White Robes as Armor

In 2012, Xu Gongdao, a newly qualified surgical postgraduate, is convinced that Shenzhen’s healthcare sector will develop at a breakneck pace over the next decade. Upon graduating, he gets a job at a public, second-tier community hospital in Shenzhen that is “in dire need of development.” But on his first day, he discovers that the hospital is desperately short of qualified staff. At the leadership’s request, he has no choice for the time being but to switch gears and work on the front lines in the emergency department.

Life at a community hospital is worlds apart from the purely clinical work Xu Gongdao experienced during his specialist training at a top-tier hospital. From family doctor contracts and registering local residents to rural checkups, public health, chronic disease management, outpatient care, and inpatient wards, nearly everything beyond treating patients is new to him. His time working in the heart of the community gradually teaches him the responsibilities of a community doctor. In the end, with his superb medical skills and compassionate heart, he saves countless local residents at life-or-death moments and earns their trust in the community hospital.