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Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim: Episode 11

Each week, I am increasingly more impressed by Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim’s ability to make genuinely engaging and creative medical stories to keep our Doldam team occupied around the clock. Sometimes, I think the show has a tendency to be subversive just for the sake of being subversive, but in this episode, its surprises are handled with grace, warmth, and amusement.

 

 
CHAPTER 11: “Psychological Entropy”

Teacher Kim catches Seo-jung in his office with his old student’s ID in hand shortly before he snatches it from her and kicks her out. She tries to explain herself, but before she is given the chance to, Teacher Kim slams the door in her face.

Meanwhile, Dr. Do continues to spin his web around a rather clear-eyed Dong-joo. Dr. Do asks Dong-joo if he thinks Teacher Kim is a good person—he frames the question as a kind of temperature check on Dong-joo’s willingness to be courted to his side. Dong-joo admits to being a bit taken aback by Dr. Do’s sudden attitude shift toward him, and Dr. Do plays off his previous dismissal of the younger surgeon as a kind of test to evaluate Dong-joo’s potential.

Dong-joo can’t help but think back to something Teacher Kim said several episodes ago: Teacher Kim declared to Dong-joo that at his age, he’s able to discern who is fake, and who has potential. The contrast makes Dong-joo smile, and with renewed confidence, he asks Dr. Do if his offer means that the hospital director has concluded that he has the necessary potential.

Dr. Do doesn’t pull any punches as he immediately begins throwing out large numbers and big promises to Dong-joo. In return, Dr. Do wants Dong-joo to ensure that Teacher Kim fails in CEO Shin’s surgery. Dong-joo is confused by the request, so Dr. Do encourages him to use his imagination.

Back at Doldam, Nurse Oh asks Seo-jung what she was doing in Teacher Kim’s office. Seo-jung defends herself by stating that she saw Ki-tae going through Teacher Kim’s trash. Nurse Oh narrows her eyes at the information, but Seo-jung is too busy bemoaning that fact that she’s now back on Teacher Kim’s bad side to notice.

Seo-jung hypothesizes that Teacher Kim’s anger is related to the student whose ID she found, and she asks Nurse Oh if she knows anything about the girl. After a slight pause, Nurse Oh answers that she doesn’t. Then, Seo-jung suddenly remembers that In-soo Sunbae was a student at Geodae around the same year listed on the ID, and after prodding him a little, she is stunned to learn that the student had a liver abscess and died during the surgery to treat it.

Dr. Do offers Dong-joo the chance to become a legend just like Teacher Kim, because, as he explains, the stories of Bu Yong-joo’s legendary skills were all manufactured by Dr. Do as a useful marketing ploy.

In voiceover, Dong-joo narrates as the scene plays:

“In an age in which the truth is concealed. In an age in which truth submits to power and runs amok. Baseless rumors and a plethora of tales have been piled up while the truth has been forced to take a back seat. And it’s become hard to tell what is real and what is fake. Such is the world we live in.”

Seo-jung and In-soo begin lining up the facts that they know, and then freak each other out at the very real possibility that Teacher Kim could have led the operation that resulted in the student’s death. Especially because, according to In-soo, Teacher Kim was kicked out of Geodae around that same time. At that very moment, Teacher Kim comes by to ask about a patient, startling the younger doctors.

Dong-joo returns to Doldam to find Dr. Song waiting for him. He asks Dong-joo about his meeting with Dr. Do, and Dong-joo divulges the details of his offer, prompting a nearby Ki-tae to swoop in and ask what Dong-joo decided. When Dong-joo plays coy with his answer, Ki-tae takes it to mean that Dong-joo will likely accept, and Dong-joo doesn’t deny it.

In the ER, Seo-jung tiptoes around Teacher Kim and tries to broach the subject of why she was in his office earlier, but he shuts her down before she can begin. The air remains awkward between them until Ki-tae barges into announce that Dr. Do is courting Dong-joo back to Geodae. Ki-tae claims that should Dong-joo leave, it would mean Doldam would be at risk of shutting down, which confuses Seo-jung. Huh? Really?

In the staff office, Dong-joo is awakened from his nap by the loud roar of a vacuum. He shouts at In-bum to knock it off, but thankfully, Seo-jung enters the room before their conversation can escalate into a fight. She immediately questions Dong-joo about his lucrative offer. Dong-joo explains that he’s still mulling it over—but, like Ki-tae, Seo-jung interprets his hesitation to mean that he will ultimately accept Dr. Do’s proposition.

She warns Dong-joo that Dr. Do’s offer comes with some serious strings attached, and he will want something in exchange for every dime he gives. She adds that it will be a slippery slope for Dong-joo as he tries to keep Dr. Do happy and justify his high salary, when he doesn’t have the experience to deserve that much money. Eventually, she cautions, he’ll end up compromising his beliefs in order to maintain what he has.

Dong-joo thinks she being overly dramatic—he won’t sacrifice his morals for money. Seo-jung then wisely tells him, “Nothing in life is free. That’s based on my experience, anyway.” That statement causes In-bum to look at her sideways as Dong-joo leaves the room.

In-bum asks why Seo-jung is so concerned about Dong-joo making the right decision, and she tells him that it’s because Dong-joo might lose everything over one tempting offer. Her answer intrigues him, so In-bum abruptly asks if it’s because she likes Dong-joo so much.

