Seeing a doctor requires not only finding the right hospital but also the right doctor. As China’s Physician Day approaches, 39 Deep Breaths is helping patients find experts across various fields of illness, assisting everyone in navigating the healthcare system more effectively to find the right doctor for the right treatment.
【Featured Expert】Professor Jia Lin, Chief Physician of the Gastroenterology Department at Guangzhou First People’s Hospital
With changes in lifestyle, living environment, increased work pressure, and the accelerated process of population aging, the incidence of digestive system diseases continues to rise, ranking high among chronic diseases.
At the Guangzhou Digestive Disease Center’s joint outpatient clinic at nine in the morning, the waiting area is already full of patients or their families, each with their own concerns, anxiously waiting for their number to be called over the microphone. In Room 7, Jia Lin and his assistant are busy.
◎ Gastroenterology Consultation Room / Photo by the Author
The majority of patients entering the consultation room have already seen more than one doctor, undergone many tests, and tried various medications without success, pinning their hopes on the bespectacled Southern doctor sitting before them.
Now, most people write medical records on computers, but Jia Lin still maintains a long-standing habit of having a few sheets of blank paper and a pen on his desk. “Where do you feel uncomfortable?” he starts the consultation as the patient sits down, listening carefully to their responses while quickly jotting down key information on paper to clarify their issues before providing targeted treatment.
◎ Consulting while recording. / Photo by the Author
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Restless Hysteria
“Old Drugs, New Uses” for Clever Treatment
Experiencing discomfort in the stomach after eating, discomfort on an empty stomach, and throughout the night, with a constant feeling of something being stuck in the throat from acid reflux, accompanied by a burning sensation in the chest. This upper abdominal discomfort combined with the sensation of a foreign object in the throat has been troubling 62-year-old Uncle Zhang for four to five years.
He has seen doctors across the gastroenterology, psychiatry, ENT, and traditional Chinese medicine departments, but the symptoms have still recurred,
