CHAPTER 368: 343 ON SKIN DISEASES

Although Zhang Xintian received Lan Changhua’s request, he diligently maintained contact with Zhu Minyan.

Unfortunately, Zhu Minyan lost contact again.

Only five days later, she suddenly left a message stating she would return to school next month to attend classes, and then she lost contact once more.

Zhang Xintian was very troubled, as he hadn’t obtained what Lan Changhua wanted.

Dispirited, he told Lan Changhua everything, but unexpectedly received comfort from him. "It’s okay, your student will be back next month, right? When she returns, bring her to see me. I’m now very curious about her and that Doctor Du."

"Is it necessary, Grandpa?"

Lan Changhua laughed. "You don’t understand."

Zhang Xintian became even more depressed after hearing this. I don’t understand, so tell me.

Zhu Minyan didn’t understand Zhang Xintian’s frustration. All she wanted was to cure her face.

When the tumor had shrunk by half, she began to look forward to treating her vitiligo. When the tumor disappeared completely, she even dreamed that her face had returned to its previous state: smooth, tender, and full of collagen.

Today, the treatment could finally begin!

Du Heng had also put a lot of effort into preparing for this treatment.

As the saying goes, doctors don’t treat tinea, as treating tinea would bring shame. Nowadays, many skin disease treatments mainly focus on controlling the condition from spreading or recurring. This often requires patients to take long-term medication or apply ointments, making it difficult to achieve a complete cure.

Du Heng had the same concerns and had been weighing them carefully. Now that the official treatment was about to begin, he gathered everyone for another discussion.

There were two purposes for doing so.

First, everyone could explore and discuss the matter together, thus making progress.

Second, the renovation of the red-brick building next door was nearing completion, and the Bureau’s support funds had arrived. Consequently, focusing solely on treating stroke patients in the Health Clinic seemed somewhat limited, or even insufficient.

To truly elevate the Health Clinic to a second-level hospital, more advantageous projects were needed.

Skin diseases were chosen by Du Heng as one simple and effective project, which could also generate quick returns.

For this discussion, all the doctors of the hospital participated, including Doctor Qian from the Department of Preventive Healthcare.

As before, once Du Heng had spoken, it was up to everyone else to express their thoughts.

First to speak was Yu Haiting. "There are a wide variety of skin diseases with various causes, such as scabies, fungal infections, and skin bacterial infections. Some are even somewhat infectious, which not only affects physical health but also has psychological impacts on patients, causing panic and social discrimination."

"The fact that the Dean intends to develop our hospital’s treatment for skin diseases is a good thing, and I support it."

"However, I believe we should not rush this."

Seeing that no one disagreed and everyone was watching him, Yu Haiting paused, then continued in a changed tone, "Skin diseases have various internal causes, as I mentioned earlier. However, there are also external factors that contribute significantly, such as mechanical injuries, chemical pollution, endocrine disorders, and immune system deficiencies."

"There are also numerous treatment methods for skin diseases. These include various topical agents like ointments—divided into creams, soft ointments, and hard ointments—as well as powders, pastes, and similar preparations. Additionally, there are physical therapies, such as electrotherapy, phototherapy, microwave therapy, and other treatments."

"However, among so many agents and treatment methods, very few can truly achieve a complete cure. Many skin diseases remain in a cycle of onset, treatment, control, recurrence, and further treatment."

"Therefore, my suggestion is that developing the treatment of skin diseases can be done, but we shouldn’t invest too much energy into it. The return may not be significant, and it may easily cause negative evaluations, possibly collapsing the reputation we have worked so hard to build."

Du Heng’s words ignited a passion in everyone, as they thought they had found a new breakthrough, especially the three newcomers, who were eager to get started.

The main business of the Health Clinic was now treating stroke patients. However, this area was still largely dominated by Du Heng and Wu Buwei, while auxiliary treatments were controlled by Yu Haiting, who managed the Western medicine aspects.

As a result, although the newcomers’ salaries had increased somewhat after three months, they were still envious when compared to the five-figure incomes of Du Heng and Wu Buwei.

Trying to compete with these three for a share of the work was still too challenging for the newcomers, as they lacked the necessary skills. The best way for them to achieve better development and earn salaries like Wu Buwei’s was to find a new path.

Now that the person in charge had chosen a new direction for them, one led by Du Heng himself, they were filled with fighting spirit.

During the three months they spent together, Du Heng had completely won them over with his ability.

When they thought about their Dean being able to guide the Municipal First Hospital Emergency Department, the Chinese Medicine Department of Provincial First Hospital, the Gastroenterology Department, and even the Neurosurgery Department, they regarded Du Heng almost as a god.

But they never expected that Yu Haiting, whom they had always considered Du Heng’s loyal lieutenant, would be the first to speak out against Du Heng’s proposal to develop skin disease treatments. This came as a great surprise to them.

To them, this was also extremely infuriating. What Yu Haiting was doing felt tantamount to cutting off their hopes and their career paths.

