When the Doctor Uses A Hack

After walking out of the dean’s office, Chen Cang was clearly feeling quite pleased with himself—he was about to enroll in graduate studies!

The thought made Chen Cang swell with excitement and exhilaration.

In fact, attending graduate school wouldn’t interfere with Chen Cang’s work at all.

Medical graduate students were mainly divided into professional master’s and academic master’s programs (research-based), with professional master’s students spending almost all their time in clinics during their studies, in accordance with the national standardized training programs and aiming for an integrated certification upon graduation (graduate diploma, master’s degree certificate, medical practitioner license, standardized training certificate).

Only by obtaining these four credentials would it be relatively easier for you to find a job.

This year, the Second Provincial Hospital also became a national standardized training hospital, so Chen Cang could completely carry on working in the department under the banner of standardized training.

Qin Yue had done the same, but… Qin Yue’s life was tough; at the time of her studies, the professional master’s standardized training certificate hadn’t been widely implemented, so after arriving at the Second Provincial Hospital, she had no choice but to register for the standardized training quota at the East University First Hospital to work there, which meant less money from the hospital, as if she were on standardized training.

After all, nowadays, without a standardized training certificate, you simply couldn’t advance to a mid-level professional title.

Chen Cang suddenly realized a problem: If he started graduate studies, wouldn’t the hospital withhold his bonus?

That’s what happened to Qin Yue!

With this in mind, Chen Cang hastily turned back, giving a sheepish smile, “Director Qin, there’s something else I want to ask.”

Qin Xiaoyuan put down his pen and looked at Chen Cang, “Hmm, what is it?”

Chen Cang, “If I start graduate school, will my salary and bonuses be withheld?”

Qin Xiaoyuan sighed, looking at Chen Cang. He’d bet that if he said it would be withheld, Chen Cang would surely decide not to proceed with school!

The hard-earned enrollment slot would go to waste!

Besides, Chen Cang had already secured a post at the Second Provincial Hospital; graduate school was just icing on the cake. Sometimes, education truly served just as a door opener.

Thinking this, Qin Xiaoyuan helplessly said, “No, your bonuses won’t be withheld. Just carry on with your normal work; I’ve already talked to the school about your situation. You just need to complete the required credits, don’t worry about anything else. However, try to attend classes whenever you can, especially Medical Statistics and Evidence-Based Medicine—as they will be really helpful for your future development.”

Upon hearing that his money wouldn’t be withheld, Chen Cang instantly became happy, “Thank you, Director.”

One area where Chen Cang differed from Qin Yue was that Chen Cang’s standardized training hospital was at the Second Provincial Hospital; he did not need to shuttle back and forth to other hospitals, which spared him a lot of trouble.

When Chen Cang returned to his department, Qin Yue came scampering over excitedly, “Chen Cang, treat me to a meal!”

Without even looking up, Chen Cang retorted, “Dream on.”

Unfazed, Qin Yue’s eyes twinkled playfully, “Are you sure? I’ll give you one more chance! Just one, okay?”

Chen Cang ignored Qin Yue and turned to Wang Yong, “What should we have for lunch?”

While writing up medical records, Wang Yong didn’t even lift his head, “As long as you’re buying, anything works for me.”

Chen Cang,

Suddenly, Chen Cang felt that eating alone was the most cost-effective option; he could just have a set meal in the cafeteria, ten yuan for one meat and two veg dishes with two liang of rice, a delightfully frugal choice. Remembering how the cafeteria lady always scooped him an extra helping of meat, Chen Cang suddenly felt that happiness could be so simple.

Qin Yue let out a sigh, “Ah… it looks like I need to call the journal office and tell them 1 need to change the corresponding author!”

Chen Cang quickly turned around, “What did you say? The acceptance notice has arrived? That was quick, wasn’t it supposed to take at least half a month?”

Qin Yue groaned and slumped in her chair, “Ah, all the late nights and overtime recently have left me feeling completely drained.”

