Joy in Family Medicine – Stories & Reflections
Lessons, lightbulb moments, and honest reflections from life inside and outside medicine - served with a side of perspective.
Tags: caregiving
Showing 4 results:
Broadening the Differential: A Lesson in Agile Thinking
I've been spending time with colleagues lately exploring the concept of agility in the research literature. And as a result, I keep finding the need for it everywhere.
This week alone, our house build presented a wiring issue that no longer aligned with the original lighting and door-swing plans ...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jun 12, 2026
adaptability
adaptation
advocacy
agility
anchoring
assumptions
awareness
bias
caregiving
change
chaos
clinical thinking
collaboration
communication
complexity
contingency
curiosity
decision making
diagnosis
efficiency
execution
family
flexibility
growth
home building
humility
insight
judgment
leadership
learning
logistics
medicine
openness
perspective
perspective shift
planning
prioritization
problem solving
realignment
reassessment
recalibration
reconsideration
reflection
reframing
resilience
responsiveness
rethinking
structure
systems
truth seeking
uncertainty
The Impact We Don't Always See
I came across a piece from Sahil Bloom not too long ago about the “Stonecutter Principle,” which is so relatable to the work I do.
In case you’re not familiar with the story - a quick recap: three stonecutters doing the same work but describing it very differently: cutting stone, building a wall,...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
May 14, 2026
administration
awareness
burnout
caregiving
cathedral
compassion
connection
documentation
empathy
forms
fulfillment
gratitude
growth
healing
healthcare
humanity
impact
leadership
legacy
meaning
medicine
mindset
motivation
patient care
perspective
physician
purpose
purposeful work
quality of life
reflection
reframing
relationships
resilience
service
stonecutter
storytelling
support
values
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
Grief and Gratefulness Reflection
Today, I reflected on a conversation with a colleague about how difficult it is to lose patients to medical conditions. They work with a population of patients who sometimes have terminal conditions. But I saw their pain through a different lens - that of a family member and friend to people who ...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jun 03, 2025
appreciation
caregiving
comfort
compassion
connection
empathy
end-of-life
gratitude
grief
healing
honor
humanity
legacy
loss
memories
palliative
physicians
presence
reflection
relationships
support
terminal
trust
wellness
Joy in Family Medicine – Stories & Reflections