The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 77

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 77

Even though we seemed to get along well, Kim Chunsik and I were meeting for the first time today.

I still couldn’t tell if I’d be able to help him. I decided to listen to his story first.

“It’s been almost a year since I opened my clinic, but I’ve had more months in the red than in the black. Ha, really… Being stuck at the university made me a real frog in a well.”

“So that’s why you’re considering joining a network franchise?”

“Yes. While I was racking my brains, Professor Cho Hoyoung, who’s this friend’s advisor, suggested joining the Haneul Clinic franchise. When I thought about it, joining a network seemed like a good idea. But…”

“You’re not fond of Haneul Clinic.”

“Mm, I think it would be too much of a stretch for me.”

Though he didn’t openly criticize them in front of so many oriental medicine doctors, I could understand what he meant well enough.

He probably didn’t like that they didn’t respect a doctor’s judgment and autonomy, not to mention their focus on cosmetic treatments.

He must be the traditional, old-school type who prescribes in the conventional way.

“So I looked into networks specializing in digestive disorders or rhinitis, but… hmm, since my location is in Songpa, I was rejected because there were already many branches nearby, and the young folks who are expanding now seem to be put off by my age.”

“I see.”

I nodded.

Networks varied in their approach – some only shared marketing, others combined marketing with academic exchange, and some had central control over all systems.

But he wanted help with his struggling business while refusing control over his prescriptions.

“You’re confident in your treatments and want autonomy guaranteed, right?”

“That’s right. I’d like help on the business side.”

Their needs were clear.

And I, who could flexibly adjust systems, could accommodate them to some extent.

As Lee Minseok said, this could be quite a good deal.

‘But why isn’t it working? There’s definitely demand for a kind, grandfatherly oriental medicine doctor.’

I pondered for a moment before jumping at the proposal.

Traditional treatment methods might not suit the middle of downtown. If that were the case, I’d need to consult on upgrading the interior and incorporating more modern terminology into treatments.

But what if his skills weren’t as good as he thought?

“Would it be alright if I observed at your clinic this Tuesday? I’ll see what the problems are and whether there’s anything I can help with, then we can proceed if it seems feasible.”

If I couldn’t solve that issue, there was nothing I could do.

Chu Miyoung had sufficient willingness to learn, but if someone lacked ability yet was stubborn, they wouldn’t follow instructions.

“Oh, I’d be very grateful if you would!”

From Kim Chunsik’s perspective, there was no reason to refuse free consulting. He readily agreed.

‘I really hope it’s just a slight lack of business skills… I wonder?’

* * *

After the after-party ended and I spent the evening with friends, I returned to Busan.

I had to see patients on Monday.

Then early Tuesday morning, I took the first flight back up to Seoul.

My destination was, of course, Kim Chunsik’s oriental medicine clinic.

The location was excellent – not only in front of the station but also adjacent to a large apartment complex. The interior looked expensive and luxurious at first glance. The sign was certainly eye-catching too.

‘Is it really a marketing problem?’

It seemed like he was doing basic blog management through an agency. Was that insufficient? If so, I wasn’t exactly an expert in that area.

I finished my preparations while looking around the area.

“You can observe from over there. Make yourself comfortable.”

“Yes, Clinic Director.”

I respectfully observed from a corner of the examination room, just like Chu Miyoung and Hwang Sanghun had done before.

And I quickly discovered the cause of his business troubles.

“GAL!!!!”

Kim Chunsik’s thunderous roar shook the entire clinic.

…I nearly lost consciousness.

When the first patient came in, things seemed relatively normal.

“How did this weekend go? You didn’t overdo anything, did you?”

My only thought was that maybe the informal speech should be corrected, even considering his age.

“Haha, I wanted to skip golf too, but the director asked me to go for a round twice, so I had no choice…”

But I soon realized that a doctor in his 60s using informal speech was not a problem at all.

When the patient started making excuses, a lion’s roar burst from his mouth.

