21 – Interview

The interview began promptly as soon as all four interviewees took their seats, evenly spaced apart.

The questions were very basic in the beginning, inquiring about their aspirations, strengths, and weaknesses. Most interviewees already knew the answers, and simply recited their lines.

“My goal is to become a great doctor and to save people!”

“To find a cure for cancer in honor of my grandparents, who passed away from heart disease!”

As for their weakness?

“I become too emotional when a patient is sick. The thought of not being able to help a patient, and to see them at their weakest moment, it pains my heart!” 

“I am too kind and selfless that I endanger my own health!”

Their greatest strength?

“My strength comes from my parents, aunts, grandparents, and my cat!”

“My strength is my perseverance and devotion!”

For experienced interviewers, the answers were so common that they often wondered why they even bother asking them in the first place.

“My goal is to make a lot of money. My weakness is handling patients, and my strength is myself.” Then there were interviewees who chose to be honest and stick out like the baby-faced applicant named An Luchang.

“Oh, are you in dire need of money?” asked Chief Gao. “There are plenty of ways to make money, and being a surgeon isn’t a simple one nor is it a lucrative one.”

Deputy Chief Gao, who was in his late forties, was one of the deputies Chief Zhang recruited from the military. Chief Gao looked very much like a military soldier with a strong upper body, crop cut hair, and bulging biceps. Although Chief Zhang was also a strong man, despite being in his sixties, Chief Gao had more presence in the room, so when he spoke, everyone turned their attention to him.

“I am not in dire need of money,” An Luchang replied. “But it’s the only path for me to make a living. My dad is a butcher and my mom is a seamstress. I know how to dismantle things and I know how to reassemble them.”

“The human body is very different from a pig,” Chief Gao commented.

“I have studied human anatomy on my own.”

“I see that you have very high marks during your internship,” said Chief Zhang. “Your professors considered you a surgical genius. My main concern is your lack of interpersonal skills. Almost all of your professors said you need to communicate better with patients. I hope that if you become a resident here, that this is something you will work on. Genius is one thing, but we must learn that as medical personnel, we serve the people.”

Chief Gao and Director Ma nodded in agreement. Li Yun also nodded, Chief Zhang said something cliche that only a military surgeon would say, but at least he meant it.

The next to answer the question was Li Yun.

“My goal is to save as many people as possible,” Li Yun replied. It was the most honest answer, and it happened to be a standard and acceptable answer, so Li Yun went with it. 

It was better than saying, “To gain as many action points as possible by saving as many people as possible.”

“Your weakness and strength?” asked Chief Zhang.

“My weakness is arrogance, and my strengths are too many to say.”

The interviewers looked at each other. It seemed like Li Yun followed An Luchang example by being honest and concise. However, An Luchang's answers were still reasonable, while Li Yun’s response was a bit overbearing.

“It is an admirable goal to save as many people as possible,” Chief Gao responded with an amused look. “But can you explain why your numerous strengths went unnoticed by your professors?”

“I prefer textbooks over listening to lectures, so I don’t attend classes often.” When he did, he was usually sleeping. “Most of my professors don’t really see me often enough to notice.”

“How about during your internship?” asked Chief Zhang. “Although your exam scores are high, your marks during your rounds are quite low. This is an indicator of someone incapable of working in a team.”

“If there is a team, I can work well in them. Unfortunately, there’s no team in hospitals.”

“Care to elaborate?” asked Chief Gao.

“Most surgeons are overworked and underpaid. The only way to get more money is to perform more surgeries. However, surgery is extremely limited, especially basic surgery that the average surgeon can perform to gain experience.”

Chief Zhang and Gao nodded, this was a common problem they were facing in the country.

“As the growing population begins to join the medical fields, so has the competition," Li Yun continued. "The so-called teaching surgeons are seeing an influx of interns and residents they see as competitors rather than students. There’s a great conflict of interest, whether they are aware of it or not. This isn’t an excuse, it’s reality.”

Li Yun had mentioned a problem that Chief Zhang and Gao were seeing, but were unable to put into words. Teaching professors were extremely strict on residents, bordering emotional abuse, under the guise of tough love and strict guidance. However, underneath it all was an insidious plan to remove competitors.

It was also the reason why hospitals didn't hire more surgeons despite complaints of being overworked. The surgeons themselves did not want to hire more competitors. Most surgeons operate 3-4 cases per week, less than their foreign counterparts, and only on easy cases that could earn them money. Surgeons would use underpaid and overworked as an excuse not to take on complex cases, but constantly fought with each other over easy money making cases. 

As a result, this created the contradiction of a surgeon shortage while there were many qualified residents who were unable to gain employment after their residency.