A conscientious operator

Performing intricate surgery, Sun Ning, 65, with the aid of loupes attached to his glasses to magnify his vision, sews around 200 stitches and ties over 1,000 knots to repair a 2-year-old boy's urethra.

During the 90-minute subtle hypospadias repair surgery, Sun is like a tailor, whose aim is to make sure the urethral canal he is remaking is as close to normal, both functionally and outwardly, as possible.

What's more, he has taken the boy's future growth into account, so that when he gets older, the surgery will go unnoticed.

Sun, with 38 years of experience as a pediatrician, is the president of Xinjiang Children's Hospital in Urumqi. He was named one of the nation's 10 "Most Beautiful Doctors "by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the National Health Commission in August, a couple of days ahead of this year's Chinese Doctors' Day.

Sun's colleagues say that he is a great doctor, not just because he cares so passionately about his young patients, but because of his role as a mentor. Moreover, Sun is devoting himself to improving the level of children's medical treatment in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.