A Good Doctor for the People: Taking Things Lightly

(Minghui.org) I am a retired surgeon who just turned 70 this year.

I attended Master Li Hongzhi’s lectures 28 years ago. Master Li is the founder of Falun Dafa, and Master’s teachings changed my thinking. I realized that nothing in this material world really matters, and the ultimate goal of life is to return to one’s original true self. That is when I decided to become a Falun Dafa practitioner.

I was the first person practicing Falun Dafa at my workplace. Soon, some doctors and nurses also started to practice. In a time when the morality of medical professionals was declining, those of us who were Dafa practitioners tried to be the best people we could be. We refused gifts from patients and kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies. We often helped patients with their medical bills, and gave donations to those in need.

Our work ethic was praised by the locals, and positively influenced the community. As a result, many people came to learn about Falun Dafa.

Helping Patients in Difficult Circumstances

Over 20 years ago, a patient in her 50s who suffered from a fractured knee consulted us doctors. To stabilize her knee, she had a full leg cast put on. She was anxious because she couldn’t get in touch with her family. She didn’t live far from the hospital, but her apartment was on the 7th floor, and there was no elevator. How was she going to get home?

I told her not to worry. After taking care of other patients, I borrowed a wheelchair to push her home. I then put her on my back as she wrapped her arms around my neck and I took her up to her apartment. I then rushed back to the hospital after she was safely settled at her home.

She was quite emotional, “You’re such a good doctor, how should I thank you?!”

Then, a teacher brought her elderly father to the hospital. He was a retired factory worker in his 80’s. He had a hard time getting around and taking care of his daily needs. With bone cancer on one of his hands, there was tissue necrosis around the cancerous area. They lived a few bus stops from the hospital, and coming to the appointments was a difficult trip.

The daughter wept as she told me about their situation. Her only brother had recently passed away. It was the end of the school year and work was busy, so she couldn’t easily take time off from work. She had help from several people to get her father here that day, but didn’t know what she would do the next time.

I felt sorry for her, and said, “I will help you. I will clean up his wound today. For later care, I will come to your home when I’m off work. This way, you won’t need to bring him to the hospital.”

For the next two months, I visited the elderly man on a regular basis. It was a hot summer, and my shirt was soaked with sweat by the time I reached their apartment. The daughter was thankful and tried to give me money and gifts as a thank you, but I politely declined anything she gave me. She wanted to send in a recognition banner to my workplace, but I stopped her from doing that as well.

I told her several times, “I am a Dafa practitioner. We practice compassion. We do good deeds to help others without wanting anything in return. Don’t feel indebted to me for such little things.” She experienced the goodness of Falun Dafa, and knew that Dafa practitioners live up to high standards.

She later went to the hospital president and praised me for what I did for her family. The administration wanted to set up an interview, but I refused. Afterward, I heard from a colleague that a local TV station broadcast a report on how I had helped my patients above and beyond. My employer gave me a bonus, which I declined.

Responsible for My Patients

Putting patients’ needs first and taking responsibility for them should be the fundamental work ethics of medical professionals. This is helpful to a patient’s recovery.

A man came in for a urinalysis and medication for symptoms of blood in the urine. He had no pain but there were a high number of red blood cells in his urine. I recommended an ultrasound of his urinary system. The patient was not pleased, “I just had an ultrasound at another hospital. It will cost me another 120 yuan. It’s unnecessary. I don’t want it. Please just prescribe some medicine to stop the bleeding.”

I explained to him, “When a doctor makes a diagnosis, test results from other hospitals are only for reference. You are seeing me today. I will take care of you based on your symptoms and be responsible for you. I understand your reasons. You don’t want to waste money on something you don’t need. And you worry that a doctor might not be honest with you.”

It was clear that the patient had faith in his previous test results and did not trust me completely.

I said to him, “I am a Dafa practitioner. People around here know me. I believe another test is needed for you. If I just do what you want me to do, I would not have been responsible for you, and my heart would not be at ease.” Upon hearing this, he agreed to take the test.

To alert the radiologist, I wrote “to rule out recent growth” on the order. When the results came back they indicated that there was a new growth in the bladder, which usually means cancer.

