Joy in Family Medicine – Stories & Reflections
Lessons, lightbulb moments, and honest reflections from life inside and outside medicine - served with a side of perspective.
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Where Does the Time Go?
Monday was one of those days: meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting. Seriously. Plus no space between them. One room to another, to virtual, back to the other room. No space to do a quick prep review before any but the first.
There was no time to process what we'd just discussed, thin...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Sep 25, 2026
access
administration
appointments
boundaries
burnout
calendars
capacity
care coordination
complexity
documentation
efficiency
follow-up
fte
healthcare
healthcare systems
inbox
leadership
medicine
meetings
messaging
patient care
physician wellbeing
physicians
preparation
primary care
productivity
reflection
resilience
resources
scheduling
staffing
sustainability
systems change
teamwork
technology
time
transition
work-life balance
workflow
workload
When an Unexpected Next Step is the Right One
When I began telling people I was considering becoming the Founding Program Director of a new family medicine residency in rural Eastern Washington, the responses were not exactly subtle.
“Are you nuts?”
“Do you need me to say WTF, Tonya?!”
And, perhaps most thoughtfully:
“This doesn’t seem align...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Aug 19, 2026
access
accreditation
alignment
building
calling
career
change
coaching
collaboration
commitment
community
courage
culture
curriculum
decisions
development
discernment
education
faculty
family
gme
growth
healthcare
impact
innovation
intention
leadership
medicine
mentorship
mission
moses lake
opportunity
physicians
primary care
purpose
reflection
residency
residents
resilience
rural
samaritan
service
sustainability
systems
teaching
teams
throughline
training
transformation
transition
trust
washington
workforce
wsu
wwami
Extra Mile Reflection
This photo is a throw-back to when my dad had been stuck in his recliner for a couple of days due to severe worsening metastatic bone pain to his hip. It only hurt if he moved his leg. So after scrambling to get the family to be with him, he had a telemedicine visit with his primary care doc who ...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jun 03, 2025
access
advocacy
caregiving
compassion
connection
dignity
empathy
gratitude
healthcare
impact
independence
joy
language
mobility
paperwork
presence
service
support
telemedicine
wellbeing
Joy in Family Medicine – Stories & Reflections