So among the three, the oldest, Han Yujian, spoke out against it.

He was the most eager to see the Health Clinic develop skin disease treatments, not only because of his age and the pressures of family and life, but also because he had genuinely studied this field.

"I don’t quite agree with Dr. Yu’s statement."

As soon as the sentence was spoken, it immediately attracted everyone’s attention.

One of the other newcomers secretly gave Han Yujian a thumbs-up.

After all, although Yu Haiting was just a doctor of General Western Medicine and in the Emergency Department at the Health Clinic, when Du Heng wasn’t there, front-line medical work was his responsibility. Even Lu Zhongjiang could not intervene. Yu Haiting was effectively performing the Vice Dean’s duties.

Han Yujian daring to speak out like this truly deserved admiration.

Du Heng was also very interested. He had imagined Han Yujian and the others might offer some opinions or suggestions, but he hadn’t expected such clear-cut opposition to Yu Haiting’s words.

"Doctor Han, please tell us your thoughts."

Han Yujian cleared his throat. "Skin diseases are very annoying. They rarely pose a threat to life, but they can make a person’s existence miserable. Take Zhu Minyan, for example. She’s a young student with vitiligo, and two large marsdenia spots have appeared right on her face. How can a young woman in the prime of her life bear to show her face or even go out?"

"The difficulty of treating such conditions is also a headache for doctors; finding a complete cure has become a major challenge. While the disease manifests on the skin and has many causes, I believe it’s all connected to the patient’s viscera and is closely related to emotional changes and the disharmony of qi and blood."

"So, as long as we can find the cause and study it in-depth, we will surely find the method to treat skin diseases."

Yu Haiting frowned and thought for a moment. "There are so many large-scale pharmaceutical institutions and dedicated medical researchers nationwide. Yet, the treatment methods and ointments they’ve developed often only relieve itching and inflammation, addressing the most pressing symptoms. For our small Health Clinic, investing excessive manpower and resources in this area isn’t conducive to our current development."

Han Yujian immediately shook his head and retorted, "Yes, we see many patients suffering terribly from these diseases. Some even resort to various folk remedies, which can lead to greater tragedies. Shouldn’t we try to find a way? Shouldn’t we research it? And why should we wait for others to figure things out so we can just reap the benefits? Why can’t we do the research ourselves?"

Yu Haiting also shook his head. He was here to discuss things, not to argue. "Doctor Han may have misunderstood what I meant. I’m saying that we can carry out skin disease treatment, but at this stage, there is no need to invest too much."

"After all, our Health Clinic is at a critical stage of development, and such a potentially loss-making endeavor isn’t necessary right now. Once we successfully upgrade to a second-level hospital, with more funds, personnel, and the Dean’s leadership, we can certainly make significant achievements in this area."

Seeing Yu Haiting soften his stance, Han Yujian also eased up slightly. "Our current treatment relies heavily on external approaches."

"My idea is to use internal medicine to adjust the patient’s qi and blood so as to achieve the purpose of cure."

Seeing Han Yujian remain so insistent, Yu Haiting became a little displeased. "The current external medications we use are the result of extensive trials. If you want to use internal medicine, you’ll have to conduct similar trials."

"Although there are no fixed rules for prescribing in traditional Chinese medicine—one can use established famous prescriptions or create new combinations—you must have a very profound foundational knowledge and understanding of medicinal properties to create your own. We can ask Doctor Shi if he agrees with such trials."

Pharmacy Doctor Shi was a bit dumbfounded. He had been a quiet observer and hadn’t expected the focus to suddenly shift to him. Caught off guard, he was momentarily unsure what to say.

Du Heng was very happy about this discussion.

Yu Haiting was right; he was considering matters from the perspective of the Health Clinic’s overall development. If they truly followed Han Yujian’s suggestion—discussing disease causes, prescription composition, the medicinal properties of the formulas, and patient follow-up—it would be too much for one person to handle.

Given the Health Clinic’s current personnel structure, such an endeavor might require the dedicated effort of two or three people.

Moreover, without a strong leader, who would dare to let them do experiments on their own?

Just last week, Du Heng and Lu Zhongjiang had jointly recommended Yu Haiting for the position of Vice Dean of the Health Clinic. Yu Haiting had already begun taking on work for the Medical Affairs Department, gradually transferring his General Western Medicine duties to Xiao Li.

Although this matter had not yet been disclosed to others in the clinic, Yu Haiting, as the one directly involved, had discussed it with Du Heng.

So, whether from the perspective of a doctor or the development of the Health Clinic, Yu Haiting’s proposal was not wrong.

Then from Han Yujian’s perspective, it was even more correct.

If a doctor doesn’t think about treating illnesses and saving lives, or about learning and improving, then he isn’t truly a doctor; he’s just a mere applicator of known methods.

He might even be worse than a common laborer, who at least has fewer responsibilities and doesn’t earn such a high salary.

So, regardless of Han Yujian’s motives, as long as he was willing to treat illnesses and strive to learn and improve, he was not wrong either.