The patient had surgery to remove the cancerous tissue. He later thanked me several times, “Thank you for making me get the test, or it wouldn’t have been operable if we had waited.” His family came to see me too when they had health issues, as they knew Falun Dafa practitioners are good people.

Then, ten years ago, a teacher from our affiliated school came in because she had blood in her stool. During the manual exam, I felt a hard lump in her colon. Such findings are almost always not a good sign.

I referred her to a specialist for a biopsy. Before she left, I emphasized the importance of getting further testing done. I did not hear from her again, and thought she must have followed through per my advice.

A month later, a colleague who is a gynecologist told me more about this person: “She went to see a specialist after she left here last time. The specialist said you misdiagnosed her. There was no tumor, and everything was normal. So she was going to wait and see.”

My colleague said to her, “You still need to pay attention to this. You have to trust Dr. Wang (referring to me) who is a responsible doctor. I know him, and trust him, especially with something important as this. He is very careful and wouldn’t remind you so many times if he didn’t think it was important. You need to check again.”

A relative of the patient is a surgeon. After a thorough examination, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. Since the cancer was caught early on, the damage was minimized. She later came to the hospital and thanked me over and over again.

Relationship with Pharmaceutical Representatives

Nowadays, regardless of the size of the hospital, pharmaceutical sales representatives can be seen in all areas of the building. Relationships between them and hospital staff flourished in recent years because of the financial benefits being thrown around. As a Dafa practitioner, I will not lose myself to material gains, and didn’t want to be associated with the sales representatives.

They avoided me because I refused kickbacks. As time passed, I learned a lot more about the nature of their work, and felt sympathetic toward them. To make a living and support their families, most of them were simply following their company’s rules.

As my mentality changed, some of those sales people stopped avoiding me as well. Some even respected me. We would have small talks between seeing patients. They inquired about my work and shared their troubles with me, as friends do. I tried to give them helpful advice.

One young sales representative told me that her husband was having urinary issues and asked for my opinion. They spent a lot of money at a specialized hospital but saw no improvement. The doctor there held his medical records, and only told them his condition was serious. The couple was worried.

“From what you told me,” I responded, “your husband has an inflammation of the prostate. There is no effective medication, but it’s not hard to treat. Bring him here if he has time, I will talk to him.”

Her husband came in, and I told him some common knowledge regarding his condition, and gave him suggestions on lifestyle changes. With a course of medication and following my guidance, his condition improved.

The young couple know that I am a Dafa practitioner, and said, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all doctors practiced Falun Dafa!”

Another pharmaceutical representative sold traditional Tibetan medicine at our hospital. The drug quality was good, but the price was on the expensive side. Perhaps the hospital did not get high enough kickbacks from this company, so sales of this drug had been low. The sales representative was anxious, as she would lose her job if sales didn’t go up.

In the past, she avoided me as she knew that I did not like the idea of kickbacks. As a last hope, she approached me for help. I told her my principle in prescribing medication, in that patients have to be satisfied with the product, it has to be effective, and reasonably priced.

I told her that since she asked me, I would recommend her drugs to my patients if appropriate, but my patients have the ultimate decision. In the end, her sales went up and her drugs were prescribed regularly in our hospital. She got to keep her job and was very thankful for my help.

One day, she brought her regional sales manager to see me. Her manager tried to convince me to accept kickbacks, but I told them that as a Dafa practitioner, I live by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance, therefore I couldn’t accept their money. They expressed their understanding and respect toward Dafa and practitioners.

In recent years, I met many pharmaceutical sales representatives. They sometimes invited me on trips, offered me kickbacks and gift cards, but my reply has always been the same. They gave me an understanding smile in return.

A Good Doctor

As people witness, Dafa practitioners’ compassion awakens their conscience. Over the years, when Dafa practitioners are being persecuted, I heard everyday people comment with respect, “Amazing people.”

Even though I have been arrested and detained many times, people openly praise me. Some retired staff came to visit me, and check if I was still allowed to work. They were thinking about me, a common physician. I often heard, “Such a good doctor got persecuted. There is no justice in this world anymore!”

When the hospital selects doctors for the “model award,” sometime I got it, sometimes not. However, I was named the “Most Trusted Doctor” every year.

I take such awards lightly. What I see as precious is everyday people’s approval and recognition of Falun Dafa and Dafa practitioners, despite living in a time of an unprecedented persecution in China.