A competent doctor can cure everything

This week, the biggest topic in the Oriental Medicine Rehabilitation Department—or rather, the entire traditional medicine ward—was undoubtedly “Patient Kim Jin-ah.”

The entire ward was closely following every move of this patient, who was under the care of Professor Yeon Jae-wook and her primary physician, Seon-Joon.

Kim Jin-ah, who had recently started urinating independently, was showing signs of gradual recovery.

Yesterday, she reported feeling the hot water on her feet while showering.

The amount of time she could lift her limbs was gradually increasing as well.

After rounds were complete, Professor Yeon called Shim Ji-seop and Seon-Joon into the outpatient clinic office.

“Dr. Seon-Joon, Patient Kim Jin-ah, she’s due to be discharged soon, right?”

“Yes, Professor. She’s scheduled for a transfer to another university hospital nearby at the end of July.”

“Does that hospital have an Oriental Medicine Department?”

“No, they only have Western medicine.”

“Really? I imagine the patient must be quite disappointed.”

“Yes… It seems there’s no other facility around here offering Oriental treatments like ours.”

Even if there were hospitals with Oriental Medicine departments, none would have a primary doctor as committed to treatment as they were.

Professor Yeon let out a low hum, deep in thought.

There was a reason for the complexity in his mind.

For long-term inpatients like Kim Jin-ah, it was customary to rotate between a few designated hospitals.

This was due to the National Health Insurance Corporation’s regulations on “appropriate inpatient duration.”

If a patient was willing to pay the full cost of hospitalization, they could stay longer, but such cases were rare.

Thus, the typical maximum hospitalization period was about one month.

For a longer stay, a physician’s recommendation for an extension was required.

And, in fact, there was another aspect to this situation.

Patients with conditions like stroke or paralysis required intensive care but didn’t generate high hospitalization fees.

The more patients like this a hospital admitted, the greater the financial loss for the hospital.

Thus, professors who kept patients hospitalized longer often faced pressure from the administration or the hospital director.

“Let’s keep this patient with us a bit longer.”

“…! Really? Is that all right?”

It was only natural that Seon-Joon was surprised at Professor Yeon’s statement.

Seeing his student’s joy, Professor Yeon nodded firmly.

“A patient needs to recover to a certain extent so that, even when she moves to another hospital, she can continue rehabilitation exercises effectively. Until then, I’ll do my best to extend her hospital stay.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

“If anything, I’m the one who should be thankful.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re the one who developed and executed this treatment plan for the patient. It’s been a valuable learning experience for me, too.”

In truth, Seon-Joon’s treatment methods were extremely unconventional.

Professor Yeon thought back to the treatment details, inwardly shaking his head in disbelief.

“It’s like preparing a twelve-course meal every day at a restaurant for a single customer who didn’t even order it….”

Sure, it can be done, but it’s inefficient, impractical, and requires too much effort.

There was no real reason to go to such lengths.

In that sense, the month of treatment that this primary physician had provided was, frankly, madness.

Suddenly, Seon-Joon’s expression darkened.

“Professor, from August, I’m scheduled to rotate to the Oriental Obstetrics and Gynecology department.”

“Ah, yes. I often forget that you’re still an intern.”

“Is there any way I could continue treating Patient Kim Jin-ah even after I transfer to another department?”

Even now, he was worrying about this.

Professor Yeon was momentarily at a loss for words.

“It’s not that simple. When you rotate, you become part of that department. Wouldn’t the OB-GYN professors have a problem with it? They could certainly raise an issue.”

At that moment, Shim Ji-seop, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.

“I’ll continue the treatment for Patient Kim Jin-ah.”

“…!”

“You will?”

Shim Ji-seop had initially believed that the chances of Kim Jin-ah’s recovery were incredibly slim.

In fact, he had been quite displeased with Seon-Joon’s intense focus on her treatment.

He was prepared to severely reprimand Seon-Joon if he ever neglected other duties in favor of this patient.

“But that intern, even while taking on extra tasks like external assignments, never left any gaps in his work.”

After observing this persistence over the past month, Ji-seop had no choice but to acknowledge Seon-Joon as a tough and determined person.

And now, he found himself wanting to support this tough, relentless intern in his seemingly insane endeavor, even if it was a bit late.

As he watched the seemingly impossible progress in Kim Jin-ah’s recovery, Shim Ji-seop realized something important that he’d almost forgotten.

Before you can assess the possibilities, you have to take action.

If you don’t try, the chance is 0%.

“And regarding Patient Kim Jin-ah, I have a proposal.”

“What is it?”

“If her recovery continues at this pace, it seems likely that she’ll soon be able to use a walker for ambulation. I think this is a clinically valuable case. How about publishing it as a case report? Even if it doesn’t make it into an international SCI-level journal, it could definitely be submitted to a domestic journal.”

Shim Ji-seop added smoothly.

“Of course, Dr. Seon-Joon would be the primary author as her primary physician.”

Although the specific criteria vary by department, residents generally need to publish at least one paper per year to qualify for board certification. However, interns aren’t required to have published papers to complete their internship.

So, for an intern to author a paper, especially as the lead author, is rare.

This proposal held significant meaning—not only did Ji-seop recognize Seon-Joon’s treatment, but he was also offering help with a task that would be challenging for an intern to handle alone.

“Dr. Seon-Joon. What do you think? Have you ever written a paper?”

“I haven’t, but I’d like to.”

Seeing Seon-Joon’s immediate response, Ji-seop offered confidently.

“I’ll teach you the basics of writing a paper. Case reports aren’t too difficult, so you’ll get the hang of it quickly. And if you’re interested, I can guide you on other types of research papers as well.”