Chen Cang immediately became as obsequious as a flower, smiling like a fawning dog, “Sis Qin, what would you like to eat? Let’s go get something nice!”

Qin Yue pretended not to hear, “Ah… 1 heard there’s a new Haidilao opened on Tian Street, it shouldn’t be too crowded at noon, right?”

Upon hearing there was a feast to be had, Wang Yong couldn’t care less about writing medical records, “Hmm, 1 heard it just opened.”

Chen Cang couldn’t help but twitch his mouth, “Eat! It’s just Haidilao, let’s go eat!”

Seeing this, Wang Qian chimed in gloomily, “Qin Yue, should I carry your bag for you?”

Qin Yue nodded, “That would be great, Qian’er bro is so considerate!”

Chen Cang’s eye twitched, “Eat! Eat! Eat! Just hurry up and show me the acceptance notice.”

The paper Chen Cang had been obsessing over was finally coming out, and this matter was linked to the task of apprenticing under Qian Liang!

In fact, after returning, Chen Cang had worked hard on researching and had even tried sending out a few papers, ranging from high-impact factor journals to core periodicals and then to general publications. And believe it or not, he actually received a few acceptance notices.

Getting the notices, Chen Cang was somewhat excited, after all, it was his academic achievements being recognized, how could he not be thrilled?

But… out of curiosity, Chen Cang asked around in his friend group and learned that those papers could be published simply by paying, with no technical content whatsoever.

Thinking of this, Chen Cang simply decided not to waste money anymore. A few thousand bucks for a paper, and maybe showing it to Qian Liang would only result in a couple of sarcastic remarks.

Since then, Chen Cang decided to focus on properly researching how to write papers before submitting them.

Chen Cang’s college mates had finished their graduate studies, so they published papers more often and understood more about the process.

At this point, Qin Yue picked up her phone and sent out the acceptance notice to several people.

Honestly, Qin Yue had never expected that her teacher even knew people from “Liver Transplantation” and could speed up the peer-review process.

Usually, for this kind of international core journal, the review process requires a long queue and involves several stages like the first and second review, and just making revisions can take a month or two.

However, after Qin Yue submitted her paper, she made a call to her teacher Xu Mo, and in no time, she received the acceptance notice, which was something she could have never anticipated!

When Chen Cang saw the words “liver transpl”, he was momentarily taken aback.

Chen Cang made Qin Yue laugh with a single remark, “‘Liver Transplantation’? Why not publish in ‘The Lancet’? Or… ‘Chinese Journal of Hepatobiliary Surgery’ could work too?”

Wang Qian was torn between laughter and dismay, “Cang Er, do you think ‘The Lancet’ is owned by your family? To publish just like that? In our Dongyang Province, those who’ve published in ‘The Lancet’ probably don’t even add up to three people. Are you joking?”

“Besides, do you even know what level of journal ‘Liver Transplantation’ is? To compare it with ‘Chinese Journal of Hepatobiliary Surgery’?”

“That journal, ‘Liver Transplantation,’ has an impact factor close to six or seven. At its peak, ‘Chinese Journal of Hepatobiliary Surgery’ probably only scores around one, the gap between them isn’t small at all.”

“So, by bringing this paper published in ‘Liver Transplantation’ to my PhD application, if my scores pass, there’s less than a 10% chance of getting rejected. ‘Liver Transplantation’ has absolute clout in the field of hepatobiliary surgery!”

Chen Cang didn’t understand.

Wang Yong was even more befuddled, “Is my name as the second author… worth something?”

Wang Qian nodded, “Basically, with that, there shouldn’t be any issue for you to get promoted to associate senior level!”

This left Wang Yong and Chen Cang looking at each other in astonishment, “It’s that amazing?”

Wang Qian nodded enviously, “What else?”

Wang Qian was not joking. Generally speaking, for ordinary journals, even the core ones in China like Peking University core or science and technology core… No matter if it’s dual core or triple core, only the first author and corresponding author carry weight. However, high-impact factor articles include the second author due to the high difficulty of research and the participation of more people.