China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Doing it for the kids
Documentary series follows pediatricians in Hunan, recounting their touching stories as they strive to help children stay healthy, Wang Ru reports.
As the baby’s father sat alone, crying with worry outside the operating theater, Doctor Peng Kun was saving his newborn baby’s life. The child was born with a malformation of a critical part of its digestive apparatus. In an incredibly complex operation, Peng had to anesthetize the baby and rectify the problem via skillful, taxing surgery. All the while, the father was shouldering the emotional burden of his child’s suffering all by himself, without telling his wife and other family members about the baby’s predicament.
Fortunately, the operation was a success. When it was over, the baby quickly came to and proceeded to stick out his tongue, enabling Peng to form a relieved smile under his mask and announce to his colleagues: “What a tough baby!”
The story is recounted in Hi Pediatrician, an eight-episode documentary about the work of pediatricians, which first aired on online platform Xigua Video on July 24. It is coproduced by Xigua and TVZone Media.
According to director Wang Yunhui, they want to find a different angle from which to approach a medical documentary. “Documentaries about hospitals are usually heavy and sad, since hospitals can be regarded as places of life and death. They often make you think that life has endless difficulties. But in a children’s hospital, you may find that adorable children can dilute the tension, so this is a different angle.
“Moreover, since China implemented the third-child family planning policy, pediatricians are becoming a focus. Whether there are enough pediatricians to protect the health of those additional children has become an important question and a source of people’s peace of mind and social stability. So it’s time to pay attention to them.”
The production records events that take place in Hunan Children’s Hospital, a large children’s hospital in Central China’s Hunan province which deals with at least 8,000 patients each day. Crew members set hidden cameras to capture footage in carefully selected departments of the hospital 24 hours a day without any interference.
“We want to record the true process of doctors’ work, from receiving the patients, treatment and hospitalization, through to the recovery and discharge of the patients. During the process, we try to show the interaction between doctors and their patients, breathtaking moments of heroism as doctors save the lives of critically ill patients and impart knowledge that parents should know when raising children,” says Wang.
“The production generally reflects our daily work,” says Doctor Fan Shuangshi who appears in the documentary and works in the hospital’s neurosurgery department.
“Many cases shown in the documentary have a good resolution. After our efforts, the children are saved, though in reality we face more helpless situations when we are unable to save some patients. But generally, it shows our daily work,” he adds.
He wanted to take part in the filming because he wants to enhance people’s understanding of pediatricians, and spread knowledge that can help those raising children.
“Documentaries record reality. I want people to understand our daily work, so that we can communicate better when they visit the hospital, and the relationships between doctors and patients can also improve.
“Moreover, I hope to explain some facts about children’s illnesses, like how strenuous movements while dancing and playing may lead to nerve injury among children who have tethered cord syndrome. People should beware of their children’s behavior and recognize early symptoms of illnesses as soon as possible,” says Fan.
Wang was surprised to find that, although it was the doctors who saved the patients, the doctors said they actually gained a lot from the experience. “Pediatricians actually protect people who are in the weakest period of their lives, but this period also witnesses the most miracles. When I saw Peng and his colleagues smiling under their masks when they saved a baby, I knew that, although they were really tired, they loved their job.
“Many medical documentaries put the emphasis on the efforts and sacrifices of doctors, but we also want to show what the pediatricians gain from their work.”
Wang’s ambition is to provide a panoramic view of doctors, patients and the fight against their illnesses in a collaborative way. “When disaster comes, we join hands and try to conquer it with a collective effort, and try to face the setbacks with a positive, caring and even amusing attitude. Just as Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke once wrote, ‘That is why it does not cease to be difficult, but that is also why it will not cease to grow’. I hope the audience can take comfort in this work.”
Wang says he hopes to call on society to pay attention to the work of pediatricians through this production, build a good environment for them to thrive, so that more medical majors will choose to become pediatricians in the future.
“Children often have difficulties expressing themselves and describing their physical situation. Their conditions can get worse quickly, especially with their weaker physical tolerance. Doctors are generally less trained to treat children’s illness, and pediatricians have a relatively higher workload and less income compared with other doctors. That’s why many medical students choose to work as doctors for adults instead of for children,” says Fan.
According to the 2020 China Health Statistics Yearbook released by the National Health Commission, there were about 155,000 pediatricians in China in 2019, while there were 249 million children under 14. In other words, there is only one pediatrician for every 1,610 children, while, on average, there are nearly 30 adult specialized doctors for every 1,000 people, suggesting there is a severe gap in the current number of pediatricians and the demand for their services.
Despite the facts, Fan, who was determined to become a doctor in senior high school, still feels “lucky” to work as a pediatrician. When he was a medical student working as an intern, he was surprised by the lack of medical resources in the neurosurgery department for children, which resulted in many not receiving proper treatment.
“It occurred to me then that, if the opportunity arose, I would like to become a pediatrician,” he says. It was a goal that was realized in 2015, when he was recruited by Hunan Children’s Hospital after he graduated.
“Working as a pediatrician endows me with a sense of fulfillment every time I successfully save a child, as I know, to some extent, I save the whole family,” Fan says. “Children also have better recovery and compensation ability, so that they can sometimes recover from heavy injuries that adults cannot, and they can recover to the extent that you can hardly find any trace of their former injuries. That gives me a lot of hope when I am trying to help them.
“I feel lucky to do what I am interested in, which is also meaningful, since it can help so many people. I want to spread that sense of luck with my patients,” he says.