She’s flustered by the observation and pretends not to know what he’s talking about, so In-bum clarifies that he assumed they were dating. She acts like the concept is utterly ridiculous to her, but stutters through her denial. Luckily, a phone call from Director Yeo saves her from any more embarrassment.

In the ER, Dong-joo arrives in time to tend to a patient with a stomachache. Accompanying the patient is the same man whose knee Teacher Kim stitched up in Episode 8—his name is YONG-GYUN. He requests that Teacher Kim be the one to treat his friend, but Dong-joo informs him that he’s the only one available at the moment.

The patient keeps complaining of severe stomach pains, and when Dong-joo lifts up his shirt, he’s shocked to see several large bruise marks across the man’s abdomen. Dong-joo pointedly asks Yong-gyun if he beat up his friend, but the young man adamantly denies it.

Dong-joo conducts a trauma test and sees some fluid building up in the patient’s abdomen, so he orders a CT scan and some pain medicine in the meantime. After glaring at Yong-gyun, Dong-joo voices his suspicions about Yong-gyun to Nurse Oh, and suggests they try to keep the two boys apart until they get the full story.

Elsewhere, Seo-jung learns from Director Yeo that the drunk driver who caused the massive car accident has filed a lawsuit against her. The driver’s attorney informs Seo-jung that it is illegal to draw blood without consent, and doesn’t buy her story that she received verbal consent from the patient on-site.

Annoyed, Seo-jung heads over to confront the driver in the patient’s ward, demanding to know why he’s lying about giving her his consent. He avoids answering long enough for his extravagantly dressed mother to show up and fight his battles for him. She tells Seo-jung to talk with their attorney if she has an issue, then coos over her son as she feeds him hangover soup.

Appalled by their nonchalance, Seo-jung tells the pair that people died from her son’s recklessness, and two people even lost their legs. The mother dismissively says that their attorney and insurance will take care of settlement with the victims, so Seo-jung can stop with her sanctimonious act. The mother adds that sometimes, young people get drunk and drive.

It’s a losing battle for Seo-jung, and eventually, she has to give up trying to make them feel remorseful. Then to top it off, the son disturbingly still tries to flirt with Seo-jung when his mother steps out of the room. Bleh.

In the ER, Teacher Kim looks over the CT scan for the patient with the stomach pain, and diagnoses him with pan-peritonitis, which occurs when an infection develops in the peritoneum from perforation. And in this patient’s case, it’s the result of severe trauma to the abdomen. Teacher Kim orders an emergency surgery, and Dong-joo volunteers for it right away, with In-bum as his assistant.

Meekly, Dong-joo then asks Teacher Kim if he’s heard about Dr. Do’s offer, and if so, whether he has anything to say about it. Teacher Kim dryly replies that he doesn’t, then adds that Doldam could never offer him the same kind of salary, so Dong-joo should make his own choice or be haunted by what-ifs for the rest of his life.

Nurse Oh then presses to know why Teacher Kim didn’t try to convince Dong-joo to stay, since their hospital does need him. She believes that Dong-joo was waiting to hear Teacher Kim say those words to him.

Teacher Kim merely answers back that if he had told Dong-joo to stay at Doldam, then Dong-joo wouldn’t have been happy. He explains that Dong-joo needs to find his own reason to stay at Doldam. Nurse Oh counters that Dong-joo respects Teacher Kim, but he argues that Dong-joo just wants to learn surgical skills from him. Frustrated, Nurse Oh calls Teacher Kim a twisted person before stomping out.

She continues to fume out in the hall, and hilariously runs into Seo-jung, who is doing the exact same thing following her altercation with the unrepentant mother-son duo. They complain about their respective scenarios, but it’s clear that neither is really listening to the other. Eventually, the get on the same page and take turns expressing their outrage at the other’s situation.

They cool down for a second when two policemen arrive in search of a military deserter who they suspect is at Doldam. They begin searching the grounds, and Yong-gyun spots them before they reach his friend. He manages to carry him out of the ER in time to escape capture.

Nurse Assistant Park comes by moments later to prep the patient for his surgery, but is alarmed to see that he is not there. The policemen catch wind of the news of the missing patient, and after looking at a picture, Nurse Assistant Park confirms it is the same man they are looking for. Seo-jung reports the situation to Dong-joo, who expresses concern that the patient will be in serious danger should he fail to receive his surgery soon.

The two young men don’t make it very far, and soon the patient collapses on the ground. Dr. Nam happens upon them and manages to talk some sense into Yong-gyun, then eventually brings the patient back to Doldam, where the team is waiting for them.

Just as the team prepares to roll the patient into the OR, one of the policemen reads the patient his rights. (Are you serious, dude?) Dong-joo tries to tell him off for trying to arrest an unconscious patient, but the policeman doesn’t budge.

When Teacher Kim shows up to ask what the holdup is, the policeman argues that he will consider it obstruction of justice if the staff continues to get in their way. Teacher Kim shoots back with his own governing laws and says that the policeman’s actions could be interpreted as a “prevention of medical care.” The policeman finally backs off, and Teacher Kim shouts at Dong-joo to get going. Afterward, Seo-jung quietly tells Yong-gyun to tell his friend’s parents to get to the hospital right away.

