Chapter 41: Dragon Boat Festival Free Clinic (Update 1)
These days, the overall environment for traditional Chinese medicine is not good, and the leaders of the Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine are under great pressure. The hospital has been making losses every year. Every time several tertiary hospitals in the city hold a meeting, their Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine is the target of criticism.
So two months ago, when someone suggested the idea of a free clinic, the director made the decision without hesitation: Do it! Not only do we have to do it, but we have to achieve some results!
Whether this kind of activity can make money is secondary, but their hospital needs this kind of positive publicity material!
The organizers of this event were Fang Min and Zhou Shuhua, both veterans of the hospital's administrative department, who had been tapped for the top job. Their boss's message was clear: he was retiring in two years, and whoever could make this Dragon Boat Festival free clinic a success would have a chance at a promotion.
Therefore, Fang Min and Zhou Shuhua used almost all their connections to persuade those expert doctors, in order to take the lead in the free clinic provided by famous doctors.
This free TCM clinic featured a variety of activities, including free consultations with renowned doctors, TCM nursing care, health-promoting medicated meals, and traditional Chinese medicine milk tea and snacks. The goal was to ensure a vibrant and engaging event for all ages. However, any discerning eye could see that the most important aspect of the event was the free consultations with renowned doctors. As long as they could bring in a skilled and renowned TCM practitioner, crowds would naturally flock to the clinic.
There are only a few experts who are hard to find in normal times, and the citizens of Nanze City are familiar with them. If one of them can be invited, the contest will be settled.
Unfortunately, Fang Min and Zhou Shuhua had little influence and the experts were all very busy, so when they begged the experts to come to the Dragon Boat Festival free clinic, they were unsurprisingly frustrated because the free clinic would take up the doctors' rest days and there was no other compensation, so no one was interested.
In the end, apart from the doctors sent out by 6 departments, only some young Chinese medicine practitioners who actively signed up were left.
This couldn't go on like this; this event was related to Fang Min and Zhou Shuhua's promotion and salary increase. If it went wrong, neither of them would be in good stead.
The hospital spent money but didn't make any waves, so the administration department would be the first to be held accountable. Although the two of them fought fiercely, neither of them wanted to be the target of criticism during the hospital meeting.
Fortunately, Zhou Shuhua's husband had some connections, and six experts at or above the associate senior level were willing to help, coming over for an hour-long consultation. These experts specialize in various subjects, so they have a full complement of services.
This meant Fang Min had no chance of winning. But with this guarantee, Fang Min's mind became active again. Since Zhou Shuhua had already hired several experts from the hospital, she could also find a few folk practitioners outside. Although those folk Chinese medicine practitioners didn't have professional titles, they all relied on their solid medical skills to establish themselves outside the hospital.
It was Fang Min who had sent the invitation to Mingxin Hall. She had heard from relatives that the old doctor at the clinic was very skilled and would often go to the countryside to provide free medical treatment. With a desperate attempt at a cure, she made a special trip to Mingxin Hall and was surprised to discover that the old doctor there was indeed quite capable.
Before leaving, Fang Min took a few prescriptions of Chinese medicine, as Dr. Shen had immediately identified the cause of her recent severe insomnia. After taking the medicine, her insomnia was truly gone.
Besides Mingxintang, Fang Min also visited several other traditional Chinese medicine clinics in Nanze City, and finally managed to invite a few folk Chinese medicine practitioners. Even a gynecologist at the hospital, after hearing about Fang Min's situation, finally agreed to participate in the free clinic.
Doctor Shen Anlian of Mingxintang was Fang Min's biggest trump card. To prevent any accidents, she didn't mention this to any of her colleagues.
Therefore, the atmosphere between her and Zhou Shuhua had been very harmonious for the past month. When Zhou Shuhua was in high spirits at the office every day, Fang Min always managed to remain calm. In fact, she was also curious about who would be the biggest winner during the Dragon Boat Festival free clinic.
But the accidents in May disrupted Fang Min's plans one after another.
First, a medical dispute broke out at Mingxin Hall, with Dr. Shen being hospitalized after being assaulted by a patient's family. Then, Dr. Shen's granddaughter, Shen Jiang, caused a scene at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, slapping Director Huang and Specialist Dong in the face.
In the end, even the hospital leaders were alarmed by this matter. Director Huang was severely criticized and his selection for this year's awards was cancelled.
