At 6:30 in the morning, the front of Geumsan Samcheok Hospital, which would normally have been quiet, was abuzz.
Cars with unfamiliar license plates were packed throughout the parking lot, and in front of the main entrance, young doctors in suits stood in a long line.
Honorary Director Kim Byeongjo was on his way to work when he saw the scene and stopped in his tracks.
“What on earth is going on?”
Guard Park came out of the security office and approached him.
“Ah, Director. There are open recruitment interviews for the medical staff today. The applicants started arriving at dawn…”
“How many applicants are here?”
“We’ve confirmed more than forty so far. And they’re still coming.”
Kim Byeongjo’s eyes widened.
Forty. When was the last time this hospital had seen that many interviewees?
“Oh. Forty… Forty!”
Director Kim Byeongjo shook his head in disbelief as he entered the hospital.
Yu Sihyeok, chief of surgery, had also left for work earlier than usual and witnessed the same sight. When he entered the hospital lobby, the nurses were moving busily about.
“Director Lee.”
Head Nurse Lee Miseon turned around.
“Ah, Chief Yu. You’re here early.”
“Are all those people applicants to our hospital?”
“Yes. It’s hard to believe even seeing it with your own eyes, isn’t it? I feel the same. Seoul, Busan, Daegu… They say they came from all over the country. We kept getting phone inquiries until late last night, too.”
“Wow. They really came in numbers!”
Yu Sihyeok looked out the window and let out an exclamation of admiration.
Without realizing it, he felt something well up in one corner of his chest.
Director Kang Taeho.
When he had first met him, he had merely thought he was a doctor with excellent focus and skill. But every time, Kang Taeho showed results that exceeded anything he could imagine.
If, before meeting Kang Taeho, someone had told him that the closed Samcheok Medical Center could be remodeled and draw this many young doctors, he would have called that person insane. But Kang Taeho had made it a reality.
And then, as if it were nothing, he would keep striding forward, as though it were only natural that this was the path he had to take.
He was much younger than Yu Sihyeok himself, but no jealousy arose. Jealousy only came when you thought the other person was at least on a somewhat similar level.
Kang Taeho was, quite literally, an insurmountable wall.
Yu Sihyeok’s heart fluttered at the thought of the even more astonishing miracles Kang Taeho would show them in the future. He wanted to keep watching as the brilliant future being planned in that man’s head was realized in the world.
Chief Yu Sihyeok headed to his office with a spring in his step for the first time in a long while.
Honorary Director Kim Byeongjo walked down the corridor, exchanging greetings with the staff he passed.
“Nurse Go, did you see the interview applicants who came today?”
“Yes, Director! I heard they’ve been coming since early this morning. And there are a lot of people who only inquired by phone but couldn’t make it.”
“Hahahaha! They say there are more than forty. Forty!”
“Hohoho! Forty…”
“Hahaha! Forty!”
When Kim Byeongjo laughed loudly, the staff laughed with him. All of them laughed to their hearts’ content for the first time in a long while.
‘How long has it been since something like this happened…?’
Kim Byeongjo recalled how, until only recently, finding medical staff had been like plucking stars from the sky, and they had ultimately had to face closure.
He knocked on the door to Taeho’s office.
“Director Kang, may I come in?”
“Yes, Director. Please come in.”
Kim Byeongjo entered, sat on the sofa, and said,
“Did you see the people outside? Whew, it was quite a sight…”
“More came than I expected.”
Kim Byeongjo couldn’t close his mouth, which had fallen open on its own.
“Director Kang, do you know how incredible this is? When I was director, I went all over the country just to find one applicant. I went from medical school to medical school, practically begging professors. Even after all that, we’d barely get one person.”
“I don’t think it’s because I did anything especially well. I think it’s because the hospital as a whole has improved.”
“No, is that modesty? Anyone can see this is because of you.”
Sincerity filled Kim Byeongjo’s voice. As if his throat had tightened, he drew in a breath before continuing.
“Do you even know what you’ve done for this town? Goodness, they say you get more tearful when you grow old. Here I am, making a scene in front of you…”
“We all made it together.”
“What?”
