Meet the Family Medicine Residency Coach

Meet the Coach

Tonya Caylor, MD, FAAFP, founded Joy in Family Medicine Coaching Services® after realizing physician coaching's power and seeing a paucity of it at the residency level. She developed a curriculum and coaching program to give physicians the tools they need to enjoy their lives and reconnect with joy in their chosen careers. She remains active clinically as on-call faculty for the Alaska Family Medicine Residency and for the local FQHC.

Learn more about my Foundational Framework of coaching support.

Read my journey to coaching

Curious how my clinical career unfolded?

Before becoming a full-time coach, I had a winding journey through private practice, underserved care, academic medicine, and burnout and back to joy again. I shared it in the first post of my Careers in Family Medicine blog series.

Read My Career Journey

Experience & Parternships

Clinical and Academic Foundation
Dr. Tonya Caylor brings over 25 years of clinical experience and 18 years in academic family medicine. A graduate of the University of Washington Faculty Development Fellowship, she now coaches in the UW/Madigan Hybrid Faculty Development Program. At the Alaska Family Medicine Residency, she co-developed Physician Toolbox Talks with Behavioral Health faculty, an early project that helped shape her coaching and faculty development work.

National Faculty Development & Coaching
Dr. Caylor is an active member of STFM’s CBME Task Force and contributes to STFM’s Faculty Development Delivered initiative, where she supports faculty in building coaching skills. She partners with family medicine residency programs to provide individual and group coaching for residents, faculty, and GME leadership teams - and also works directly with physicians seeking support.

Collaborative Coaching Programs
In addition to her own coaching program, Dr. Caylor collaborates with organizations across specialties, including AMWA’s Evolve Leadership Coaching Program (as Co-Director), Coaching for Institutions, and Better Together Physician Coaching. Through these programs, she has contributed to research with the Mayo Clinic (RISE) and the University of Colorado (Better Together).

Trusted by Physicians Nationwide
To date, she has coached over 500 physicians. A generalist at heart, she partners with her clients on their identified goals, always seeing them as whole, capable, and resourceful.

Training & Qualifications

Credentialed, ICF PCC level
Certified, Systemic Team Development Practitioner
Certified, CHARM GME Well-Being Leaders Course
Certified TIPC, Lodestar Trauma Mitigation Master Coaching Progam
Certified, The Life Coach School Professional Coach 6-month Program
Certified, Harvard's Institute of Lifestyle Medicine Culinary Coach
Co-Active Institute Foundations
Positive Intelligence Foundations

Ethics

In addition to following the ICF Code of Ethics, I’ve developed additional guiding practices tailored to the nuanced contexts I work in—especially in academic medicine and residency education.
These include boundaries related to mentorship, faculty roles, conflict of interest, and how I partner transparently with institutions.
Read my full Personal Code of Ethics Statement

Casey Kernan, MD

Residency is hard. I think we all question, at some point our abilities and our purpose in medicine. Professional coaching was new to me but Tonya made it valuable, convenient and fun. She is a joy to work with and helped me find the joy in family medicine. I highly recommend her to anyone in medicine that experiences burnout, frustration in their careers or simply needs to refocus.

Rima Butler, MD

"She brings a gracious confidence to the challenges of residency and clinical practice. I have grown so much from her coaching!"

Many physicians I work with also enjoy the free resources I’ve created to support well-being and growth.

Review the Rource Hub

Sign up for your Strategy Call

Meet me on a low-pressure call (via zoom or phone). Talk through your current challenges and goals and develop a personalized strategy to meet your goals.

Schedule a Call

Membership

Dr. Caylor is a contributing member of Society of Teachers in Family Medicine Faculty Development Delivered, Coaching for Institutions, CU's Better Together Coaching Program , and AMWA Evolve Coaching Program, & is a Professional Fellow of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School affiliate, and an ICF Credential holder.

Schedule below.