Chapter 848 The First Physician Exchange Conference
Regardless of what the Li family thought, Li San Niang continued her regular daily routine of going out to work. During her ten-day break, she would take Lu Zhu'er back to the Li family home for a meal and chat with her family.
However, it must be said that because of the Dali Temple's judgment that Liu Chao should be hanged, Li Sanniang once again became a hot topic in Chang'an.
Although everyone knew that Liu Chao's death was a result of the law, Li San Niang's status as a female official still provided a new topic of conversation for people coming and going in Chang'an.
Yongpingfang, inside the Medicine Hall.
As noon approached, there were no more patients in the clinic. Old Doctor Li and Doctor Cui (these two old men were the ones Li San Niang used to practice at the Yongpingfang Medical Hall. I wonder if you readers still remember them?) stood up to stretch their legs and took the opportunity to ask Tang Mingyue about Li San Niang.
Doctors Li and Cui never imagined that Li San Niang, who had used several techniques to qualify for the exam, entered the Chang'an Medical Alliance, and became the first female doctor in Chang'an, would be able to enter the Imperial Medical Bureau and become a female official in just a few years.
This made Old Dr. Li's past disdain for women seem like a joke.
“If this girl is properly trained, she can achieve great things just like her son!”
Yes, Li San Niang's entry into the Imperial Medical Bureau, her appointment as a female official, and her establishment of the Maternity Clinic can be considered a great achievement in the eyes of Doctor Li!
At this time, the highest achievement a physician could attain was to enter the Imperial Medical Bureau, and at the very least, to become the Director of the Imperial Medical Bureau, a proper fifth-rank official.
This is roughly the pinnacle a physician can achieve at this point, enough to earn them a section, or even a whole page, in the family genealogy.
Li Sanniang, a woman, accomplished what even a male doctor might not be able to achieve!
It's important to understand that before Li San Niang, the greatest achievement of the female physicians in the Imperial Medical Bureau was simply being a female doctor, someone who assisted male physicians in examining, preparing medicine, massaging, and doing chores for the rank-holding concubines in the harem.
Otherwise, why would families that have practiced medicine for generations still have few daughters who study medicine?
Naturally, they were raised by their mothers at home. Even if they entered the Imperial Medical Bureau, they could only become the lowest-ranking female physicians.
Why would a family be willing to continue training a girl if they expend so much effort to raise her but ultimately gain nothing?
Secondly, of course, all daughters eventually have to get married. Even if, like Chen Yanfu and Li San Niang before her, the family can provide a few medicine prescriptions as part of the dowry before the daughter gets married, it is already good for the child.
Most of the time, they just give some silver, which is already quite good.
Because once a woman gets married, she becomes part of another family in the traditional sense. So, the medical skills and experience, the prescriptions and techniques that her family has accumulated over generations, can't just be given away for nothing.
Therefore, for the sake of the family, the knowledge would naturally only be passed down to sons and not daughters.
If it weren't for the fact that the Imperial Medical Academy still had the function of educating physicians, how many private medical clinics would there be?
But then came Li San Niang!
So Dr. Li began to ponder: "My daughter is already past her prime, but my little granddaughter is still very young!"
If I focus on raising my granddaughter and find her a husband in the future, wouldn't she still be a member of my family?
Who knows, maybe one day a lady-in-waiting will emerge from my family.
With such high hopes in mind, Dr. Li asked Tang Mingyue about Li San Niang.
"...That day, my wife and I went to see her. She was fine; it was her female disciple who was injured."
However, that arrow wound should be almost completely healed by now.
Now, the Third Lady has personal guards when she goes out, and the princess's son ended up like that. This is Chang'an after all; presumably, such a thing won't happen again in the future.
Tang Mingyue wasn't one to be ignorant of social etiquette. He explained Li San Niang's situation in a few words, and seeing the expressions on the faces of Doctor Li and Doctor Cui, he smiled gently and continued, "Well, she's already an official, managing such a large number of affairs, she's quite busy."
However, I heard her mention it last time, saying that the Imperial Medical Academy was going to organize a physician exchange conference in conjunction with the alliance. If we all attend, we should be able to meet her.
After hearing what Tang Mingyue said, Dr. Li immediately asked, "Oh? A doctors' exchange meeting?"
Judging from the name, it seems to refer to discussions among doctors about how to treat illnesses?
Before Tang Mingyue could nod in agreement, Doctor Gao, who came out from the inner room, took over the conversation from behind them, saying, "I was just thinking of telling you about this, but I didn't expect Doctor Tang to have already received the news."
The three bowed to Doctor Gao, who returned the bow and continued, "Perfect timing, I'll take this opportunity to tell you about this matter."
"Three days ago, I went to the Alliance. At the suggestion of Li Yijian (Li San Niang), the Alliance and the Imperial Medical Bureau decided to hold the first Chang'an Physicians Exchange Conference at Chongwen Hall on the eighth day of next month."
Dr. Gao waved his hand at the three people who were eager to ask questions and continued to explain: "This first exchange meeting will last for a month. Although it is called an exchange meeting, not all doctors in Chang'an City can go at the same time."
The specific rules are still under discussion, but I reckon it will be a phased process.
It's also possible that the league will select someone to participate, but I don't know the specifics; we'll have to wait for the league to announce it.
Two clapping sounds came from Dr. Li. "Great! That's wonderful!"
"Having practiced medicine in Chang'an for so many years, if I were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to witness the lectures of the Imperial Medical Academy's physicians, that would be truly worthwhile."
"It's uncertain whether there will be any high-ranking physicians from the Imperial Medical Bureau giving lectures, but from what I've heard, there should be some exchange of techniques for pulse diagnosis and treatment. Even if there are no lectures, it would be good to learn something from this."
After Tang Mingyue nodded, she continued, "The eighth day of the third month is also a month-long event. Doesn't that clash with the free clinic held in the first half of the year?"
After thinking for a moment, Dr. Cui clapped his hands and said, "Yes, we usually hold free clinics in early April. Is it possible that we're going to clash this time?"
"It shouldn't be. There should be a ten-day interval in between, so we need to leave some time for the free clinic."
The group talked about this for a while before going their separate ways to have lunch.
Tang Mingyue rushed to the maternity ward after leaving the clinic, where he stood waiting for his wife, Chen Yanfu, to come out.
After the two met, Tang Mingyue pulled Chen Yanfu to a nearby restaurant.
Their children were both studying at the academy, which provided lunch. As a result, neither of them went home for lunch often, and they usually ate at restaurants or hotels outside.
Fortunately, the two of them are well-off and have some assets; otherwise, if they ate like them, they really wouldn't be able to keep up with the spending.
After ordering two dishes and some soup dumplings, Tang Mingyue couldn't wait to share with Chen Yanfu what Dr. Gao had mentioned about the doctors' exchange conference.
After slowly drinking most of her tea, Chen Yanfu said to Tang Mingyue in a leisurely manner, "I already knew about this matter."
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