In the OR, Dong-joo commences the operation, and Nurse Assistant Park records the procedure with a camera under Teacher Kim’s instruction. Outside, the policemen talk on their phones frantically as Seo-jung and Ki-tae watch on. Ki-tae tells Seo-jung that it becomes a huge issue whenever the media learns about any sort of violence occurring within the military, and several people are often forced to resign. But Ki-tae is strangely evasive when Seo-jung asks what branch of the military he served in.

Dr. Song calls Seo-jung over for a chat, and she is surprised to see the mother of the drunk driver and their attorney. Dr. Song asks Seo-jung if she went into the patient’s room and threatened his safety, scolding her for demanding the mother and son show penitence for the son’s actions.

When Dr. Song orders Seo-jung to apologize to the mother, Seo-jung refuses and admits that while she probably should not have yelled at the patient, she stands by what she said. Seo-jung adds that the woman’s son and his friend have no injuries and can leave the hospital at any time, but they refuse to go because they don’t want to be investigated by the police. With that, she takes her leave.

Dr. Song catches up with Seo-jung in the hallway to level with her, asking her to consider how bad she is making him look. He informs her that the mother is the wife of a certain assemblyman and has friends in high places. He encourages Seo-jung to swallow her pride a little, make a simple apology, and put the issue to rest. Dr. Song then promises to put in a word to try to get them to dismiss their lawsuit, but Seo-jung tells him to just sue her instead.

Unable to get Seo-jung to change her mind, Dr. Song pretends to yell at a retreating Seo-jung as he demands that she submit an apology letter loud enough for the influential mother to hear. Oh, this is so sad.

Motivated into action, Seo-jung gathers up the drunk driver in a wheelchair and steers him to the ICU, so that he can see the damage he’s done and the people he’s hurt. She asks him if he thinks money will undo the pain he’s caused them, adding, “Money is your skill, and your rich mother is your credentials. That’s fine. That’s fine and all, but still. You should have the basic idea of what it means to have a conscience.” The drunken driver begins tearing up at her words, his guilt hitting him at last.

At that moment, his mother marches up to Seo-jung and slaps her hard across the cheek. Seo-jung is stunned by the attack and wonders how the woman can be so shameless, and have so little remorse. She asks, “When did the world become a place where people like you can act so high and mighty?” Then she promises to sue the mother for hitting her, adding that she’ll refuse any attempts to settle out of court.

In the OR, the surgical staff are horrified to see the extent to which the patient was beaten and the resulting wounds. It isn’t hard for them to understand why the young man decided to run from the military. Soon after, Ki-tae comes by to retrieve Teacher Kim in order to enlist his help defending Seo-jung against the driver’s mother.

In Director Yeo’s room, Dr. Song continues with his fake outrage on the mother’s behalf. The mother then announces that she will make Seo-jung apologize on her hands and knees. Seo-jung scoffs, but in a surprising move, Teacher Kim tells Seo-jung to apologize, adding that a forty-five-degree angled bow should be enough to call it even. But before that can happen, he says, the mother must apologize for hitting Seo-jung.

The mother thinks Teacher Kim is pulling her leg, so Teacher Kim eyes her peculiarly and confirms that he is, in fact, very serious. This pushes the mother over the edge, and she threatens to take the issue to court. Teacher Kim accepts her decision, but warns that he plays really dirty. He adds, “Once I go crazy, I’m unstoppable, and I don’t quit until it’s over.” He informs her that should she persist, it will likely result in her humiliation.

The mother asks if Teacher Kim is threatening her, and he points out that she was the one to raise her hand first. Finally, the Teacher Kim we know and love emerges to put the mother in her place, brutally chastising her for coming into their hospital and bullying its doctors after the mess her son caused. He flaunts the possibility of releasing the story of their situation to the media, then pressures her again to apologize first.

After the dust settles, Seo-jung asks Teacher Kim if she can interpret his actions to mean that she is finally one of his disciples. He rejects her immediately and says that he doesn’t raise disciples, but then she vows to become one anyway. We then see the short exchange from Teacher Kim’s perspective, and how Seo-jung’s words remind Teacher Kim of his old departed student. He tells Seo-jung to mind her temper in front of her patients because they are still doctors, reminding her that the drunk driver is still her patient.

Speak of the devil, they come across the driver staring into the ICU with a conflicted look on his face. After a moment of deliberation, he enters and apologizes to all the patients’ families inside. He then bows his head, prompting tears all around. Outside, Seo-jung and Teacher Kim smile warmly as they watch the moving moment.

Back in the OR, the surgery on the deserter patient concludes, but unfortunately, there isn’t any room in the ICU for him to continue with his treatment. Instead, the staff decides to send him the patient to the hybrid room until a bed opens up. Post-surgery, the prognosis doesn’t look good, and Dong-joo diagnoses him with severe acidosis. Moreover, the patient’s guardians have not yet arrived.

Dong-joo briefs the policemen on the critical situation, explaining that while their surgery was successful, he has septic shock and severe inflammation in his abdomen. Dong-joo adds that if the patient’s blood pressure continues to fall, his organs will fail and he will eventually die, which is a prospect that has the policeman biting back a smile.