“This result isn’t because of me alone. It’s something our team achieved. And it was built on the foundation of you struggling for so many years to keep this hospital standing. You’ve worked hard all this time.”
Taeho smiled quietly.
“If you put it that way, then I… Thank you.”
Honorary Director Kim Byeongjo nodded, his eyes reddening.
He felt so relieved that he thought he could die at any time now with no lingering regrets in this world.
***
In the doctors’ office, the existing medical staff had gathered, drinking coffee and chatting animatedly.
“It really is amazing.”
Choi Dongjin, the senior radiology technologist, said as he held his coffee cup and looked out the window.
“Until just recently, provincial hospitals were the number one place people avoided…”
“That’s right. When I came down from Seoul, everyone around me tried to stop me. They asked why I would go to such a rural place.”
Park Hyeonu, chief of internal medicine, nodded with an expression full of emotion.
“Now they’re actually jealous. Juniors at university hospitals in Seoul ask me what Samcheok is like. The world really has changed a lot.”
“The world hasn’t changed. This hospital is just especially abnormal. Don’t you get it?”
Chief Park Hyeonu clicked his tongue as if Choi Dongjin understood nothing.
Choi Dongjin stretched his neck out like an ostrich.
“Pardon?”
“Just last month, even Gangneung Medical Center couldn’t fill its staffing quota.”
“Huh? Now that you mention it, you’re right.”
“I’m telling you, the applicants are flocking only to this hospital.”
“Was one article about Director Kang really that big of a deal?”
“It wasn’t just one article. What kind of world do you think we live in? Do you think doctors would come rushing in just because of one article with no other information? Those are smart kids… They all used every connection they had and looked into things through the grapevine. Once they figured Director Kang Taeho was going to do something big, they came pouring in. If they go to a major hospital that’s already well established, it’ll take forever to get promoted. But what happens if they come to a hospital that’s just about to start growing in earnest?”
“Ah, so they’re choosing growth stocks over dividend stocks? Is that what you mean?”
“Well, if you put it that way, yes. The kids who came here for interviews today are probably all full of ambition.”
Choi Dongjin nodded and took a sip of his coffee, then suddenly looked back at Park Hyeonu.
“Huh? Then, Chief Park, did you perhaps think that far ahead too? You originally said you were going to Gangneung Medical Center.”
“Ahem, well, I can’t say I didn’t…”
Park Hyeonu grinned.
***
At 7 a.m., in the main auditorium of Samcheok Medical Center.
About fifty applicants sat in their seats with tense expressions. The murmuring stopped cold the moment Director Kang Taeho stepped onto the platform.
Taeho took the microphone and spoke in a calm voice.
“Good morning. First, I’d like to thank all of you for coming here.”
After looking over the applicants once, he continued.
“I will give different scenarios by specialty. I want to see your expertise. More than textbook answers, what matters is how you judge and act in the actual field.”
A tense atmosphere flowed through the applicants for emergency medicine seated near the front of the auditorium.
The emergency medicine interview room.
Eight applicants sat in a circle. Taeho stood before them and explained the scenario.
“Three patients have arrived at the emergency room at the same time.”
He wrote briefly on the whiteboard as he continued explaining.
“First, a fifty-five-year-old man. He is clutching his chest and complaining that it feels as though his chest is being torn apart. ST elevation is suspected on the electrocardiogram. Second, a twenty-five-year-old man. Decreased consciousness and multiple traumas from a motorcycle accident. Third, a five-year-old girl. She is having a generalized seizure with a high fever.”
The applicants’ expressions turned serious.
“You are the only physician on staff. There are two nurses. Decide the priorities and initial response within five minutes.”
Kim Dohyeon immediately raised his hand.
“The myocardial infarction is the most urgent! If it’s a STEMI, the door-to-balloon time has to be within ninety minutes, so we need to contact the catheterization lab immediately and administer aspirin and clopidogrel.”
At that moment, another applicant, Lee Chaerin, cut in with a calm voice.
“Wait, Dr. Kim Dohyeon. Shouldn’t we check ABC first? If the traffic accident patient has an airway obstruction or a tension pneumothorax, he could die within minutes.”
