Stories & Reflections from a Family Medicine Physician Coach

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: change

Showing 12 results:

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

Planning the Unpredictable

As my move out of Alaska gets closer, I find myself increasingly reflective. There is something to the saying that life is what happens while we’re making plans. Nineteen years ago, I finally gave in to my husband’s persistent suggestion that we go “look” at Alaska. We stepped off the plane, fel...

by Dr. Tonya Caylor — Aug 07, 2026 adventure alaska belonging change clarity community decisions faith family family medicine grandchildren gratitude growth home journey legacy moving next chapter northwest planning priorities purpose reflection residency resilience retirement transition vision washington wenatchee

The River Gets Wider

Just prior to marrying my husband, his dad handed us an article torn from a magazine. It used the imagery of two rivers coming together to describe marriage. The gist that stuck with my young mind was:1. Don’t be shocked by the rapids. They’re a natural outcome of two forces merging.2. Marriage w...

by Dr. Tonya Caylor — Jul 25, 2026 acceptance adaptability adaptation adjustment balance becoming career change coaching commitment confidence courage endurance expectations flexibility gratitude growth hope imperfection joy leadership life transitions marriage medicine mindset navigation partnership perseverance perspective physicians preparation presence progress purpose rapids recovery reflection relationships renewal resilience self-copmpassion stability strength transformation transition trust uncertainty wellbeing whitewater

The Bump Nobody Warned You About

A webinar this week about the evolution of a rural residency program inspired this week's reflections. In addition to the successes and growing pains, the thing that caught my attention was the sheer number of changes they had both created and endured. In just 11 years, the program had 4 Chief Me...

by Dr. Tonya Caylor — Jul 10, 2026 acceptance adaptability adaptation agility alignment awareness change change management collaboration commitment communication complexity continuity culture endurance evolution expectations flexibility growth healthcare innovation leadership leadership development medicine mindset mission mission focus navigation organizational health organizations perseverance perspective preparedness puprose reflection residency resilience rural stability stewarship sustainability systems teamwork transformation transition trust turbulence turnover uncertainty

Building Impact Capacity

This week I did something new. I asked Claude to forecast my workload after I entered in all the things from my calendar and everything that wasn’t. It included my coaching practice, presentations, faculty development, travel, writing, a new time-limited leadership role I'll share more about soon...

by Dr. Tonya Caylor — Jul 10, 2026 agency alignment attention awareness boundaries capacity capacity building change clarity collaboration commitment communication compelxity decision-making delegation design efficiency energy expectations focus forecasting foundation growth impact intentionality leadership momentum organization planning preparation prevention priorities prioritization proactivity readiness reflection resources simplification stewardship strategy sustainability sustems time tradeoffs transformation transition workload

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

Cognitive Dissonance (From the Archives)

Growing up, my world consisted of good kids like Spook, Ryan, Barry, Jean, and Christy. Especially Jean, she would draw fun pictures and write nice things in a note folded up for me at school: "To Tonya, my friend. From: Jean, your friend." There were bad kids like Eddie - who would come to our s...

by Dr. Tonya Caylor — Jun 07, 2026 acceptance accountability ambiguity authenticity balance boundaries change character cognitive dissonance compassion compelxity complexity conflict conviction courage discernment emotional intelligence empathy ethics forgiveness grief growth humanity humility integrity judgment leadership learning loyalty maturity medicine nuance perspective physicians principles reconciliation refleciotn reflection relationships resilience respect sadness self-awareness trust understanding values wisdom

John Changes the Question

A few weeks ago, I introduced you to John, a fictional physician whose story reflects common themes many physicians wrestle with. He’s a mid-career family physician facing a career dilemma I hear often: “I’ve never stayed in one job more than x number of years. I feel I need to leave my current o...

by Dr. Tonya Caylor — May 29, 2026 adaptation agency alignment authenticity awareness burnout career change clarity coaching compassion connection continuity decision making direction discovery engagement fulfillment growth inquiry insight intention leadership listening meaning medicine mindset perspective physicians purpose reflection renewal resilience self-awareness sustainability teaching transformation transition trust values

Retroactive Omniscience and Having Your Own Back

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been following “John,” a fictional physician trying to sort through the emotional aftermath of multiple job changes and the growing belief that maybe he was just bad at choosing jobs. In the first edition, he recognized the story he was telling himself and how it wa...

by Dr. Tonya Caylor — May 23, 2026 adaptability adaptation awareness career career change change clarity coaching cognition compassion confidence curiosity decision making development discernment evolution growth healthcare hindsight insight intentionality judgment leadership learning medicine mindset perspective physician psychology purpose refleciton resilience self-awareness self-doubt selftrust shame stress transitions trust wellbeing

John's Decision

A common theme I hear from physicians is this: “I’ve lost confidence in my ability to pick a good job because I’m looking to leave…again.” And honestly, healthcare is different than it was decades ago when physicians often stayed in one practice for 30–40 years. Expectations, systems, autonomy, c...

by Dr. Tonya Caylor — May 14, 2026 adaptation autonomy balance burnout career career change change clarity coaching cognition comparison confidence contentment decision making despair fulfillment growth healthcare insight intention job search leadership medicine mindset motivation negativity bias perspective physician psychology purpose reflection resilience self-awareness shame stress systems thought work transition values wellbeing

Learning As We Go

We’re in the thick of our Washington build, and I’ve lost count of how many times the plan has had to change on a dime. Not many major ones. But what feels like a near-constant set of pivots. Inspection corrections. New ideas. The domino effect of one decision making another no longer feasible. A...

by Dr. Tonya Caylor — Apr 24, 2026 adaptability adjustment ai awareness balance change coaching cognition consistency decision making development education efficiency flexibility framework future growth improvement innovation insight iteration leadership learning medicine mindset planning problem solving progress reasoning reflection residency resilience skills strategy teaching technology thinking transformation

A Christmas Epiphany (From the Archives)

Early in our marriage, we lived in an ongoing renovation of a historic home. It had an entryway with stairs wrapping up to the second floor, creating the ideal spot for our Christmas tree. We would take the girls to the tree farm and pick out the largest one with near-perfect branches and set it ...

by Dr. Tonya Caylor — Apr 23, 2026 adaptation awareness balance behavior calm change clarity cognition communication conflict connection control emotion environment family growth habits holidays influence innner dialogue joy marriage mindset narrative perfectionism perspective psychology reflection regulation relationships resilience self awareness soundtracks stress thinking traditions trigger wellbeing

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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: change

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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