Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 186

Fifth Vital Sign – Episode 186 (186/502)

186. Sense of Disparity

The patient took out a spring notebook from her bag and opened it to a page filled with large numbers written in red marker.

“10,032,078. What is this?”

“You don’t know what it is?”

There was no way Tae-kyung could know the series of numbers listed like a code.

“No, I have no idea.”

“It’s the number of times people have watched the doctor’s videos on YouTube.”

“My videos?”

“Yes.”

The numbers the woman showed were the total views of videos uploaded on YouTube, including the video of Tae-kyung providing emergency care at the scene of a triple-collision traffic accident and Se-young’s interview video.

“You once provided emergency treatment as a 119 paramedic [Korean emergency services number, similar to 911] at a traffic accident scene on a national highway, right?”

“Yes.”

“That video alone has over 7 million views.”

The reason why the traffic accident video had so many views was that a Korean student living abroad had reported it to a program covering overseas issues.

Thanks to that, even foreigners watched the original video, and the number of views exploded.

“Usually, even one video exceeding 1 million views is considered amazing, but exceeding 7 million is an incredible result. The fact that a video of a doctor saving people, not a video featuring celebrities or sensational content, is receiving this much attention is surprising to me.”

“Are you by any chance from a broadcasting station?”

After listening to the conversation about YouTube, Tae-kyung wondered if the woman was from a broadcasting station, and that guess was correct.

“Yes. I’m sorry for the late introduction. I’m Go Min-joo, a writer working with PD [Production Director] Park Pil-seung.”

Go Min-joo was the main writer for the ‘After School Exam Time’ program and was creating the program with the PD.

“You’ve probably guessed by now, but as you expect, I’m here to scout you.”

“So, you’re telling me you got a checkup to request a casting?”

“Yes, I actually had an endoscopy last year, but I got another one on purpose. I wanted to somehow convey the sincerity and desperation of our production team to you.”

“You’re going through unnecessary trouble because of me. I suddenly feel very heavy-hearted.”

“Then, you can just appear on the show with that feeling. To continue what I was saying earlier, someone left a comment under that video in Korean and English saying, ‘A wonderful person who is faithful to the name of a doctor,’ and the number of likes is unbelievable. You probably heard about the survey from the PD, but people want to hear your story.”

“I really appreciate your words, but I’m not that great of a person.”

“Since you’re busy, I’ll get straight to the point. I deliberately arrived earlier than the checkup time yesterday and today to look around the hospital. And our hospital has more surgery patients than I thought, and many patients come from far away to see you.”

The main writer was curious about the reason why patients would go out of their way to find Tae-kyung, leaving behind big hospitals like university hospitals.

Of course, his skills as a doctor played a part, but she thought it wasn’t just because of his skills.

“Then I carefully looked at the faces of the patients coming out of your office. They had something in common.”

“A commonality?”

“Yes.”

“Not a single person who came out of the examination room asked the nurse a question again.”

The main writer then explained to Tae-kyung what she had seen and felt.

Having a long career as a writer, there was no place she hadn’t been to for broadcasting, and that naturally included hospitals.

While preparing for the sitcom ‘Hospital People,’ she had spent some time visiting various hospitals to gather information about the atmosphere inside the hospitals.

At that time, she carefully observed the patients. And quite a few of the patients who came out of the examination room asked the nurse questions again.

It wasn’t questions about schedules, such as when to come back.

They were questions about their physical condition that they hadn’t been able to ask the doctor, with somewhat unsatisfied faces.

‘This is ridiculous, they don’t even give you a chance to ask, so how can you say anything?’

‘Tell me about it. It’s my body, but I don’t know what’s wrong.’

‘They’re the experts, not me. I could say that too.’

Some people complained that the doctor was too busy trying to get them out rather than giving a detailed explanation.

At the time, she thought it was unavoidable because there wasn’t enough time to see many patients.

But when the main writer was in that situation, it was different.

