Three Stages of Growth
I remember it well. We were informed there would be three stages of growth in our three-year Family Medicine Residency. This pattern ended up being true.
The first year, the internship year, we did not know very much, AND we knew that we didn't know much. Yes, we were medical school graduates and, yes, we were officially doctors. But we lacked experience… and wisdom… and confidence. Therefore, layers of teachers and experienced physicians would oversee us. It was required that we do nothing without first running it by our superiors. They were always with us. They were a safety net for us and, more importantly, for patients as we started to gain valuable experience as doctors. Just knowing they were there instilled confidence that we could do this—be well-trained, physician healers.
In reality, we didn't just have physician overseers. We were in a teaching program in a teaching hospital. All of the nurses, therapists, medical assistants, receptionists, and hospital workers were also charged with watching over us—the newbies—as we progressed in our training. I remember the night that an OB nurse discovered a calculation error that I made while writing a medication order. Before she did anything else, she came and gently, wisely, and motherly pointed this out to me. She wanted to see the new “baby bird” become a good doctor and learn a valuable lesson, as she protected her patients. It does take a village…
Then the second year. By the second year of training, we had seen a lot of patients and treated a lot of conditions. We were becoming part of the overseeing team. The second-year mindset could be summed up as: We know what we are doing, AND we don’t need much help. Confidence levels began to soar. No longer interns, there was light at the end of the tunnel, and now we would bide our time until we could graduate from the program, become board-certified, and go change the world. We still had our overseeing team of mentors but were not required to check with them before treating patients.
It was good that we were becoming more confident. The obvious problem at this stage of growth is overconfidence… false confidence… presumption. We were more qualified as physicians than before but still had many things to learn before becoming truly competent healers. Our overseeing safety net staff knew this and would annoy us with questions about our treatments and our patients; these wise sages used different tactics in teaching us, the second-year geniuses.
And then—the 3rd year. Chief residents. Two down, one to go. Almost done, now on the last leg of our board-certification journey. Here's what’s strange at this stage. We were well- trained, well-qualified physicians BUT realized we still had a lot more we could learn. Experience and teachers had exposed us to most things that we would see in daily practice. Our mentors started to relate to us more as peers and less as pupils but were always willing to offer input when asked. We moved up to the highest level of resident overseer in the safety net—the chief resident. We had become very comfortable with our built-in safety net, knowing there was always someone immediately available who was more experienced.
The third level of confidence as a physician—humble confidence of a well-qualified healer—is invaluable. We were always learning yet with a firm grasp on the daily habits that would make a competent doctor… not having a built-in safety net but knowing that other colleagues and specialists were just a phone call away.
Despite any and all drawbacks of the current healthcare system, they got this one right. The educational residency system with its built in safety net allows budding new doctors to progress through three stages of confidence in becoming well-qualified healers.
The pivot, the segue: I have been walking with Jesus in my Christian faith for over 43 years. In retrospect, it seems that I have progressed through similar growth stages in my faith as I did in my healthcare training.
Early in my faith walk after Jesus had truly changed me from the inside out, I was well aware that I had much to learn. I would devour teachings and passionately pursue Bible study, prayer, and being with my church-family community any chance I could.
Somewhere along the way, I began to realize that my faith résumé contained a lot of Christian experiences with more knowledge of the Bible and a good devotional prayer life. I had attended a lot of church meetings and served the church (the Bride of Jesus) in many ways. Full of faith, I had seen abundant spiritual fruit born in my life and ministry. Subtly, it seemed like I probably had seen it all and experienced it all. What more was there to learn? Would it be rather easy at this stage to innocently become overconfident, even careless?
Thank God for the next stage of spiritual growth—being well qualified, well experienced, well trained, knowledgeable, yet remaining humble. I have learned a lot, but I realize I have so much more to learn in my relationship with Jesus. Knowledge puffs up; love builds up. In this stage I am learning to go deeper in knowing and experiencing Jesus rather than just being full of knowledge. I realize that every believer has something they can teach me, something I can benefit from. I understand there are many who have experienced church hurt, and yet the Father’s heart still yearns for all of Jesus’ Bride to be whole, healthy, and beautiful. I can be full of faith, trusting Jesus knows what He is doing and, if I continue to hook my wagon to His train, good things can happen.
What does next-level growth look like? Fresh vision for the future. Receiving strength and encouragement by staying connected to Jesus and His followers. Not running away since there is still much to learn and experience as believers become the beautiful bride of Christ!