Even Doctors Need to Learn Math

Chapter 40: Doctors Need to Learn Math Too

"Master, are you in a bad mood lately?"

Old Franz noticed Frederick had been a bit off since he stayed at the castle for a night and returned.

Recently, Frederick had been constantly preoccupied, not paying much attention to things in the camp, just writing and drawing something in his tent.

He just shook his head when he heard Old Franz's question, not saying anything.

Sophia's condition wasn't optimistic. After writing to the experts at Weissenburg University, they were also at a loss. Only Friedrich had prescribed several cough syrups to be taken in rotation to reduce drug resistance.

"It's nothing," Frederick said. "Is there something?"

He trusted this old knight. Now that the camp was on the right track, there were precedents for many things, and he didn't need to make so many final decisions himself.

Old Franz said, "A doctor wants to see you."

The Weissen Family didn't have a family doctor now. The original doctor had resigned after Frederick's mother passed away.

So when a doctor came calling, Old Franz immediately informed Frederick.

"A doctor?" Frederick stopped writing. "What does he want?"

Old Franz's face darkened. He said to his master, "Doctor Frank is worried about an outbreak of plague in the camp, so he volunteered to help. Seeing how kind he is, I came to report to you."

"I asked him. Doctor Frank has graduation badges from three medical schools, and his medical skills sound good. He described my old ailments better than the doctor we had at home before."

"He also brought his daughter. Miss Florence is a nurse and also has a medical school graduation badge."

Frederick understood immediately. Old Franz was getting on in years and would soon reach an age where he couldn't do without a doctor. It would be very difficult for him if the Wessen Territory didn't have a good doctor.

"Let them in," Frederick said.

Old Franz quickly led a middle-aged man around forty and a lady about twenty into the tent.

Frederick had Tarot bring chairs for the two to sit down. He looked at the medical school graduation badges pinned to the father and daughter's chests, thinking their medical skills should be fine. He then asked, "Do you know algebra and geometry?"

Frank had come here looking for a job. Hearing that Baron Weissen was still a child, he had prepared himself for the interview, believing his experience graduating from three medical schools was enough to impress many.

However, no matter how prepared he was, he never expected Frederick to start by asking if he knew math.

He carefully asked, "Excuse me, Baron. May I ask why knowledge of algebra and geometry is needed to be a doctor?"

Frederick took out a stack of parchment tied with thin string from a file box nearby. He handed it to Frank and said, "What I want is not just a doctor who serves me, but a marshal among doctors."

"Such a doctor doesn't need to be extremely proficient in medical skills. What he needs to do is find methods for treating and saving people from numbers."

"For example, in our camp, there were only two or three thousand people in the first few days."

"At that time, several apothecary scholars from Weissenburg University, along with dozens of students from pharmacy and other majors, were divided into two groups, carrying out different tasks."

"The first group conducted a statistical survey of everyone's physical condition. After analyzing this statistical data, they compiled a statistical table of factors for various diseases people suffered from. Then, they used this as a basis to draw a Pareto chart and identify the diseases most in need of treatment from the many illnesses."

"Next, they carefully organized and analyzed the causes of these diseases, using a cause-and-effect diagram as a tool to gradually dissect and find the root causes leading to those major diseases."

"Then, based on the current statistical situation, they identified a large number of causes and verified them one by one through a key factor confirmation table, finally determining the most important causes."

"After confirming the main causes, they compiled a cause-and-effect countermeasure table, formulating corresponding countermeasures and control objectives."

"They used this as guidance to concentrate limited resources on treating patients and preventing diseases in the camp."

"The second group conducted independent statistics. They regularly compiled data on the types of diseases, the number of people infected, the number of people cured, etc., in the camp, and analyzed and compared them through tables and graphs to grasp the changes in various diseases in real-time, providing a basis for decision-making."

Frederick finished speaking and picked up his teacup to take a sip and moisten his throat.

He knew nothing about medicine. The apothecary scholars and students knew how to make medicine, but they only knew how to identify simple diseases. They weren't as professional as doctors in diagnosis.

So when faced with many diseases, Frederick could only tackle the biggest ones first.

For a while, he didn't have many tools for effective analysis and decision-making regarding disease problems. He simply had the first group use the QC circle method to find the diseases that needed to be treated first and applied the cause-and-effect analysis from it.

Meanwhile, the second group used statistics to visualize information and statistical data, providing a basis for decisions with intuitive data. This was a major contribution from the "Lady with the Lamp" in his hometown.

Now, the three steps for disaster victims entering the camp – discarding old clothes, shaving hair, and medicinal baths – came from this, aimed at reducing the spread of various blood-sucking insects and skin parasites.

Frederick had seen a disaster victim who needed special treatment. There were two palm-sized areas on his back where skin parasites had laid eggs, and the eggs had already hatched. The only way was to pour melted beeswax on them and then physically remove the larvae like removing blackheads.

Intestinal parasitic diseases were even more prevalent. Fortunately, Friedrich's anthelmintic capsules also worked on worms other than roundworms. So the Necromancer students were having a tough time, having to kill worms in the septic tank every day, otherwise this land would be unusable.

Frank and Florence, the father and daughter, quietly looked at the data and charts on the parchment, their hearts deeply shaken.

Finally, Frank said very solemnly, "Baron Weissen, I have an impertinent request."

Frederick nodded and said, "Please speak."

Frank took off the badges from his lapel, a hint of fanaticism on his face, and said excitedly, "Please tell me, Your Excellency, which scholar invented this method? I want to be his student!"

He was very interested in the method of determining the causes of diseases in these documents. Many diseases today have no consensus on how patients contract them. If this method could be used to determine the causes of those diseases, his name would naturally appear most often on future medical student exam papers.

Before Frederick could answer, Old Franz, who was standing nearby, said, "Who else could it be? It's our Baron's teacher, of course. It's just that that master traveled to other places a few years ago, and we don't know where he is. If you want to learn, you can learn from our master."

He was also present when Frederick assigned the tasks, so he used the excuse of the Wandering Scholar. As long as this doctor could be kept, everyone would be a winner.

Frederick shrugged and said, "Actually, this method is not mainly used in medicine. It's just that I don't have any other methods. It can also be used in agriculture and handicrafts."

"If you want to learn, you can first take a position here and then study and discuss with the students from Weissenburg University."

Frank immediately agreed.

Frederick had Tarot arrange accommodation for the father and daughter. Then he said to Old Franz, "Let him start participating in the management of the camp from now on. I'll go back to the territory the day after tomorrow to see how the new village is being settled."

Old Franz immediately said, "No problem, we have experience now."