“Nonsense! Stop making excuses! Do you want to get better or not! I clearly warned you that it would put great strain on you, didn’t I? How can someone with elbow pain play golf!”

“…I’m sorry.”

It was tremendous presence that I hadn’t seen once since returning to South Korea.

I thought some evil sect leader had invaded Haegeonji with a sword!

Haegeonji was a small pond located at the Wudang Sect’s mountain gate, and to enter, one had to disarm as a sign of respect for their founding patriarch, Jang Sambong.

Kim Chunsik’s aura just now was like the great roar of a Wudang Sect elder whose sacred ground had been trampled.

People like Professor Lee Minseok and Park Yeonggil had considerable charisma, but compared to Kim Chunsik, they were nothing.

A world of difference – no, it was like the gap between an elder and a second-generation disciple.

‘Wow…’

Unable to bear the dizziness, I pressed my hand to the back of my neck.

What’s the opposite of ‘kind treatment’?

The answer is ‘scolding treatment’.

Literally, it means treating patients while scolding them.

It encompasses both the treatment method of scolding patients who don’t follow instructions for therapeutic purposes, like Kim Chunsik just did, and cases where doctors simply lose their temper due to poor character.

In fact, there were many such physicians in the martial arts world.

…To confess the truth, I was like that too.

But it couldn’t be helped. Since martial artists treated physicians’ words like dog food, sometimes scolding and even violence had to be employed.

It was acceptable there.

Why? Because I am the Divine Physician Hanyewon. If you don’t like it, go somewhere else!

Of course, even if you weren’t a Divine Physician, it didn’t matter. I was the only doctor in the entire village, so what could they do? Probably one doctor per tens of thousands of people?

But that was only a story from the martial arts world.

The Oriental Medicine Clinic that Kim Chunsik opened was located in an office district in the city center, with two other Oriental Medicine Clinics right in the adjacent building.

In modern South Korea, courteous treatment is the most basic of basics.

Needless to say, scolding treatment is very, very, very bad for business!

‘Even in Korea, it might have been okay just a few decades ago.’

There are those who haven’t adapted to the times and can’t break habits from when doctors were the ultimate authority figures, with professors being the prime example. Their salaries are maintained regardless of hospital revenue after all.

Even in some medically underserved local areas with no competition, this tradition continues… but in Songpa?

No matter how skilled you are, there’s no way it would work.

‘With such a kind-looking face… He was so friendly to Professor Lee Minseok and to me…’

It was truly astounding.

Kim Chunsik scolded not only the first elbow patient but everyone who didn’t follow his instructions or recommendations.

“The healing seems a bit slow.”

“That’s why I said we should do herbal acupuncture from the beginning!!!!”

I know herbal acupuncture is good. But if they say they won’t do it because it’s expensive, you have to give regular acupuncture multiple times!

There’s no way that patient will come back tomorrow. Even I would go to the Oriental Medicine Clinic next door that would say “Oh, this must be difficult for you.”

Observing throughout the consultation, there was definitely no problem with his skills.

His diagnosis was flawless, and his acupuncture hit exactly the targeted spots.

The one herbal medicine patient who came today said they would follow the director’s advice, so the consultation went smoothly, and the prescription didn’t deviate from what I had in mind.

“Hehe, how was it? I think there’s no particular problem with the location. I even paid 200 million won for the key money, and the previous director had at least 30 patients a day. I guess advertising is the problem… Should I diversify non-covered services? The follow-up rate is too low because treatment is so fast – should I raise the unit price?”

After the observation ended, Kim Chunsik asked for my opinion.

Does he really think patients aren’t coming back because they’re all cured?

“Professor, the unit price isn’t the problem.”

He showed no sign of embarrassment. It wasn’t anger management disorder.

Kim Chunsik genuinely didn’t know.

“How can you yell at patients? Patients aren’t students!”

I opened the mouth of truth.

“Yelling is the problem?”

The face of someone truly receiving this criticism for the first time.

“Yes! Do you know how startled I was when you got angry at the very first patient?”

