hospital for a year, and your mind has become desolate…….”

“Okay, okay.”

I grabbed my coat before Geun-wook’s attack got any longer.

“Ugh, it’s cold!”

As I stepped outside the hospital, a chilly air entered my nose.

But, once I was out, it felt good.

The tree-lined path leading from the hospital building to the funeral hall.

That very street where flower petals fluttered and made the interns’ hearts flutter last spring.

Now, that scenery was a masterpiece in a different sense.

“Wow, look at the snow piled up!”

Geun-wook admired the scenery.

Snow erases the boundaries of the world in white.

Between roads, between the sky and the earth.

So now the hospital looked all white.

Under the streetlights along the road, the snowflakes were even more visible in the bright light coming down.

I approached it, stood there blankly, and looked up at the streetlights.

‘Is this the first snow I’m experiencing at Yonsei University Hospital? A year has passed, really…….’

Under the dim lighting, it felt like snowflakes were pouring down only on us.

“It’s new.”

“Was our hospital this pretty?”

.

Joong-won hyung said those words, and now that word is familiar to me too.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to work at Yonsei University Hospital next year, but I’ve also become attached to this space.

“……But what is that?”

“Oh my god.”

We soon lost our words.

Under Yeon-seo’s direction, the interns were working together to create a huge snowball.

It was like an ancient pyramid construction site.

Are they really that serious about snowmen?

“Seon-han oppa [older brother/friend, used by females], come quickly!”

“Did you really have to go this far?”

“Wouldn’t people coming to the hospital tomorrow smile even for a moment while looking at this?”

It was a giant duck.

On the other hand, they were mass-producing small snow ducks.

They were working on the floor with ‘duck-shaped tongs’ that they had brought from somewhere.

As if they were interns trained in labor, their working method was also quite systematic.

Like waiting in line for chest compressions in a CPR situation, everyone was seriously placing small ducks on top of the big duck in order.

“Then I’ll help too…….”

Thwack!

At that moment, a snowball flew at the back of my head out of nowhere.

I turned around to see who it was, and Geun-wook was wearing a triumphant smile.

“Come on, Shin Seon-han!”

If it’s a challenge, I have no choice but to accept it.

I asked Yeon-seo.

“Can I use a duck?”

“Go ahead.”

“Thanks.”

I roughly shoved a duck supported by Yeon-seo into Geun-wook’s collar.

“Ugh!”

Geun-wook twisted his body like a pretzel.

Soon a snowball fight broke out, and the peaceful street became a scene of chaos.

The interns laughed as if they had returned to their childhood for the first time in a while.

Click!

The sound of taking pictures could be heard from everywhere.

“Haha, I guess they’re interns.”

“They’re having fun.”

The sound of some professors passing by and laughing could be heard.

Normally, they might point out ‘the dignity of a doctor,’ but they seem to be turning a blind eye just for today.

That’s how the interns were making another memory at Yonsei University Hospital, as if cherishing the little time left.

* * *

Time passed in an instant.

After applying for thoracic surgery and finishing the residency exam, the next course was the .

‘It’s been a while since I’ve worn a suit like this.’

Swish, swish―

I looked in the mirror and tied an unfamiliar tie.

The residency applicant interview proceeds in two stages.

First, an interview with the department of thoracic surgery.

Second, an interview with the board of directors.

‘Come to think of it, I had an interview when I came in as an intern…… I don’t even remember which professor interviewed me back then.’

The intern work in the pathology department in December was more relaxed than in the family medicine department last month.

So I was able to prepare for the interview more comfortably than the other colleagues.

While packing the suit set, tie, and shirt in the closet, I thought about what questions I would be asked in the interview.

‘I wonder if they’ll ask why I applied for thoracic surgery?’

I looked back on the past year.

My name and photo had been posted on the Yonsei University blog a few times during that time.

When I brought a patient to the emergency room after pericardiocentesis [a procedure to remove fluid from around the heart] in the middle of Gangnam Station…….

When No-eul nuna [older sister/friend, used by males] was discharged after her difficult childbirth…….

Ah, and my name appeared in the local newspaper in Gokdam.

I guess that wouldn’t have been widely known even to the people here at Yonsei University Hospital, would it?

‘Come to think of it, all sorts of things happened.’

I chuckled.

Looking at my actions over the past year, they might think I’m a strange and unusual guy.

While I was thinking about what kind of pressure interview would take place, my roommate Geun-wook opened the door and rushed in.

“Hey, Seon-han. Is this tie that weird?”

The pediatrics interview was held much earlier than the thoracic surgery interview.

So I thought he had already changed his clothes and gone to the interview, but he suddenly came back to the room.

But this guy’s tie is very flashy.

I thought he stood out because he was already big and wearing a silver-colored gray suit…….

The flashy purple tie didn’t seem suitable for an interview at all.

“Are you going to a wedding?”

“Ugh…… Or should I wear this?”

He took out a new tie from the closet, but this time it was dark and didn’t seem right either.

“Are you going to a funeral?”

“Ah, this is difficult! I only have these two…… I need to have a reason to wear a suit usually. I’ll just have to wear anything.”

I stopped Geun-wook, who was hesitating between the two.

“Hey, wear mine instead. I think you can give it back to me after the interview. The thoracic surgery interview is late in the afternoon anyway.”

“Okay, thank you!”

Geun-wook hurriedly put on the tie I took off, then stared at me.

“Seon-han, tie it for me.”

“Aish.”

Such a handful.

I tied the tie around Geun-wook’s neck in a plain knot.

Geun-wook quickly changed his tie and headed to the seminar room where the pediatrics interview was being held.

“I’ll be back!”

And a little later.

Geun-wook opened the door and came in with a gloomy face.

“How did the interview go?”

“Wow, they grilled me about why I got such bad intern grades. But the competition rate is 1:1, so they won’t drop me, right?”

“Since you’re an internal intern, they’ll look favorably on you.”

I patted Geun-wook on the shoulder as I took the tie he was hurriedly taking off.

“In my opinion, you’re an A-turn [safe bet], Geun-wook! Don’t worry.”

“Yeah, thanks! I’m going to handle a call I received!”

Geun-wook quickly changed his clothes and ran back to the ward to work.

Now it’s my turn.

‘I’m a little nervous.’

I look in the mirror while tying my tie.

The back of my neck is stiff, and my chest is ticklish.

I decided to go into the interview with confidence, but my body seems to be stiffening as I’m about to leave.

I guess all interviews for social newbies like us are like that.

“I am Shin Seon-han, the youngest son of Shin’s Seafood Restaurant in Garak Market, you bastards.”

I muttered an order that no one would hear.

Then an unknown confidence springs up.

After clearing my throat a few times in the air, I headed to the seminar room where the interview was being held a little early.