Dong-joo presses the policeman on the cause of the patient’s injuries, and states that he was probably severely beaten up by at least two people to have sustained the injuries he has. The policemen asks if Dong-joo is implying that the patient is a victim of group bullying in the military. Dong-joo doesn’t take the bait, and answers that he’s asking about the cause of the patient’s injuries.

After receiving a call, Dr. Do orders Dr. Song to look into the situation with the deserter and report back to him. Upon accepting the mission, Dr. Song immediately speaks with Dong-joo, who tells him everything he needs to know. Suddenly, the deserter falls into cardiac arrest, and the team gathers to resuscitate him.

Dr. Song reports back to Dr. Do with the case details, who then tells Dr. Song that he is on his way to Doldam. In the hallway, we overhear one of the policemen talking on the phone as he promises to write the cause of death on the death certificate as: “Soldier on active duty.” Teacher Kim overhears the man talking and asks to know who is dead, but the policeman just plays dumb.

In the hybrid room, Dong-joo manages to get back a pulse, but the patient’s vitals are still worsening, and he predicts a high chance that the patient will become brain-dead if his condition continues to deteriorate. Teacher Kim sees the suffering Young-gyun outside and assures him that his friend is in good hands. He then asks Yong-gyun to tell him why his friend deserted the military.

Dr. Do arrives to meet with Dong-joo to ask for a favor. As the acting surgeon, Dr. Do asks Dong-joo to sign a death certificate stating that the patient died in active duty. Teacher Kim crashes Dong-joo’s meeting with Dr. Do, and the sight he sees is rather damning. From the outside, it looks like Dong-joo and Dr. Do have sealed their deal, and when Dong-joo sees Teacher Kim, he looks back at him guiltily while crumpling the certificate in his hand.

As the scene plays out, Teacher Kim thinks back to CEO Shin’s warning of how Dr. Do would attack him. CEO Shin had warned him, “Dr. Do won’t give up. He’ll start with whatever you consider important and take them one by one. So, how are you planning to protect them?”

 
COMMENTS

Do I think that Dong-joo decided to implicate himself with Dr. Do and sign the falsified death certificate? No, not really. However, I do think that the show is successful at using these kind of moments to broaden the moral scope of the issue at hand, making us as viewers think a little deeper about the struggles doctors face every day. It would simply go against the development of Dong-joo’s character to have him slide backward in this way. Taking that raise, however, seemed like a more plausible reason for Dong-joo to jump ship, even though I still think it is highly unlikely at this point.

Despite being a bit outrageous at points, I’m really starting to like that way that Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim is delving into the complicated moral dilemmas that occur in the healthcare profession. Objectively speaking, if you are spending ninety percent of your life at the hospital as a doctor, wouldn’t you want to make a little bit more money and earn some extra prestige? It’s something I can understand, and I appreciate that Teacher Kim also recognizes that as well. He chooses not to pressure Dong-joo with his personal way of thinking and invites Dong-joo to make the choice that best befits his circumstance. And he does it without any kind of condescension, because Teacher Kim understands that Dong-joo is young and may not always be content at Doldam the way he is.

Back to the whole death certificate issue, I know there’s going to be a whole lot more to it, but when I was listening to Dr. Do’s plan I kept thinking how short-sighted he sounded. I couldn’t really understand how the plan would hold water. I mean, Dong-joo wasn’t the only one the ER or OR, so there are many witnesses that can testify to the state the deserter was in. Wasn’t Nurse Assistant Park videotaping everything? Couldn’t they theoretically get another surgeon to testify that the injuries were a result of trauma in a courtroom once they sued the military for the bullying? There’s a lot of holes here that I’m hoping will be stitched up in the next episode.

It’s really interesting to me that Dr. Do credits himself as the originator of Teacher Kim’s myth. I find it to be an intelligent twist, and an important examination of how myths are created. Because until Dr. Do took credit for it, I never once questioned how Teacher Kim’s fame was created. I don’t doubt that Teacher Kim holds up against his own mythos, but I liked that the issue was framed in this way.

On another note, when Seo-jung said that she understood what the cost of Dr. Do’s help really is, it gave birth to so many more questions. I really want to know what she meant. Also, I enjoy that Seo-jung now freely trash talks Dr. Do in front of his own son, and In-bum just kind of rolls with it like it isn’t that surprising. In fact, I’m kind of shocked by how easily In-bum became a part of the Doldam team. We saw him kind of struggle with it for a second when everyone was rushing out to meet the deserter in the ER, but I like how there’s almost no angst there because everyone is really busy and an extra (highly capable) pair of hands is helpful. I’m sure we’ll explore his allegiance in the coming episodes, but I like that for now, everyone is pretty cool about everything. Those odd Geodae nurses basically dropped off the face of the Earth, but I’m actually glad they did.

The drunk driver storyline was really satisfying in this episode, mainly because the mother was so delicious to hate. It was so fun to watch Teacher Kim put her in her place, and it was done in his usual unconventional way, which added to the entertainment. The thing that I really like about Teacher Kim’s characterization is that he is super critical and abrasive with our Doldam doctors, but to outsiders, he has a great set of manners (at least initially), even if the person is wholly undeserving of it. It was a great episode with some interesting ideas thrown into the mix, and overall I’m just happy to be at Doldam.

