After Qu Xiaofeng left, Liu Meng said to Zhao Heng, "Dr. Zhao, even though Dr. Qu hasn't been promoted to associate chief physician for many years, his skills are higher than those of many who have that title."
Liu Meng could empathize with the fact that even though Qu Xiaofeng clearly had the skills of an attending physician or higher, he still hadn't gained the title of associate chief physician.
In reality, after working for a while, the gap in skills between two similar titles, such as a senior attending physician and an associate chief physician, isn't that significant.
Liu Meng was in the same boat. She's been working as a resident doctor for many years, and logically, her level was no different from that of an attending physician.
But the reality is, in every hospital, in every department, the number of positions above resident doctor, including associate chief physician and chief physician, is limited.