Her grandfather’s chronic illness worsened, and she had to take her parents to the hospital. As a result, she realized how important the attitude and words of the doctor treating the patient and their guardian were.

Their words could ignite the passion for treatment or, conversely, plunge them into despair.

The doctor’s words could make them feel annoyed or energized.

That’s how important a doctor was to a patient.

Regardless of the size of the hospital, when receiving treatment, patients often feel that the explanation or treatment is insufficient. However, few people would go back into the examination room to ask the doctor.

Most of them would just carry a bitter feeling and return after paying.

In that respect, Tae-kyung was different.

The expressions of the patients who came out of the examination room all showed high satisfaction. Moreover, the patients’ answers were always the same to the nurse’s question.

‘Do you have any questions other than about the schedule?’

‘No. The doctor explained everything so well that I have no questions.’

It wasn’t just that the doctor explained well, but it felt like he was focusing on the patients.

The main writer, who was curious about what kind of person doctor Kim Tae-kyung was, asked the people in the ward and a few people who had been treated about Tae-kyung.

‘I had thyroid metastasis and had cancer surgery, and I’m currently undergoing chemotherapy. When I see the doctor, I get the feeling that he sees me as more than just a patient.’

‘He seems to empathize with the patient’s pain. He helps the patient not to fight the disease alone and lonely.’

‘Trust? I’m not good at explaining, but it’s just trust as a doctor.’

‘A doctor who really tries to save patients.’

The patients who were asked all trusted Tae-kyung and were sincerely grateful. And the main writer also experienced Tae-kyung during this examination and could empathize with their words.

“Ah! And one patient said he was a doctor himself, and he told me that you are a doctor recognized by doctors.”

As soon as Tae-kyung heard that, he was sure that the main character of those words was Lee Dong-hoon and chuckled.

“Doctor. You recently published a paper on the treatment and prognosis of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm [a type of pancreatic cyst] types, right?”

“How did you know that?”

“I looked up all the papers you’ve written on the paper site to scout you.”

“It must not have been easy to read the papers…….”

“Yes, there’s a lot of English, and honestly, I don’t even know what it means, but the PD said I had to show sincerity, so I read it.”

“I feel sorry that everyone is going through so much trouble because of me.”

“If you’re sorry, just appear on the show.”

“Ha! It’s difficult.”

Tae-kyung had always been cautious about appearing on TV.

Of course, he had appeared on TV a few months ago because of Se-young’s case. But that was just a brief appearance on the news to help a child, not going out as the main character of an entertainment show like now.

In his pre-med days, a professor had once said that if a doctor gains fame and becomes accustomed to media exposure, they will pay more attention to broadcasting than to patients.

Tae-kyung, who was impressed by those words, thought that he should be faithful to his patients above all else.

“You may think that you’re just appearing on an entertainment show, but someone might dream of becoming a true doctor after watching your show, and someone else might rethink their attitude towards patients as a doctor, right? I think it’s worth appearing on the show. Can you seriously consider it just once? Please.”

It was when the main writer was conveying her last words, seeing Tae-kyung’s attitude, which seemed a little more relaxed than before.

Clang-

“Please save me. Our program’s lifeline depends on you.”

PD Park Pil-seung, who had been listening to the situation inside with his ear to the door of the examination room, suddenly opened the door and bowed deeply, pleading.

“The broadcast is not far away, and it’s about to be canceled.”

He was so desperate that he seemed about to kneel.

“If you just appear on the show, I will definitely repay the favor. So please…….”

“PD! What are you doing all of a sudden? Doctor, I’ll be going now.”

“……!”

The main writer pushed Park Pil-seung’s shoulder instead of Tae-kyung, who was flustered.

“Our program doesn’t have any devil’s editing [malicious editing to make someone look bad], and we’ll convey your story to the viewers as it is, without adding or subtracting anything. Doctor, please save me!”

Park Pil-seung pleaded desperately until the moment the examination room door closed.

“That’s a really great sincerity, so think about it carefully.”

Nurse Lim Jeong-sook also added a word as the production team came to see her for treatment.