As for expert Dong, he was originally a well-known expert hired by the Chinese Medicine Hospital. For him, fame is more important than anything else. Although he has not been punished, he is the one who has suffered the most internal injuries. Moreover, it is estimated that the hospital will not renew his contract after the contract period is over.
Unfortunately, the Dragon Boat Festival free clinic was only a few days away, and Fang Min's hope of finding a doctor as skilled as Dr. Shen on short notice was practically impossible. Fang Min had been in a bad mood for the past few days, and anyone could see it. Zhou Shuhua simply assumed she was experiencing premature menopause. After all, she had been fine for the previous two months, so she naturally didn't think Fang Min was being upset because of work.
If she wanted to be angry, she should have done so more than a month ago. She would never tolerate my showing off in the office every day.
No matter how unhappy Fang Min was, the Dragon Boat Festival still came.
When Shen Jiang showed up at the event with the invitation, Director Huang was the first to notice her.
There was no way around it. Shen Jiang was already conspicuous in the crowd, not to mention she was someone Director Huang would remember and hate for the rest of his life. The biggest loss of face Director Huang had ever suffered was thanks to Shen Jiang.
"What are you doing here!?"
Director Huang stood in front of Shen Jiang to prevent her from hitting the hospital sign again.
Shen Jiang pulled out the moon-white invitation from her bag and shook it. "The organizer of this event invited me. What's wrong?"
Director Huang took it from her in disbelief and took a look. It was indeed an invitation from the Chinese Medicine Hospital, with the signature of Fang Min from the Administration Department on it.
What's wrong with Fang Min? Doesn't she know that this little girl has a grudge against him? She actually invited her to participate in the free clinic. Does she have a grudge against him?
Fang Min was also confused when being questioned by the aggressive Director Huang. She didn't know that Shen Jiang would come to participate in the event. Although there was indeed one more free clinic booth now, but... did she want to let this young girl represent the Chinese medicine hospital?
What if I mess up?
Just as Fang Min was hesitating, she saw Zhou Shuhua having people place name cards for the experts she invited in the best seats.
This is the most central location. In order to allow the free medical consultation experts to boost the popularity of other surrounding activities, in addition to these 6 central locations, other doctors' seats are interspersed among various activities. The feeling of the doctors sitting here is completely different from that of those positions.
All the spaces here have been taken up by Zhou Shuhua, so the only ones left are the scattered small stalls.
Fang Min didn't have time to think. She immediately left the two people beside her and walked over to Zhou Shuhua. She pointed to a booth a little further away and politely negotiated with her, "I want to leave this seat for Director Chen. Can you please move it to the side? It's really neglectful to her, a director, to sit so far away."
Director Chen was the director of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Gynecology Department who saw that Fang Min was unable to find an expert and offered to come over to help with the consultation.
"That won't do. All the people I invited are senior experts with high status and prestige. How can I let them sit in such a remote position? Fang Min, apologize to Director Chen later. She won't hold it against it. This matter is settled."
In Zhou Shuhua's eyes, it was a foregone conclusion that she would succeed the office director next year, so she was too lazy to give Fang Min any face.
When Director Huang came over and complained about Fang Min's incompetence, Fang Min suddenly lost her temper: "Why can't she come to see patients? Our leaders agreed to let the doctor from Mingxintang come to see patients. Didn't she teach you a lesson in the hospital last month? I think her level is more than enough for the free clinic!"
Fang Min took Shen Jiang to find a stall. "Come on, I already prepared a stall for your grandma today. It's perfect for you to use now that you're here."
Director Huang was so angry when he saw the two people's backs. What was wrong with Fang Min? She must have eaten explosives! She actually spoke to him like that.
Shen Jiang had initially worried that this might not go smoothly, but she hadn't expected it to go surprisingly smoothly. Fang Min had given her a small, out-of-the-way stall, but it was a legitimate one, not just a makeshift one. She had just seen the central location, and the names on the table were all names she had seen in the outpatient hall of the Municipal Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. Each one had impressive resumes.
Shen Jiang could tell that the woman in front of her was in a bad mood, but she didn't neglect her, so she sincerely thanked her.
Fang Min didn't take it seriously at all. She gave Shen Jiang a stall purely because Director Huang was someone Zhou Shuhua called.
She said calmly, "It's nothing. But many of the people here today are experts. After all, you're still young, not as experienced as your grandmother. Don't be discouraged if there are no patients. Those doctors all got through it step by step this way."
