After Qu Xiaofeng left, Liu Meng said to Zhao Heng, "Dr. Zhao, even though Dr. Qu hasn't been promoted to associate chief physician for many years, his skills are higher than those of many who have that title."

Liu Meng could empathize with the fact that even though Qu Xiaofeng clearly had the skills of an attending physician or higher, he still hadn't gained the title of associate chief physician.

In reality, after working for a while, the gap in skills between two similar titles, such as a senior attending physician and an associate chief physician, isn't that significant.

Liu Meng was in the same boat. She's been working as a resident doctor for many years, and logically, her level was no different from that of an attending physician.

But the reality is, in every hospital, in every department, the number of positions above resident doctor, including associate chief physician and chief physician, is limited.

For every doctor, titles are both loved and hated; on one hand, everyone wants to strive for them, but on the other hand, there are many complaints about the system.

The level of a title can, to some extent, be a basic measure of a doctor's skills. It's also an important label for finding one's place within their team; a doctor's academic status and income are closely related to their title.

"The difficulty of title promotion these days is immense. It requires a lot of effort and dedication. Under the current system, to get a title above middle rank, you need enough working years, complete daily rounds, finish some projects, and publish enough papers, and sometimes even do teaching and rural service, all these sundry tasks."

Zhao Heng nodded, also feeling deeply.

"Yes, medical resources are severely insufficient right now. Just managing daily clinical work is already overwhelming, let alone conducting research. In big hospitals like ours, it's still manageable, but in some basic hospitals, there are simply no conditions to carry out research."

Liu Meng remarked emotionally that when she completed her undergraduate degree, only a few classmates chose to pursue further studies, while others went straight into jobs, returning home and working in basic hospitals.

And in basic hospitals, the space for advancement is very limited.

"Dr. Liu, if you come to the inpatient department, don't worry about papers and research."

Zhao Heng said.

He spoke with confidence because, in the field of stem cell therapy, practically every patient could become the subject of a paper.

He was a prolific writer of medical papers; many of the cases at hand could be written into papers if time allowed.

"Mm."

Liu Meng nodded, happily agreeing.

Previously, in the emergency department, her biggest challenge in advancing from resident to attending physician was scientific research papers.

The workload of the emergency department is well-known in the hospital, especially in mega-sized hospitals like Eastern Hospital.

So, just managing to handle daily work was already challenging, let alone doing research and writing papers.

Most importantly, the scope for conducting research in the emergency department, which is more focused on pre-hospital emergency care and triage, is very limited.

As they were chatting, Tian Zhen hurriedly ran into the office and said to Zhao Heng, "Dr. Zhao, she's awake."

"Awake? Are you referring to bed number 5?"

Zhao Heng asked.

"Yes, the patient in bed number 5 just woke up."

Tian Zhen nodded.

"Let's go."

Without hesitation, Zhao Heng said.

Shortly after, Zhao Heng, Liu Meng, and Tian Zhen arrived at bed number 5, the bed of the poisoned girl.

Just three days ago, Zhao Heng had performed a neural stem cell transplant on this girl. Although he had anticipated it, her waking up this quickly was still a bit unexpected.

As they approached the bed, Zhao Heng saw the poisoned girl slowly open her eyes with a dazed look. Clearly, the period of coma had somewhat dulled her thinking.

"Nannan, you're awake! You scared your mom to death!"

The girl's mother, standing by the bedside, said excitedly upon seeing her daughter awake.

The girl's father, also standing by the bed, appeared to be a middle-aged man of intellect, wearing glasses. Though relieved to see his daughter wake, his expression was complex.

As a respected university professor, he felt he had failed in educating his younger daughter. Not only were her grades poor at school, but her mental resilience was also lacking.

He had already investigated why she took the medication to harm herself—her grades in the mid-term exam were a bit low, and she couldn't handle it rationally, attempting suicide.

He wondered whether it was his educational approach that was flawed, or if it was the fault of the school's teachers.

"Dr. Zhao, does waking up mean she's recovered?"

The girl's father sighed and asked Zhao Heng.

"Yes, waking up indicates that her brain function has recovered."

Zhao Heng nodded.

"Thank you, Dr. Zhao, for all your effort during this time."

The girl's father was still very polite, having observed Zhao Heng's professional attitude during these times.

As a university professor, he recognized talent. He knew that a doctor like Zhao Heng was a rare find in the current medical field.

"Although she's awake, further recovery will take some time. During this period, try to avoid any strong emotional stimuli for her."

Zhao Heng nodded, advising.

Even though the poisoned girl had awakened, the deep coma and medication had left some impacts on her brain. Strong emotional stimuli could potentially trigger epilepsy or other neurological disorders.

"Understood, Dr. Zhao. We'll be mindful."

The girl's father nodded. He hadn't planned to criticize or interrogate his daughter immediately after she woke up. Her suicide attempt had also prompted him and his wife to reflect on their educational approach and whether they had been insufficiently attentive to their daughter's needs, rendering her mentally fragile.

Zhao Heng shared a few more recovery tips before returning to the office with Liu Meng.

"Dr. Zhao, this patient is the second one where you've used neural stem cell transplantation to promote waking, right?"

Liu Meng couldn't help but ask.

Previously, Sun Xinxin's awakening had created quite a stir in the medical circle, as she hadn't woken even after three months at the world-renowned Mayo Clinic.

"Yes, but this case is different from Sun Xinxin's. This is a case of deep coma induced by brain function damage due to drug poisoning, which isn't as challenging as Sun Xinxin's case."

Zhao Heng explained.

"Still, it's very impressive. Generally, for patients in a deep coma, predicting the waking time is difficult. Waking within a month would already indicate excellent recovery and treatment effectiveness."

Liu Meng expressed her admiration.

In modern medicine, everything is already very procedural; nearly every disease has a corresponding treatment procedure, so achieving such a good treatment effect is already quite remarkable.

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