Medical Circle Weekly No.8: Did You Hit the Circuit Breaker Today?

Topic: A Collection of Circuit Breaker Jokes (For Your Amusement)

Location: Yiquan WeeklyVCBeat Community

Contributor: Zhao Zhanshi

Just a joke: The hottest new buzzword of 2016: Circuit Breaker! Some doctors have strongly recommended incorporating a circuit breaker mechanism into outpatient services. When the number of waiting patients exceeds the normal level by 5%, consultations would be temporarily suspended for half an hour, allowing doctors to take a bathroom break and drink some water. If, after resuming services, the number of waiting patients exceeds the normal level by 7%, the clinic would immediately trigger the circuit breaker and end consultations for the day, enabling doctors to clock out on time and go home for dinner.

Final Exam Edition: Students Strongly Demand the Inclusion of a Circuit-Breaker Mechanism in School Exams. If 5% of examinees are unable to answer a question, the exam will be paused for 15 minutes as a circuit-breaker measure, allowing everyone to calm down, consult textbooks, seek external assistance, and engage in mutual discussion. Upon resuming the exam, if it is found that 7% of examinees still cannot answer the question, the exam will be immediately terminated under the circuit-breaker rule. Proctors will end their duties early, and all students will receive a guaranteed minimum score of 60. This way, students can return home without facing physical punishment or verbal abuse, while teachers also enjoy a lighter workload.

No-Alcohol Version: Starting from the New Year, I have implemented a circuit-breaker mechanism for my alcohol consumption. Consuming more than 250 grams of red wine will trigger the circuit breaker, requiring a 15-minute abstinence period. If the cumulative total exceeds 350 grams after resuming drinking, the circuit breaker will be triggered again, resulting in complete abstinence for the remainder of the day. Hereby notified!

Poker Edition: Many people ask, "What does the circuit breaker mechanism mean?" A securities professional replied, "In essence, the circuit breaker mechanism works like this: You bring 3,000 yuan to play poker and lose it all within half an hour, triggering a mandatory 15-minute break. During the break, you go downstairs to withdraw 5,000 yuan from an ATM. You return and lose that amount as well. The winners then say, 'Your luck is terrible today; let's just call it a day.'"

Term Explanation [Circuit Breaker]: Many friends have asked how to say "circuit breaker" in English. After checking the dictionary, the English explanation is Financial Unusual Ceasing Kit, which literally means an unconventional financial cessation tool. The abbreviation is FUCK.

Circuit breaker mechanisms are, to some extent, necessary in every industry, as the “last straw” phenomenon does indeed exist. Nevertheless, the emergence of such mechanisms often feels somewhat “incongruous.” For anything “incongruous” to persist, it generally entails substantial costs and requires, at a minimum, the support of a favorable environment.

Topic: The “Most Miserable” Doctor Selection Event

Location: MedCircle WeeklyVCBeat Community

Contributor: Lu JianZhao Zhanshi

The Awkward Plight of Healthcare Workers: A Result of Inferiority and Arrogance. Why so? This is not to dismiss the hard work of healthcare professionals, but rather to examine, from the perspective of their mindset, how they become trapped in a cycle of futile busyness.

For millennia, with the exception of a few renowned physicians such as Bian Que, Hua Tuo, and Li Shizhen, the medical profession held a low social status, indirectly leading to a mindset among physicians characterized by the extremes of inferiority and arrogance.

On the one hand, healthcare professionals in the past often regarded themselves, or were regarded by others, as “angels in white,” aspiring to shoulder the grand mission of national health. Their ambitions were undoubtedly lofty, but such an ethereal, detached “demeanor” all too easily created a stark contrast during patient consultations and treatment.

On the other hand, healthcare professionals are plagued by feelings of inferiority; they hesitate to offend patients due to concerns for their personal safety, and they refrain from offending hospitals out of fear that leaving would cost them their livelihood.

Healthcare workers are human too, with families to care for; it is perfectly reasonable for them to voice these concerns confidently.

To escape the trap of being perpetually busy yet unproductive, healthcare professionals must first cultivate a confident mindset—neither self-deprecating nor arrogant. In this regard, we call on hospitals to reduce the number of “Most Beautiful Doctor” and “Most Beautiful Nurse” awards.First, it wastes the energy of medical personnel; second, it fosters arrogance; and third, it raises patients' expectations for medical care.