 

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That mother was just full of crap! And I know we don't live in a perfect world but if the powerful people in this world acts like that ugh ?

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Ahahhaa... Try to read about Choi Soon-sil... Her name popped out in my mind when I saw that snobbish Mother...

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I dont know much about SK's politics but when I searched her name. Ohmy! They really do exist. Pretty sure not just in SK.

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I totally agree with murakasimi about the creative medical dilemmas created in this show and that's really one of its major strengths. I thought Seo-jung really kicked ass in this episode and her storyline continues to be victorious and fun.

This episode intrigued me so much that I actually wrote two entries on it - one about the episode and my thoughts on it in terms of characterization and plot:

https://kdramaanalysis.wordpress.com/2016/12/12/romantic-doctor-teacher-kim-episode-11-psychological-entropy/

And a separate entry on the medical/legal issues raised in this episode, by doing some research too:

https://kdramaanalysis.wordpress.com/2016/12/14/romantic-doctor-teacher-kim-medical-issues-in-episodes-11-12/

Through my research, I actually found out too that issues pertaining to death certificates and drunk driving are extremely hot button issues in South Korea now and being debated over the past year. It enhances my enjoyment of the show, knowing that the writers take such care and effort to craft such accurate depictions of medical situations and to tackle current topics.

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While I also thought that the medical certificate problem was ridiculous, I already pegged President Dodo-brain as Evil Incarnate because he was able to fake the OR records as what happened to Teacher Kim. Like ok fine, for drama's sake, i'll roll with it... since I can still use my Dodo dartboards. LOL

I wish I had a Teacher Kim in training because Ive encountered a LOT of VVIP and not-really-VIP-but-they-think-theyre-VVIPs ?

I read somewhere in another site's comments about how shallow/wishy/washy DJ is as a doctor, (to be possibly tempted by money) but I think its very realistic (& part of his character growth). We study 3-4 years in college, 4 years of medschool, 1 year internship (in some countries, the internship is counted as the first year of residency), 3-6 years of residency (depends), 2-3 years of subspecialty training, ...add school loans, hospital stocks &, setting up your private practice. I mean its like one day I was in highschool then I woke up, & suddenly I'm thirty. And thats me who had (relatively) financially capable parents. (Im no In Bum)... DJ's mom makes mandoo. Im not saying being poor is an excuse to be morally corrupt. Just sayin', he's had it hard, its okay to have this sort of dillema. And Im glad he's at Doldam to continues his never ending medical education.

LOVETHISSERIES.

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Thanks, Lessa, for your reality check re: compensation for physicians. I can't imagine the financial burden they accrue in the course of so many years of study and training.

And then to have to put up with VVIP divas. Art reflecting real life again, darn it.

*SMH*

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Yes. Like you my parents were able to afford the medical school fees but my husband's (he's medical too) family wasn't.

And not many people know that our school fees are one of the highest compared to other university school fees, and that our pay as a fresh graduate while we are doing our "internship" year is quite pitiful. (or at least in my country it is) It does go up after the first year but the first year is also the toughest year. In fact my relative who graduated from Law at the same time as me was earning a lot more than me during her first year!

Ironic considering medicine literally involves life and death. But it's also complicated by the fact that medicine is somewhat considered to be a vocation, and this idea that the noblest medical professionals do it without thought for any financial gain.

Unfortunately doctors also are human, we haven't learnt how to photosynthesize yet, and even if we did, we often (at least at the start) don't see the sun enough since we work from predawn till dusk anyway. Haha.

So yeah, DJ's struggle is real. My 2 cents ?

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Totally laughed re: photosynthesis (or inability, thereof) ? !!

Or are vampires more apt? Except we suck our own blood dry. Haha. ?

The first time I got my hospital stipend as a resident, I was so proud I would not be asking for money that month. ....then before the month even ended I went home to get groceries I could eat at the dorm. ???? LOL #thestruggleisReaL

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I don't like medical dramas but RDTK sucked me in. The chemistry between Dong Joo and Seo Jung is off the charts, even if their romantic line doesn't play too much role in the drama, they glance at each other and it is hotter than a kiss scene (I mean I would love more DJ x SJ kiss scenes because that episode 1 one was hot, I am still recovering).
And In Bum, oh In Bum, for some reason I really like his character and I would love to know more about him. What is his motive, is he on his father's side?Also, the actor is just so handsome, I can't take my eyes off of him.

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I usually can't stand medical dramas as well. Was never able to complete a season of Grey's Anatomy and couldn't make it through a few episodes of Doctors, but this show has completely sucked me in. It's not perfect but there are certainly very relevant and fascinating medical issues being explored.

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I'm with you about In Bum, he is so hot, he reminds me of Ko Gyung-Pyo, but In Bum is hotter for me <3 i sheep him with happiness ;)

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To me, In Bum looks like Ko Kyung Po and park bo gum's child, if they had one together.

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This story reminded me of the "affluenza teen" story in the US. He killed four people while drinking and driving and his mother skipped the country with him when he got in a trouble a second time. I just read his father got arrested for impersonating a peace officer. So people like that do exist, all over the world.

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And there was a great joke about them after they were caught -- in Mexico.
A late-night comedian "You just know there are people in Mexico saying 'When America sends us people they don't send us their best people'"

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With everything that is happening in Korea at the moment, I can see why a story with a main character that stands up for what is right and does not give a crap about the system would be more popular than a mermaid and a con man.