Another applicant joined in.
“We need to consider the pediatric patient too. If a febrile seizure continues, there’s a risk of brain damage.”
In an instant, a heated debate broke out among the eight applicants.
“Myocardial infarction has a golden time…”
“But if the trauma patient is unconscious, we need to start with the primary survey…”
“Children have compensatory mechanisms that differ from adults…”
Their voices grew louder and louder, and as each of them pushed only their own argument, the actual patients were being pushed to the background.
Taeho raised his hand and brought silence.
“Hold on. Look at the situation right now. If this were an actual ER, what would happen to the patients?”
The applicants froze for a moment.
“One of you take responsibility and decide. Think of yourself as the head of the emergency room.”
A brief silence followed. As the applicants looked at one another and hesitated, Lee Chaerin quietly raised her hand.
“I’ll do it.”
Taeho nodded.
“Good. Decide.”
Lee Chaerin took a deep breath and spoke in a clear voice.
“First, we assess the trauma patient’s ABC. One nurse, please assist with securing the airway and supplying oxygen.”
Lee Chaerin continued smoothly, as if she had prepared from the beginning.
“For the myocardial infarction patient, have a nurse repeat the twelve-lead EKG and administer 300 mg of aspirin to chew and swallow. At the same time, contact the catheterization lab. For the pediatric patient, administer IV diazepam and check her temperature. Prepare antipyretics as well.”
At Lee Chaerin’s charismatic answer, the other applicants could not continue speaking.
Honorary Director Kim Byeongjo leaned toward Taeho and whispered,
“The applicants this time are of a high standard.”
Just then, Kim Dohyeon cautiously raised his hand.
“Excuse me, Dr. Lee Chaerin. What happens to the myocardial infarction patient while you’re assessing the trauma patient’s ABC?”
Lee Chaerin looked momentarily flustered.
“The nurse will repeat the EKG…”
“Alone? If it progresses to V-fib or V-tach, can the nurse respond alone? And if the myocardial infarction patient goes into cardiac arrest, wouldn’t a doctor have to run over anyway?”
The other applicants began nodding at Kim Dohyeon’s words.
Kim Dohyeon continued.
“Of course the trauma patient is important. But if he’s already in a state of decreased consciousness, wouldn’t it be more efficient to quickly check for possible airway obstruction, and if his vitals are stable, stabilize the myocardial infarction patient first?”
He leaned forward and explained passionately. Everyone else listened as if being drawn in by his words.
“In myocardial infarction, time is directly tied to myocardial damage. Every minute and second determines the patient’s future. On the other hand, even if the trauma patient has decreased consciousness, if his vitals are being maintained, there may be a few minutes of leeway.”
Lee Chaerin tried to refute him, but Kim Dohyeon continued first.
“And one more thing. In an actual ER, simultaneous progress is possible. You can repeat the twelve-lead EKG beside the myocardial infarction patient while observing the trauma patient’s condition at the same time.”
He gestured to the space with his hand and explained concretely.
“If the myocardial infarction patient is here, the trauma patient would be on the bed right next to him. During the two or three minutes it takes to get the EKG, you can keep observing the trauma patient’s breathing pattern and changes in consciousness level.”
When Kim Dohyeon glanced over, Director Kang Taeho was listening to him with an interested expression.
Kim Dohyeon grew confident and spoke his final point.
“I think the most important thing in emergency medicine is efficiency rather than priority. It’s not about seeing patients one by one in order, but about monitoring multiple patients at the same time and intervening at the most critical moment.”
Lee Chaerin was briefly at a loss for words. Kim Dohyeon’s point had merit.
But soon, Lee Chaerin opened her mouth again.
“Then what would you do if the trauma patient suddenly deteriorated and you could no longer focus on responding to the myocardial infarction patient?”
“Then you change the priority at that moment. Flexibility is the lifeblood of emergency medicine. The moment you get bound to your initial plan, you can lose the patient.”
Kim Dohyeon smiled faintly.
Invisible sparks flew between Lee Chaerin and Kim Dohyeon.
At that moment, Taeho raised his hand and stopped the discussion.
Everyone looked at Taeho’s mouth.