We need to adopt new perspectives to discover the beauty in the medical profession. The label of “doctor” should not be limited to clinical practice; it encompasses many other traits, such as compassion, a passion for digital gadgets among post-80s physicians, and academic excellence. Highlighting these qualities could enrich the public’s perception of doctors, portraying them as multidimensional, flesh-and-blood individuals. Could emphasizing this human side of doctors’ lives, distinct from the altruistic nature of healthcare delivery, help mitigate doctor-patient conflicts?

Topic: Is it really any of my damn business whether you’ve eaten or not?

Location: Medical Circle WeeklyVCBeat Community

Participated by: Zhao Zhanshi (transferred)

Prologue:The story originated from a WeChat Moments post by a young male doctor at a hospital in Shanghai. He wrote, “I was on emergency duty today and was yelled at by a patient’s family member, ‘It’s none of my damn business whether you’ve eaten or not.’ At first, it didn’t bother me much, but later, as I was writing the medical history, I noticed water droplets falling onto the chart. Only then did I realize I was crying… Perhaps only my grandmother and my mother care about whether I’ve had a meal…”

Explanation:“It’s none of my damn business whether you’ve eaten” may be impolite in tone, but the underlying message is valid. When patients seek medical care at a hospital, a contractual relationship is established between them and the institution. The hospital is obligated to provide qualified medical services. Whether doctors have time to eat is an internal management issue for the hospital and has no bearing on the patients. If a doctor eats while providing medical services to a patient on behalf of the hospital, this constitutes evidence that the medical service provided by the hospital is substandard. In such cases, it is both reasonable and lawful for the patient to file a complaint against the hospital.Doctors should recognize that they are employees of the hospital and that their work represents professional conduct carried out on behalf of the hospital to fulfill its contractual obligations with patients. If the hospital fails to deliver qualified medical services, the doctor should first apologize to the patient on behalf of the hospital, rather than emphasizing how their personal rights have been infringed upon by the hospital, as these matters are entirely irrelevant to the patient.If doctors fail to understand that their interactions with patients constitute official duties and instead perceive them as personal actions, they may offer meaningless explanations to patients—who have nothing to do with the infringement of their mealtime rights—thereby inevitably inviting complaints. Of course, patients should also express their grievances appropriately when filing complaints.The principle here is straightforward: just as consumers naturally complain when they purchase defective products, customer service representatives cannot justify providing poor-quality products by claiming that their employer has not paid their wages. Doing so would rightly invite criticism.

Topic: A Few Thoughts on Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Location: MedCircle WeeklyVCBeat CommunityPresident Online -President Tang Nong's Q&A Group

Participant: Zhao ZhanshiWang QingbiQin Yuwang

I. In the current era, every industry requires innovation, particularly in terms of resource interconnectivity and cross-disciplinary advancement. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) appears to possess an inherent conservatism; how can it sustain rapid development if it fails to generate novel approaches?

II. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners generally do not discuss standardization; can TCM truly be standardized?

Without standardization, how can rapid replication and expansion be achieved?

How to Enhance Public Trust?

Will serious “obstacles to tiered diagnosis and treatment in traditional Chinese medicine” arise (where renowned physicians are overwhelmed with patients, while young doctors have virtually none)?

Without Standardization, How Can Collaboration Be Fostered to Enhance Efficiency?

3. The faith in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is admirable, representing the core beauty of Chinese culture; however, does emphasizing such faith impose excessively high demands on practitioners? This approach may not be conducive to the inheritance and continuation of TCM.

Summary:First, I have always emphasized speed, as velocity is critical in the current era; Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) should consider how to integrate with new elements, particularly the internet. Second, I believe TCM should focus on simplification: reducing the difficulty of training TCM practitioners, lowering the barriers to clinical practice, and making it easier for patients to access TCM services.

Our greatest concern at present is that discussions on the modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) often rely on Western medical standards to evaluate TCM. TCM should have its own evaluation mechanism. From the perspective of top-level design, TCM must establish its own management system. If it continues to be governed under the current framework of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, it will inevitably be subjected to Western medical standards for requirements and evaluation, gradually steering TCM onto the path of Western medicine. Ultimately, this will narrow the development trajectory of TCM.

Start with cultural and linguistic foundations; education is crucial! If it is not possible to begin at the foundational level of early enlightenment, then start with university education, or even with introductory education for students entering universities of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Education in Chinese classics is vital, as the rise or decline of every nation begins with its culture, writing system, and language!

Current Dilemmas Facing Traditional Chinese Medicine, or Reasons Why Some People Disparage It:

1. The problem lies with TCM practitioners themselves; they lack confidence in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

2. Problems have emerged in TCM education, with TCM textbooks being heavily Westernized.

3. Absence of a systematic evaluation framework.

4. The general public lacks understanding of the theoretical system of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

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