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Writer-nim really knows how to twist and turn my heart - one second I'm crying, and the next, I have to pause the video in an effort to calm myself down before I reach through my laptop screen to yank someone hard by the hair. Love this drama for making me feel feelings.

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I love how the drama throws in bits of humour in the midst of serious issues - like the scene between Nurse Oh and Seo-joon.

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I think President Do wants Dong Joo to write the cause of death as due to disease instead of external force, rather than dying in active duty as stated.

Geodae nurses did not disappear as they did appear in the slap scene. The obnoxious mother turned to face the nurses after Seo Jung walked off trying to find some 'comforting words' from them. I thought the Geodae nurses would report to President Do but they simply turned around and pretended as they did not see anything. The nurses still have some conscious in them.

I was reading the comments on Naver with my limited korean skills and google translate, and there were people who felt that the line "Money is your skill, and your rich mother is your credentials. That’s fine. That’s fine and all, but still. You should have the basic idea of what it means to have a conscience." is throwing shade to Choi Soon-Shil and her daughter.

I think the scene about that spoilt drunk driver apologising in the ICU was not realistic enough. How is it possible for Seo Jung's few words to change his character within a few hours? I found it overly... cringe-worthy. I get why this scene is included because it fits the theme of the drama but it's not convincing enough.

The part regarding 45 degrees bow apology was so hilarious. Teacher Kim said that an apology by kneeling might be too much and to compromise, a 45 degrees bow would suffice. IT WAS SO HILARIOUS. Like, let me just give you a half-assed apology because you want it. Teacher Kim has some sense of humour HAHAHA.

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"How is it possible for Seo Jung’s few words to change his character within a few hours?" --it's not only about seo joong's words that made him apologize, i think it was because of what seo joong did. she slap the consequences of what he did by showing him what happened to the other patients now that he is sober. i think this boy does not have any idea of the damage of what he have done until someone shove it on his face. not to mention that his mother is pampering him and trying to cover up what he did by causing a ruckus in doldam acting like a high and mighty. so i can clearly say that it was a genuine conscience and realizations.

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I agree with ap. Besides Seo Jung's words, she forced the drunk driver to face the reality of what he did. He clearly saw the victims of his crime and how his stupid actions caused harm to multiple families. Seeing the poor victims and their crying families hurt my heart.

He was a mama’s boy and was probably always shielded from anything bad so he needed this wake-up call.

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I loved Kim Sa Bu's pronouncement that a 45-degree bow would be sufficient... But I liked it even better when he told Madam Entitled that he isn't a gentleman and thus is not constrained from fighting dirty.

Since when is reporting the news fighting dirty?

Conveniently, no one mentioned that two police officers witnessed the blood draw...

As for the believability of the drunk driver's remorse, I beg to disagree. He'd had enough time to sober up... and his mother had not yet had his vestigial conscience surgically removed.

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But, you know, everything can be settled by money and power. I bet the police will be shut their mouth from their above, and no one will testify against the driver.

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I'm pretty sick of the wuss Dong Joo's turned into. The man is incapable of making decisions.

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I think you are too hasty in your judgement. There needs to be substantial conflict for a drama to be interesting and for Dong joo to have a redemptive arc.

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Totally agree that the medical scenarios on this show are so engaging and creative. I was so fascinated with this week's scenarios that I went to research more about the legal issues on this week's episode and I realised that the death certificate and drunk driving issues were hot button issues debated in South Korea this year. The whole Private Park scenario was also very interesting and actually involves rather interesting medical laws pertaining to "non-delegable duty of care" and "interference with medical treatment". Too long to write here, but more on my blog. :)

While I'm enjoying the development of Seo Jung, I can't really say the same for Dong Joo. He has certainly grown but his emotional journey doesn't quite feel so satisfying - I'll say more about that in the next episode. There's a lot of "externally-driven" growth and motivations for Dong Joo, rather than focus on his internal journey.

I'm really hoping for the show to give us more insights into Master Kim's backstory soon, which has been lingering in the background for as far back as ep3, but which we haven't learnt much about. I thought we were going to learn more about last week's ending, but Seo Jung simply finds out what we already know. Master Kim still remains enigmatic and largely unfathomable to us; it's no wonder Nurse Oh gets frustrated with him.

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Apologies for the double post above and here. Thought my earlier post had disappeared

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how come president do wants do joon to fake the death certificate? how is he related to that military dude? what does he get out of it? lol

and aww there was like no scenes of our OTP in this episode! so sad!

romance definitely took a back burner in this episode

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One of Dr. D'oh's "friends in high places" called in a favor when he was on the golf course. It's time now for one hand to wash the other... D'oh is trying to coerce attending physician Dong-joo into covering up the true cause of death: a severe beating that resulted in fatal panperitonitis.

Hmmm... This is exactly the kind of scenario that D'oh was proposing at breakfast to pull on Kim Sa Bu in the event he operates on Chairman Shin.

The fact that the patient went AWOL and was treated too late at a civilian hospital won't show up on the death certificate, but it would be revealed during discovery if a wrongful death suit is brought to trial. Had he remained on base, it would have been a lot easier for army officials to cover up the abuse received at the hands of other military personnel while on active duty.

