Chapter 2071: Chapter 1787: A Way of Living

In the evening, Ely and Bilige returned to the dormitory, Ely carrying two cans of Red Bull, Bilige holding a bag of fruit.

"I heard you’re starting to write your thesis?" Ely placed the Red Bull on the table, "We’re here to cheer for you."

Zhaxi smiled wryly, "I can’t write it, not even the beginning."

Bilige leaned closer to the computer and glanced at it; the blank document had only one line of a title. "Just treat it like you’re writing a medical case report: chief complaint, current medical history, past medical history, step by step."

Zhaxi shook his head, "It’s not the same, much harder than a case report."

Ely pulled a chair and sat down, opened his own computer, "I’ll help you find the literature, whatever you need, I’ll get it for you."

Bilige sat down too, "I’ll help you sort out the data, lab results, imaging reports, I’ll turn them into tables for you."

Zhaxi looked at them, his nose a bit sore. Before coming to Sanbo, he thought these three years would be spent focused solely on studying alone. Unexpectedly, he made so many friends.

"Alright!" He took a deep breath and sat back at the computer, "Then I’ll start writing."

The three of them worked until eleven o’clock, Zhaxi finished the first draft, rough as it was, but at least it had a skeleton. He saved the document three times, afraid of losing it.

Professor Yang repeatedly emphasized, they were not allowed to stay up late; without emergency surgery, they must sleep by eleven.

The next morning, Zhaxi printed out the first draft to find Yang Ping.

Yang Ping was in the office reading literature, he took the printout, flipped through it, his face expressionless.

Zhaxi stood by, palms sweaty.

Yang Ping flipped to the second page, suddenly stopped, picked up a red pen, and circled a spot.

"Here, you say ’the patient developed diarrhea after long-term use of antibiotics.’ How long is ’long-term’? Which specific antibiotics were used? How many days? Make it clear, a thesis isn’t a story, it requires rigor."

Zhaxi nodded quickly.

Yang Ping continued down, circled another spot. "Here, you say ’the aneurysm is located at the distal branch of the middle cerebral artery.’ Why emphasize ’distal’? Document your thought process clearly, why does this location lead you to suspect infection?"

Zhaxi nodded again.

Yang Ping flipped to the third page, circled another spot. "Here, you say ’blood culture negative.’ But you didn’t include how many times it was done, when it was done, whether it was done after using antibiotics, all this needs to be clearly stated."

Zhaxi made every effort to memorize.

Yang Ping flipped to the last page, glanced over it briefly, then placed the printout back on the table.

"The structure is okay, but there are too few details. How did you deduce step by step? What was the basis for each step? Were there other possibilities? Why were they ruled out? All this needs to be clearly written."

Zhaxi took a deep breath, "I’ll go back and revise."

Yang Ping nodded, "Bring it back after the revision, remember, the thesis isn’t written for experts; it’s for peers. Your peers might not know this case as well as you; make sure each step is explained clearly so they can follow your thought process."

After finishing dinner, Zhaxi returned to the dormitory, opened the computer, and started revising.

After over a dozen revisions, the next day he brought it to Yang Ping again.

Yang Ping looked at it for ten minutes and circled seven or eight places. "Here, you say ’considering Clostridium difficile infection.’ Why not consider other pathogens? Salmonella, Campylobacter jejuni, all can cause similar symptoms; why rule them out?"

Zhaxi was taken aback, as he hadn’t thought of this problem.

Yang Ping said, "You need to write about differential diagnosis, what possibilities you considered, why they were ruled out, so others will trust your diagnosis is rigorous."

Zhaxi went back to revise overnight, and revised over a dozen times.

On the third day, he brought the printout to Yang Ping, thinking that if it didn’t work this time, he’d scrap the whole thing and start over. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Yang Ping looked at it for twenty minutes, found far fewer spots to circle, then placed the printout back on the table.

"It’s good!"

Zhaxi was stunned, "It’s good?"

Yang Ping nodded, "The basic framework and logic are right; what’s left is language polishing and data verification. Check it again, unify the reference formatting, and it can be submitted."

Zhaxi stood there, suddenly not knowing what to say.

Yang Ping glanced at him, his tone suddenly softened, "Written well, for a first time, it already exceeded my expectations."

Zhaxi’s eyes suddenly felt warm, he opened his mouth, wanting to say thank you, but his throat felt blocked.

Yang Ping stood up and patted him on the shoulder, "Alright, no need for sentimentality, there’s surgery in the afternoon, go prepare."

Zhaxi nodded firmly, turned, and walked towards the door.

The afternoon’s surgery was a complex spinal deformity correction. Zhaxi stood behind Yang Ping, held the retractor all afternoon, his hands tired, but his heart was full.

After surgery ended, he returned to the dormitory, opened the computer, and began final revision of the thesis.

On Friday afternoon, Zhaxi was in the ward changing a patient’s dressing when a graduate student came over to say Professor Yang was looking for him.

He hurried to find Professor Yang after finishing with the dressing, but didn’t see anyone in the office, so he immediately called Professor Yang.

"Come to the Overseas Chinese Building," Professor Yang said.

Zhaxi was puzzled for a moment, Overseas Chinese Building? Wasn’t that patient already better?

"On my way!"

He hung up the phone, ran downstairs, and when he got to the Overseas Chinese Building, Yang Ping was standing in the corridor talking with Director Tian and Doctor Meng. The three of them didn’t look very relaxed.

"What’s the matter?" Zhaxi asked, "Hasn’t the patient recovered well?"