Doctors deserve our respect. It takes great sacrifice to become a doctor in any field of study. But, some of the greatest sacrifices are made by medical doctors. Let’s face it; just completing the rigorous education it takes to become a medical doctor deserves respect. The financial costs for medical school and the family sacrifices of residency and maintaining a medical practice are plenty of reasons why there are so few people in this line of work.
COVID has made heath care centers the front lines of the battlefield to defeat this global pandemic. Almost everyone in the world has seen the news reports of exhausted health care professionals that have been treating this virus for almost two years. Doctors really are the heroes of this global health care crisis.
I recently had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Grant Scarborough on this week’s episode of Unbeatable. Although he was the most reluctant medial school student you’ll ever meet, he is also one of the most generous and compassionate doctors I’ve ever encountered.
I was reminded in this interview that just because you’re trying to do good for others, doesn’t mean you won’t get wounded in the process.
Turning patients into friends
Rather than building a successful practice that would make him rich, Dr. Scarborough decided to commit his life to serving the poorest and most vulnerable people in his community. This passion led him to create MercyMed, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide affordable and quality healthcare to the uninsured or underprivileged in Columbus, GA.
It takes a lot of money to operate a health care ministry. It takes vision and passion to build a family atmosphere among drug dealer and prostitutes. You would think with Grant’s heart to serve others and with his extensive medical training, that accomplishing this mission would be easy… and you’d be wrong.
Dr. Scarborough worked three out of every four weekends the first year of his practice to make his dream of giving away his skills for free come to pass. There where days when he struggled to sustain the needs of his family, because he was freely giving away his medical skills to people who couldn’t afford it. His wife doubled her efforts to make ends meet for the family so he could treat the poor.
Grant is a living example that your bank account doesn’t determine your worth as a human being. His paycheck didn’t come in the form of dollar bills, but the relationships he built.
Treating the wound of betrayal
One of the most difficult wounds Dr. Scarborough ever had to treat was his own heartbreak. He saw firsthand how deeply greed can rot the soul of good friends and colleagues. The most painful wound he suffered was the day before Grant was scheduled to hold an open house to introduce his vision to the community. By this point, he had recruited an incredible team and raised a huge sum of money to provide this service to his community.
It should’ve been one for the best nights of his life… Instead, it turned into a nightmare.
Less than 24 hours before opening the doors to his community, Dr. Scarborough learned that a lot of the money intended to improve the clinic was stolen by one of his trusted friends. This was the moment that Grant had to decide if he was going to be unbeatable or not. Totally devastated by the betrayal, he poured his heart out to other trusted friends. It was through conversations that Grant was given the strength to put on his game face, open the doors of his clinic, and move forward.
Grant’s friend reminded him that trying to do good doesn’t make you immune to people with evil intentions. It was a lesson that Dr. Grant has been forced to learn time and again, as people that he treats attempt to take advantage of his generosity or the beautiful clinic that he started.
At this point, Grant’s clinic is a success by almost every measure. But the emotional scars left by this betrayal remain in his heart and have helped him become more cautious in choosing whom to trust.
Turn setbacks into stepping stones
Heartbreak can be one of the most difficult wounds to recover from. I hope that you will learn a powerful lesson from Grant’s story in this episode of Unbeatable. Don’t let heartbreak become a terminal wound. Don’t dwell on your past challenges to the point that you’re unable to face the future. Turn your setbacks into stepping stones by learning from them and moving forward.
Expect to be hurt along the way. You’re going to get knocked down and bloodied a little bit when pursuing a vision, even when your heart is pure and your vision is to help others. Betrayal is a wound that cuts much deeper than the flesh. Don’t let your heart become scarred to the point that you never open it up again.
Dr. Grant Scarborough is an unbeatable doctor who never gave up on his dream of becoming a modern-day good Samaritan. His heart for helping the poor and vulnerable was broken, but not defeated, by betrayal. He allowed these painful moments to push him forward rather than hold him back.