Fang Min was very busy today, so she left immediately after speaking. She still had a lot of things to coordinate and handle. She thought that this young woman would definitely experience the pressure of sitting in with the experts today, and she might even run away before the event was over.
Shen Jiang took out the pulse pillow she had prepared in advance from her bag. Seeing that it was still early, she simply took out the medical book and started reading.
Director Huang deliberately passed by her stall and said sarcastically: "You are cramming at the last minute. You don't know your place. You really think you are a miracle doctor."
Shen Jiang was so engrossed in watching that he didn't even hear anyone talking in front of his stall.
Director Huang was so angry that he wanted to jump up and down when he saw that she didn't take him seriously at all, but he had to save face after all, so he simply walked away with his hands behind his back. When the event started, he wanted to see if she could still smile!
Sitting at the booth next to Shen Jiang was a middle-aged male doctor, wearing a clean, buttoned-up white lab coat from a traditional Chinese medicine hospital. But the sign on his desk simply read "Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner," unlike the names of the central government officials, suggesting he wasn't a well-known figure.
Next to the man sat a well-maintained middle-aged woman with delicate, rosy skin and a perpetual smile. One could tell at a glance that she was not only in good health but also had a happy family life. To Shen Jiang's surprise, the woman's name was written on her nameplate. She remembered it as the director of a Traditional Chinese Medicine gynecology department.
An expert of this level sits in a remote corner like theirs and is so low-key?
Shen Jiang couldn't help but look at the director a few more times.
Director Chen saw a young girl looking at him frequently and gave her a friendly smile.
At 10 o'clock, the event officially started.
The citizens had received the news a long time ago. They heard that several great experts would come here today to provide free consultations, so they all came with the attitude of giving it a try.
The event was lively, and as expected, there were long lines at the tables of several major experts. As expected, Shen Jiang's desk was deserted.
The organizers arranged many parent-child interactive sessions. Many parents brought their children to queue outside the medicine grinding, blessing throwing, and blessing hanging areas. There was also a mini Chinese medicine museum area. Although some citizens were not planning to see a doctor, they were very interested in these things.
Originally, we wanted to rely on experts to increase the popularity of these links, but unexpectedly, because these links were so interesting, there were too many people queuing up, which eventually boosted the business of the traditional Chinese medicine practitioners sitting among these stalls.
Shen Jiang won her first patient through her own efforts.
There's no way around it. She has a strong student-like air, so people who go to see a doctor always go around her.
But it didn't matter. The middle-aged man next to her was a nice guy. When he saw her coming over to watch him take the patient's pulse, he didn't say anything.
It was this uncle's medical skills that really made Shen Jiang a little uncomfortable. The patient said he often suffered from abdominal pain in the middle of the night and couldn't defecate. The middle-aged uncle felt the patient's pulse and examined his tongue for a long time, and finally asked, "Have you had an ultrasound or a blood test?"
One dared to ask, and the other dared to answer. The patient said, "I did it. Western medicine said it wasn't cholecystitis or intestinal obstruction, so there wasn't a big problem. But I still feel pain. It hurts at night and I can't sleep all night. In the end, I got some suppositories, but they didn't work."
The Chinese medicine uncle didn't say anything and fell into deep thought.
Shen Jiang couldn't help it any longer, so he put his hand on the patient's other wrist and said, "Stick out your tongue and let me see it."
The patient complied and did as instructed. Shen Jiang noticed that his tongue was coated with a light yellow coating, especially on the front half of the tongue. This indicated that the patient's lung qi was stagnant.
The front half of the tongue reflects the condition of the upper body. If there is cold in the abdomen, the entire tongue should be pale white.
Shen Jiang had an idea in her mind, but this wasn't her patient after all, so she reminded the Chinese medicine doctor, "The lungs and large intestine are exterior and interior to each other."
The Chinese medicine uncle didn't react and was still deep in thought.
Suddenly, the patient clutched his stomach and began to cry out in agony. It was a truly tormenting sight, with cold sweat dripping down his forehead. His family members, who were by his side, were extremely anxious, but they had no idea what to do.
The sudden situation here quickly attracted the attention of the people around. Many people gathered around and asked what happened and whether they needed help to call an ambulance.
Shen Jiang couldn't bear it any longer and simply pushed through the crowd and ran out.
She remembered passing by a convenience store before coming here. It was not far from here. If she ran fast, she could probably go there and back in five minutes.
She already knows how to treat it!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com