There actually was an important scene of the OTP, just not a romantic one: Seo-jung's short conversation with Dong-joo in the on-call room regarding Dr. D'oh's Mephistophelian offer of a raise and research funding. Much like she had pricked the conscience of the young drunk driver, she tried to warn her colleague of the spiritual cost of making a bargain with D'oh. After he left, it cracked me up to see In-bum ask if they were dating. I wasn't expecting such an impish grin from him... nor a complete absence of resentment over her less than flattering reference to his father. That In-bum is an enigma. As for Seo-jung, the lady doth protest too much, methinks. ;-)

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I really think that after InBum overheard his dad castigating SeoJung, his animosity toward her has vanished. For all that he seems to be afraid of his father (and who wouldn't be? He's not the worst Bad Daddy is dramaland, but he's a runner-up), he seems to know just how nasty his dad is. And now that he's not directly under his father's and his father's minion's eyes, he's free to be himself. At least a little bit anyway. It's kinda like going away to camp or college or insert your experience here for the first time. I'm looking forward to seeing how he's going to develop in the coming episodes.

Also, speaking of development! What is up with Ki-Tae?! Have I missed something here? I can't figure out if he's still team Keep DongJoo @ Ddoldam or if he's now Do's minion? Are he and Nurse Dating and if so, is she going to confront him about his dumpster diving in Master Kim's office?

Basically, I just want to see the next ep lol. :)

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LOVE this drama - I mean above all others out there right now - even Goblin, Blue Sea and Weightlifting Fairy. I loved this drama from the start of the first episode, the Stephen Kingesque hospital, the dark characters, the chemistry with everyone. It's just unexpected for me to fall this deeply from the start and have it sustained at this level. Only Signal and Healer have done that to me previously. I love RDTK so much that there is no room in my soul to think it may start failing my expectations. I'm 100% on this ride and hanging on with all the faith I can muster because this drama is just that good.

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I agree with you that this drama is the most interesting offer currently available right now imo, this and WF. While WF got many loves here, the rating was abyssmal while RTDK is the opposite. While I don't understand why WF rating is so low (there is lobster, yeah but it fared aroung 16-18% so there is supposed to be more cake to share), I fully get it why RDTK turned into rating winner. Compelling storyline and their mini arcs, interesting hero and villains that feel fresh, and great chemistry and acting by everyone. This drama is solid, as solid as a medical drama can be.

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I don't understand this death certificate story line. How can they expect him to fake it? What about the rest of the paper work? What about the rest of the staff that were caring for him? Why does it all rest on Dong Joo? I'm confused

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well, i think because he is the head doctor of the operation. once you handle a surgery, no one would interfere because it is your operation. everything lies on your decision.

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In the past event with Teacher Kim, Dr.Do was able to block the other staff members from telling the truth on Teach Kim’s behalf. He probably threatened them and they didn’t want to lose their jobs. He was and still is the highest position in the hospital.

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When a patient dies, a doctor needs to submit a death certificate (in my country it's called a CCOD- certificate of cause of death) to patient's next of kin so that they can submit it to the government (in my county it is the police) to officially declare the patient dead and start the funeral/burial/cremation process. Included in the death certificate is the cause of death.

The paperwork is probably different from country to country, but essentially the doctor who fills up the death certificate is in control as to what the government thinks the patient's cause of death is.

If there is any foul play suspected or the cause of death is unknown, the patient should not have a cause declared and the patient's body should be sent for an autopsy by the coroner.

So if doctor lies, and doesn't declare the death as suspicious, or in this case "due to external causes" as opposed to a "death from natural/medical causes" no one would know. This is akin to covering up for murder.

The government does conduct audits where they look through the death certificates and picks a few to check with the hospital records to ensure that there was no cover up. But they can't do it for every case, and there has to be some trust in the doctors. Unfortunately this is why there is a potential for abuse by corrupt people like Dr Do. Hope this clarifies the situation for you. ?

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Oh I forgot to mention that once the patient's relatives submit the certificate of death to the government, they are able to come back to hospital to collect the body of the patient. So if they are trying to cover up a murder, they could immediately cremate the body and then even if subsequently the police realise something is amiss, it's too late as the hard evidence is gone.

That's why it's so important that doctors don't lie and essentially become accessories to covering up murder.

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False death certificates are a Thing, even here in the US. They tie in with one of the other big things in medicine nowadays, antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

A few weeks ago the Los Angeles Times ran a story on this. It seems that hospitals find death from infections you catch in the hospital more embarrassing than death from other causes, so if you come in with some treatable, not-necessarily-fatal condition, then catch an infection and die from it, they may list the cause of death as the original condition, not the infection. One side-effect of this is that the govt can't get accurate statistics on how many people die of these drug-resistant infections.

Hospital may get caught when relatives complain. Investigators can verify it by examining records of what the person was being treated for before he died.

The Times article gave examples - one of which was from the hospital my insurance would make me go to for pretty much anything. Color me not happy.

There's a proposal in the state legislature to do something about this. I'm not going to that hospital for anything even remotely optional until I see how that works out.

