A Tumultuous First Conference (Conclusion)
Professor Cheon crossed her arms and looked back and forth between us. "Tell me what kind of questions you got. Let's start with Hyeon-jae."
I glanced over my shoulder at Kim Ji-hoon, whose soul seemed to have completely left his body. Swallowing hard, I began to recall the questions I had received one by one.
"Yes, Professor. At first, most of them were basic questions about the abstract. They asked about the patient's vital signs upon admission, the peak levels of cardiac enzymes, and the coronary angiography findings. I answered them exactly as we had prepared."
"Right. Standard enough. What else?"
"And Professor Kim Hyukjae from Ohsung Seoul Hospital asked how we differentiated it from non-occlusive mesenteric ischemia."
Professor Cheon's eyes widened slightly at my words. "Kim Hyukjae? And? Did you answer well?"
"Yes. Fortunately, I was able to explain that the likelihood was low based on the abdominal examination findings and lactate levels."
"Good job." A satisfied smile spread across Professor Cheon's face. "What about you, Ji-hoon? What did they ask you?"
Kim Ji-hoon's shoulders flinched. "I... well... I was asked about the efficacy of urine alkalinization therapy in rhabdomyolysis... but I couldn't answer properly. I'm sorry." The end of his voice trembled.
Professor Cheon was silent for a moment. "Who on earth asked that? What kind of person asks a first-year resident a question like that?"
"It was Professor Park Ju-sung from Seoul Catholic Sacred Heart Hospital..."
"Good grief." Professor Cheon pressed her hand to her forehead. "Why would he ask something like that? You just had the worst luck."
Just as an awkward, heavy silence settled over us, a loud, unhinged voice echoed from afar.
"Han Hyeon-jaeee!!!"
Turning my head, I saw our chief resident, Lee Min-jae, charging through the crowd toward us like a rabid dog.
"Is it true?! Is it true that you took the head of an Asung Hospital resident...?!"
At the exact moment that horrific, crude metaphor was about to echo across the entire convention hall, Lee Min-jae's eyes locked onto the face of Professor Cheon Eunjeong standing right next to me.
"...Ah!"
Lee Min-jae's body screeched to a halt right on the spot, like a bus slamming on its emergency brakes. As if by magic, all the madness vanished from his face.
In a mere tenth of a second, Lee Min-jae wiped away his lunatic expression and donned the mask of the world's most polite, well-mannered, model resident.
Lee Min-jae bowed ninety degrees at the waist and bellowed, "Professor! Hello!"
"Yes, yes. Hello, Min-jae. Did your oral presentation go well?" Professor Cheon accepted his greeting as if nothing had happened.
"Yes, ma'am! It was all thanks to your guidance, Professor! It was a resounding success!"
"Good. You worked hard."
Where did the madman who was just shouting about taking someone's head go? How could such a perfectly socialized human being be standing here now?
...So that's what corporate survival looks like. That miraculous shift in attitude. That flawless masquerade. Marveling at Lee Min-jae's astonishing social skills, I quietly waited for their conversation to end.
After offering a few words of praise regarding Lee Min-jae's oral presentation, Professor Cheon turned her gaze back to us.
"Oh, right! We have to talk about that! I heard Hyeon-jae caused quite a scene in the oral presentation hall earlier!" Lee Min-jae eagerly began to spread the gossip.
Professor Cheon's eyebrows arched slightly. "Hyeon-jae? But his was a poster presentation, wasn't it?"
"Exactly! He caused a scene during someone else's Q&A session!" Lee Min-jae shouted, unable to hide his excitement.
Professor Cheon's gaze swept back and forth between me and Kim Ji-hoon. "What happened? Ji-hoon, you tell me."
All the spotlight suddenly shifted to the innocent bystander, Kim Ji-hoon.
"Uh... well... you see, Professor... it's a bit of a long story..."
"I don't mind if it's long. Go ahead."
Kim Ji-hoon stole a quick glance at me before launching into the full story of the disaster that had unfolded in the seminar room.
"...So, Hyeon-jae raised his hand and challenged the presenter's diagnosis, pointing out that the apical muscle looked thickened on the echocardiogram and that there was a giant T-wave inversion on the EKG... He argued it was highly likely to be apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, not Takotsubo..."
As the explanation went on, Professor Cheon's brow furrowed slightly. "So, in other words, you verbally beat down an Asung Hospital resident in front of dozens of professors?"
Seriously, why does everyone in this hospital use such colorful language? 'Verbally beat down'... I clicked my tongue inwardly, but I couldn't deny that Professor Cheon's choice of words was more accurate than any other explanation.