“I don’t know what to do. First, tell the next patient to come in.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

After that, Tae-kyung saw outpatients and rushed around the hospital, handling scheduled surgeries.

“Mom, is it still far? When are we going home?”

Meanwhile, Lee Soo-jeong was waiting with a nervous heart, and her son seemed tired of waiting.

“Hyun-woong, just a little bit? Huh? Let’s wait a little bit and go after Mom’s checkup. Do you want to play a game on Hyun-woong’s phone?”

“Really? Can I play a game?”

Hyun-woong’s face quickly brightened at the sound of the game because his mom didn’t usually allow him to play games.

“Yes. But you have to turn down the volume.”

“Okay.”

After waiting for a long time, nurse Lim Jeong-sook finally approached Lee Soo-jeong.

“Did you wait long?”

“No. Is it my turn now?”

“Yes, the patient who made the reservation called to say they couldn’t come today. You can go to the examination room. I’ll guide you.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Arriving in front of the examination room, Lee Soo-jeong sat Hyun-woong on a chair in front of the examination room.

“Hyun-woong, Mom is going in for a checkup, can you wait here for a while playing games?”

“You can go in with your child.”

“No.”

Lee Soo-jeong said firmly to nurse Lim Jeong-sook, who was worried about the child.

“It’s okay to be here. Hyun-woong, it’s okay, right?”

“Mom, but…… never mind. I’ll wait.”

Hyun-woong hesitated as if he had something to say, then answered briefly.

“Mom will be back.”

Lee Soo-jeong entered the examination room with nurse Lim Jeong-sook.

“Hello.”

As Lee Soo-jeong entered the examination room, Tae-kyung paused for a moment and focused.

“Ah, yes. Hello. Please sit here.”

Tae-kyung, who had been carefully examining something just now, treated the patient kindly as if nothing had happened and asked.

“You came today for a breast ultrasound?”

“Yes. I came for a checkup.”

“Do you have any particular symptoms or pain?”

“No. It’s not that, but it’s been a long time since I had a checkup, and I’m worried.”

“Are you talking about worrying about breast cancer?”

“Yes? Yes…….”

“Then we need to set a date to compare the breast X-ray and ultrasound. I’ll set the earliest date separately…….”

“No! It can’t be. I have to get a checkup from you now.”

Tae-kyung’s gaze, which had been looking at Lee Soo-jeong, who suddenly interrupted and answered firmly, turned to the monitor for a moment.

-The patient seems a little sensitive.

It was a memo left by the receptionist. Tae-kyung looked at nurse Lim Jeong-sook and nodded slightly, then looked back at Lee Soo-jeong.

“I can do it now if you want. But to see it accurately, it’s better to compare it [with previous scans]. That’s why I explained it.”

“I know what you mean, but I’m very busy. I’ll just get an ultrasound. I have to get an ultrasound.”

Even at this point, Tae-kyung thought that Lee Soo-jeong was just a hypochondriac.

“Okay. I understand. Please prepare for the ultrasound.”

“Yes, Doctor. Please undress from here and put on the gown hanging there.”

“……Yes.”

Lee Soo-jeong, who was changing into a gown in the dressing room, felt something strange.

‘He’s a doctor who caused problems in our hospital. I can’t tell you the details, but he’s a person who had problems with deceiving and mocking patients and having bad behavior.’

Go Gye-deuk clearly said that he was a doctor with big problems.

He emphasized that several times. But when she actually met Tae-kyung, she felt an inexplicable sense of disparity from what Go Gye-deuk had said.

Lee Soo-jeong left the dressing room with extreme tension.

“Please lie down on this bed.”

“Yes.”

“Doctor, I’m ready.”

As Lee Soo-jeong lay down on the bed and took a position, nurse Lim Jeong-sook finished preparing and called Tae-kyung.

“Okay, don’t be nervous……!”

Tae-kyung, who was sitting in the chair and holding the ultrasound machine, suddenly stopped talking and said urgently again.

“Are you okay?”