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Thanks, murasakimi, for your recap and thoughtful commentary. ;-)

Man, as if the continuing fallout from the drunk-driving accident weren't enough, Doldam now has a juicy military hazing/abuse scandal on its hands that brings meddling by higher-ups and their highly-placed civilian co-conspirators. Before I sound off on that sub-plot, however, I have to address Kim Sa Bu's failure to protect his team, because it plays out in both of this week's episodes, and likely will next week as well. It makes me hopping mad...

It isn't until the very end of the episode that we hear Chairman Shin ask Kim Sa Bu what his plan is to protect his people against Dr. D'oh's inevitable predations. This is something I've been concerned about ever since D'oh discovered that his nemesis has been hiding out at Doldam for 15 years. Chairman is a canny old geezer, but his surgeon seems to be too cool to protect his team against direct frontal assault, let alone help his inexperienced ranks effectively defend themselves against unceasing psy ops.

Nurse Oh brought up a good point after Kim Sa Bu basically told Dong-joo to do whatever he wanted because he wasn't going to try to influence him. Maybe he's too busy being a genuine grouch to expend energy on pretending to care. Dang it, then why call yourself "Teacher"?!?!? Maybe his chosen title should really be translated as "Master," as in subject matter expert, which he certainly is. But his teaching style, if you can call it that, is infuriatingly obtuse... Kim Sa Bu, you're the one with all the life experience you keep harping about... so go ahead and demonstrate it in action. Honestly, I wanted to smack him, and so did Nurse Oh. He came across to me as too detached and uncaring rather than impartial. Arg!

What's so hard about saying, "You're the only one who can decide what you want to do with your life... especially when you come to a fork in the road that will make you wonder for the rest of your life about the road not taken. I don't know what's best for you, but I'm willing to be a sounding board. I've lived a while longer than you, and I've been faced with similar tough decisions. You're an adult, and I trust your judgement... Sometimes it helps you get a handle on your options by just thinking out loud and talking it through with a sympathetic listener."

This is exactly what Seo-jung was trying to do with Dong-joo, and one of the reasons I love her character. She cared enough about a young drunk driver to try to get through to whatever tiny shred of conscience he might still have despite his upbringing. I don't think it's too far-fetched to say that she saved his soul by forcing him to look with his own eyes at what he had done in his drunken stupor. Knowing her, she'd consider getting slapped in the face a small price to pay if it meant the perpetrator had a change of heart and truly experienced remorse for his actions. Sometimes the most significant healing has nothing to...

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-- Cont'd. --

Sometimes the most significant healing has nothing to do with the physical body.

Whew!

/end rant for now

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My colleague is so into this show that she messaged me randomly out of the blue to tell me how she was super excited and Couldn't Wait for the next episode.

And then she gave me the Best Compliment Ever after I said that I really liked how SJ told off Entitled Mother and Drunk Driver:

"Somehow I could totally imagine you (as SJ) doing that (in real life)!"

Why thank you! Haha. Totally made my day ?

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I think that Ki-tae was in the Intelligence Branch in the army - that's why he was so reticent about telling YJ which unit he was in! He sneaks around enough in Doldam!

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I thought he was trying to get the word "Administrative" out actually.

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"Back to the whole death certificate issue, I know there’s going to be a whole lot more to it, but when I was listening to Dr. Do’s plan I kept thinking how short-sighted he sounded. I couldn’t really understand how the plan would hold water. I mean, Dong-joo wasn’t the only one the ER or OR, so there are many witnesses that can testify to the state the deserter was in. Wasn’t Nurse Assistant Park videotaping everything? Couldn’t they theoretically get another surgeon to testify that the injuries were a result of trauma in a courtroom once they sued the military for the bullying?"

Unfortunately, President Do has done something similar in the past - he has so much power that he can make the other doctors and nurses in the OR lie about what happens, as he did with Kim Sabu's case. Kim Sabu did not operate on the student - but President Do managed to orchestra it such that he did do the operation and somehow threatened everyone else present in the OR to do his bidding. He probably thinks he can do something similar here. Kim Sabu was clever to get Nurse Park to film the op - something which President Do was not aware.

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I'm amazed at how this drama manage to make me feel that each of its episode better than the previous one. It happen every episode for me since ep. 1. When I thought ep. 10 was its best yet then come ep. 11 taking ep. 10's crown, then the cycle repeat itself with ep. 12.

I really love ep. 11 but the best part f ep. 11 for me could be when Kim Sa Bu telling the DUI driver's mom that he's good in playing dirty. Lmao that part had me cackling and also wow-ed me. It feels like there is another side of KSB is revealed to us.

And also yay for ep. 11 that made me finally into In Beom (before this I felt nothing for him because of his constant blank face and only moving eyebrows). But he was so cute while vacuuming when DJ was sleeping in the same room. He didn't flinch when SJ trash talk his dad and even cheekily tease SJ about DJ. All hail cheekily evil robo In Beom, my newly adopted dongsaeng. Lmao.

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heyyy, can anyone tell me what is the name of the blonde friend of the guy with stomach ache? ty <3

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In anticipation of watching RD, TK 2 I have been watching (and thoroughly enjoying) the original series so I just recently viewed episode 11.
The blonde guy is actor Hwang Chan-sung and he played the part of Young Gyun. He was the friend of the runaway soldier Park Joo-hyuk played by actor Kang Eui-sik. (Source: Wiki.)
I hope that answers your question.

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