Even residents don’t automatically know how to write papers. They often need to consult reference books or attend lectures, which requires a lot of time and money. It’s also unlikely that busy senior doctors will have the time to patiently teach them.

If an intern is lucky enough to have a generous mentor around, they might be able to ask an occasional question, but mostly, it’s a skill learned through struggle and self-study.

That’s why Professor Yeon laughed heartily in amazement.

“Haha! This is the first time I’ve seen Dr. Shim step up like this. I guess Dr. Shim Ji-seop hopes Dr. Seon-Joon will join the rehabilitation department?”

Ji-seop didn’t respond but simply smiled quietly.

With that, the brief meeting ended, and Ji-seop was the first to leave the office.

As Seon-Joon followed, Professor Yeon called out to him.

“Dr. Seon-Joon.”

When Seon-Joon turned around, Professor Yeon looked at him with a meaningful smile.

“I think it’s not just me, but Dr. Shim has also been greatly influenced by you.”

“Really?”

“Dr. Shim is a remarkable talent, but he’s had a lot of bad luck. He personally went through a lot of unpleasant things. After that, he completely changed, and many people around him felt sorry for him. Some were even worried enough to bring it up to me, including the head nurse of the ward.”

“Ah…”

Seon-Joon’s expression became slightly uncertain upon hearing that.

Professor Yeon waved his hand dismissively.

“Forget I said that. Anyway, Dr. Shim has considerable expertise in research and papers, so I’d like you to learn a lot from him during this opportunity.”

Watching the intern bow and leave, Professor Yeon muttered to himself.

“It seems that intern didn’t just fix Kim Jin-ah.”

* * *

“Dr. Seon, wait. …Okay.”

Ding-.

The notification sound from a phone indicated that a video was starting to be recorded.

‘Mercenary’ Emma, the player, always films the process whenever she performs acupuncture with heat.

Only after receiving her permission could the treatment begin today.

Indeed, this treatment, called ‘hwa-chim’ (fire acupuncture) or ‘won-chim’ (heated acupuncture), looks quite impressive.

The procedure involves inserting a needle and then heating the needle shaft with a lighter or moxibustion to transmit heat.

“Strictly speaking, if the needle is heated before insertion, it’s ‘hwa-chim’ (fire acupuncture), and if it’s heated after insertion, it’s ‘won-chim’ (heated acupuncture), but anyway…”

Nowadays, there’s also something called ‘jeon-yeol-chim’ (electroacupuncture), where machines like an electroacupuncture device are used.

However, it’s hard to carry around a heated acupuncture machine, so I decided to use a lighter.

‘Won-chim’ is ideal for treating ligament damage.

It increases the expression of collagen mRNA and proteins in the damaged ligament tissue, which in turn strengthens the collagen fibers.

I pressed down on the area under the kneecap to find the tender point.

After deeply inserting the needle at the tender point, I heated the shaft of the needle for about 5 seconds.

At this point, I used a gas lighter to heat the needle about 1cm away from the skin.

“Oh, that feels good.”

Emma had already mastered the expression “feels good.”

I chuckled softly and glanced around at the other players.

Captain Jeong Ho-jeong was managing her shoulder well without any pain.

The eldest sister, Ji Yeong-suuk, had successfully lost 7kg, and her jumping ability had significantly improved. She also said that her postpartum wind symptoms, which caused pain throughout her body, had greatly improved.

Mercenary player Emma’s knee pain and stiffness improved by about 70%, and she resumed practice.

‘Next Saturday, the first match of the KOVO Cup will be held.’

The KOVO Cup is a precursor to the regular season V-League, which takes place in October.

By the way, if a team wins the KOVO Cup, finishes first in the V-League, and wins the Championship Finals all in one season, it’s called a “treble.”

If they achieve two out of the three, it’s called a “double.”

‘I heard no women’s professional volleyball team has achieved a treble yet.’

It seems like achieving a treble is not an easy feat.

The KOVO Cup tournament isn’t very long.

Seven teams are divided into Group A and Group B, and the competition lasts just a week from the first match to the final.

So, this year’s Cup tournament will start on the first weekend of August and end by the next weekend.

Another characteristic of the Cup tournament is that various local governments compete to be selected as the host city.

Cities like Jecheon, Tongyeong, Gumi, Uijeongbu, Gwangju, Cheongju, and more have hosted the event in past years.

And this year’s host city is Suncheon.

“Dr. Seon-Joon! You’ll come, right?”

“If you can’t make it during the week, at least come for the weekend matches, okay?”

After finishing my rounds and packing my medical bag, the players surrounded me, their eyes sparkling.

“I’ll try to come, as much as I can.”

“Ah~ don’t play hard to get~.”

“What will we do if the team doctor doesn’t come~!”

In some important international matches, it’s impossible to compete without the team doctor.

However, in domestic tournaments, the team doctor isn’t a mandatory requirement.

‘At the venue, an ambulance is on standby to transport players to the hospital if necessary.’

So, I’m not obligated to go.

I had already committed to providing care until the Cup tournament anyway.

‘I wonder how long it will take to drive to Suncheon.’

Although I gave an ambiguous response, the truth is I had already taken the weekend on-call off.

I had to work consecutive weekend shifts for two weeks in a row, so I had already taken on-call duty in advance.

I’m also curious about seeing my patients, the Blue Whales, play in the game.

After watching them practice hard and sweat it out, I want to cheer for them as well.

“If you don’t come, we won’t enter the arena!!”

“I know, now stop.”

“Huh? You said you know, right? Hey, someone, record this!”

Perhaps I had been so reassured by how smoothly everything seemed to be going that I didn’t realize at the time that I was missing the most important thing.