“The first patient – you mean the elbow case? But if they keep playing golf, no matter how well I treat them, they won’t heal.”

Why wouldn’t I understand that feeling?

I once threw a fit when I saw a patient with a torn hamstring practicing martial arts stances in the hospital room.

“I was only doing it for the patient’s sake…”

But there’s something as important as the intention.

The method of delivery.

“Gah!!!!! You can say it politely in countless ways. That’s nothing but an excuse!”

I infused my voice with internal energy and unleashed a lion’s roar.

Kugugugugung.

Kim Chunsik, momentarily feeling as if the ground was shaking, became greatly flustered and staggered.

Oh, that was pretty good just now. Almost like the Martial Arts Alliance Leader?

“How do you feel when I yell at you like this? Do you think the patient will stop playing golf after hearing what you said, or will they switch clinics?”

“Th-they’ll switch clinics…”

“Of course they will. Or they’ll go to orthopedics. It’s better to just get physical therapy in a state of no-mind than to pay money to get scolded.”

Of course, this delivery method is effective in many cases.

Like star online course instructors, or self-development YouTube channels where people pay to hear harsh truths.

Or shock therapy consulting like what I’m doing right now.

But that’s definitely not what an elbow patient expects from an Oriental Medicine Clinic.

“If you don’t fix this, joining the network will be useless. No matter how much you advertise, people will come once or twice and stop, and once someone starts leaving reviews about poor service, even that will dry up. Unless you’re aiming to unreasonably raise prices, intimidate patients into buying overpriced medicine, and use treatment methods that don’t work, you need to stop this immediately.”

“…”

Perhaps deep in thought, Kim Chunsik closed his mouth.

“In this state, forget opening your own practice – you can’t even work as a salaried employee. The fact that even ten patients a day come is only possible because the location is good. Either change your treatment approach, or quickly wrap this up and look for a night shift position.”

I deliberately spoke harshly.

Because Kim Chunsik was skilled, I sincerely hoped he would change his treatment approach.

I wanted his abilities to be used well, not just for himself but for the patients he would encounter.

At least for him, it would be better to directly point out the problem rather than speaking gently and coaxing.

“Ah, ahh…”

Sensing something, Kim Chunsik kept opening and closing his mouth.

“What you’re saying… seems right. I am…”

But he didn’t seem to have completely organized his thoughts yet.

“You have your established methods up until now, so it won’t be easy to change everything at once. Contact me when you’ve made up your mind. I’ll do my best to help you.”

I decided to give him time.

The possibility of change was visible.

He’s not a bad person. If he had been taking out his frustrations on patients through meaningless scolding all this time, he would have deliberately hidden it in front of me.

He had genuinely scolded them thinking it was necessary, so if he realizes it’s not the case, he could actually fix it.

The fact that he asked for help from someone much younger like me shows he’s open-minded.

The observation that started harmoniously ended somewhat solemnly.

I came down to Busan on an evening flight to prepare for the next day’s treatment.

* * *

And three days later.

Kim Chunsik contacted me. It was much faster timing than I had expected.

– What would be a good way to get patients to actively engage in treatment?

It was a question filled with his recent contemplation.

“Your sincere desire to heal them must reach them.”

– I don’t know specifically how to express it. Would it be alright if I also observe at your clinic?

So he wants to see it directly.

The observation itself isn’t difficult. I’ve allowed it for Chu Miyoung and Hwang Sanghun too.

But there’s no reason to reveal trade secrets to someone I have no relationship with, right?

“If you decide to sign a franchise contract, I’ll teach you everything from A to Z.”

I deployed the ‘just with words?’ strategy.

– Of course. I’ll do everything as instructed, so let’s work well together from now on.

“I’ll send you a preliminary contract first for your review, and please come down this weekend. I’ll let you observe me and our deputy director. Then we’ll gradually correct your treatment methods.”

– Sounds good.

Kim Chunsik seemed to have made up his mind completely.

His resolute determination was conveyed through the phone.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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