"And?" Professor Cheon looked at me. "What happened next? Did the presenter run off the stage crying?"
"Ah, no, it wasn't like that... Their advising professor actually came up, apologized, and said they would contact the patient again to re-evaluate. That's how it wrapped up."
"Hmm. And after that?"
"Pardon?"
"You embarrassed them so publicly; there's no way there wasn't some kind of aftermath. Did anyone come up to talk to you?"
I hesitated for a moment. Should I tell her? If I did, would I just look like an arrogant, insufferable show-off?
"Ah... well... they just said my question was impressive. I received... a bit of praise... from Chief Kim Hyukjae of Ohsung Seoul Hospital and Professor Park Ju-sung of Seoul Catholic Sacred Heart Hospital..."
When I answered in a voice as tiny as an ant's, Professor Cheon shrugged, seemingly unimpressed. "Well, you didn't really need to tell me that. Those Seoul folks always love to mark their territory on promising young talent."
I pulled a crumpled business card out of my pocket. "Actually, Professor, it wasn't just praise..."
I held out Professor Kim Hyukjae's business card to her. "The Chief of Ohsung Seoul Hospital gave me his card and told me to make sure to contact him later."
In that instant, the air around us completely froze. Kim Ji-hoon's mouth fell open like a goldfish. Lee Min-jae's triumphant expression stiffened instantly. And for the first time, a faint crack appeared in Professor Cheon Eunjeong's always-composed smile.
"What...?!" Professor Cheon practically snatched the card out of my hand.
As the seconds ticked by, the wariness on Professor Cheon's face slowly melted away after she examined the card several times. She gently pressed the Ohsung Seoul Hospital Chief's business card back into my hand. Then, she asked in an incredibly soft, sweet voice:
"Hyeon-jae."
"Yes, Professor?"
"You're still going to finish your residency at our hospital, here in Busan, right?"
Behind Professor Cheon's smiling face, a chilling aura seemed to loom, whispering: You're not taking a single step out of my turf without my permission, you little punk.
I answered almost reflexively. "...Yes, ma'am. Of course."
"Good." Professor Cheon wore a satisfied smile. "Once you finish your residency properly, who's going to stop you from doing your fellowship in Seoul? There are plenty of paths."
She shot a sideways glance at Lee Min-jae. "Our chief resident, Lee Min-jae, this punk is already looking into fellowship positions at Asung Hospital. Isn't that right?"
"Gasp!" A deflating sound escaped Lee Min-jae's mouth. His face flushed bright red. "P-Professor! How did you know?!"
"You've been openly staring at job postings on your phone during every single break. I'd have to be blind not to notice." Professor Cheon clicked her tongue and smacked Lee Min-jae on the back.
"Argh! Professor! Spare me! I was... I was just looking! It's preparation for the future...!"
"Quiet. Go buy the kids some dinner."
...Well, is it because of these people? Why is this hellish hospital starting to feel a little more human? A chuckle escaped my lips.
Just like that, the whirlwind conference came to an end. Those two days had felt like a dream.
I had been showered with questions in front of my poster, introduced myself to several professors, and even received their business cards. I had been treated to expensive beef at night, and on the bus ride back to Busan, I had passed out and slept like a log.
A dream. Yes, it was a dream. And now, I was awake.
"Waaaaahhhhh!!!"
Right next to my ear, an ear-splitting shriek erupted—a lung capacity hard to believe came from a four-year-old.
"Shh! Seung-hoon, be a good boy! Look, the doctor is just going to take a quick peek inside your ear! Look! What's this? An airplane is flying~ Zoom~"
I waved the otoscope in my hand like an airplane, putting on a desperate performance. But the child wasn't fooled by my childish trick. He slapped my hand away and wailed even harder.
"Nooo! Go away!!! Mommyyyy!!!"
This was the middle of the pediatric emergency room, notorious for being the most brutal section of the ER. And I was stuck right in the center of it.
What was the point of being called a genius first-year resident at a conference? In reality, I was just a pathetic excuse for a doctor, struggling to peer into the ear canal of a four-year-old with suspected otitis media.
"Dr. Han!" As I was bathing in sweat while battling the child, a nurse called out to me in a voice that could either belong to a savior or the Grim Reaper.
"We have another pediatric patient. The fever is at 104 degrees, and the baby is completely lethargic..."
I temporarily handed the wailing child over to the nurse and stumbled to my feet. Ah. The dream was over.