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: storytelling
Showing 9 results:
Story and Reflection: Mining for Value
Recently, I noticed that a member of our team had quietly pulled back. I knew she had experience—she’d been introduced as someone who had worked with universities, served as a legislative liaison, and helped stand up GME programs. She had consistently offered thoughtful perspectives, often seeing...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jun 12, 2025
awareness
confidence
confidence without arrogance
contribution over ego
curiosity
deep listening
dignity
drawing out strengths
experience
experience matters
expertise
hidden
hidden assets
hidden strength
honoring the whole person
humility
inclusive leadership
influence beyond title
invitational leadership
leadership
legacy
listening
mining
mining for gold
presence
quiet contributors
reactivation
recognition
relational leadership
respectul curiosity
storytelling
strength
team awareness
undervalued
undervalued expertise
unseen
unseen wisdom
wisdom
Reflection: Passing it On
This past week, I had the great honor of sitting in a (virtual) room with five individuals who have dedicated decades of their careers to leadership in graduate medical education (GME).
The idea for this gathering started one morning when I woke up thinking about how tough leading in GME can be. ...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jun 12, 2025
collaborative growth
collective wisdom
community
connection
cultivation
honoring
humility
impact
influence
inspiration
intergenerational learning
knowledge transfer
leadership
legacy
longevity
meaning making
mentorship
reflective practice
ripple effect
slow leadership
stewardship
storytelling
transparency
vision casting
vulnerability
wisdom
Reflection: The Adventure of Conversation
I had just turned a group of faculty workshop participants loose to help each other work on short term career goals & to do so by practicing their new coaching skills with each other.
I encouraged them to keep their advice-monster at bay. (See Michael Bungay Stanier's The Advice Trap).
When they ...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jun 12, 2025
advice trap
awareness
co-creation
coaching
communication
connection
curiosity
discovery
empathy
engagement
exploration
facilitation
growth
guidance
insight
interaction
learning
listening
mindset
non-judgment
openness
pattern recognition
physician habit
practice
presence
reflection
restraint
storytelling
transformation
trust
Twin Perspectives: Story and Reflection
One day a few of years ago, my husband and I started watching Medici - the historical Netflix series set in medieval Italy. The two main brothers looked so much alike during those first two episodes. I kept getting so confused.
After asking Mark for the 6th time which brother was speaking, he fin...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jun 11, 2025
acceptance
adjustment
attentiveness
awareness
balance
clarity
confusion
distortion
emotional regulation
focus
humility
insight
judgment
lens
mindfulness
mindset
narrative
overwhelm
patience
perception
perspective
presence
proportion
reframe
self-awareness
self-reflection
storytelling
strengths
values
zooming-out
The Youngest Flower Girl: Story and Reflection
I'm not sure every parent of a flower girl fears how the ceremony will go, but my husband and I sure did years ago. You see, our oldest was invited to be the flower girl for 2 of our med school classmates when she was barely three years old. We had many voices of experience say she's too young. A...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jun 10, 2025
balance
big picture
celebration
ceremony
detail-orientation
embarrassment
feedback
focus
humanity
humor
hyperfocus
joy
learning
memory
mindfulness
mistake
negativity bias
overfocus
parenting
perfectionism
perspective
presence
reflection
regulation
self-awareness
self-compassion
social cues
storytelling
worry
zooming-out
Hurricanes and Turtles, Story and well...
Our brains are pretty entertaining places - especially in the middle of the night - mine offers me random memories seemingly out of nowhere for no reason.
Last night I remembered chasing down a turtle during Hurricane Ivan in 2004 in Pensacola, FL. My husband was operating. The girls and I were h...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jun 10, 2025
animals
chaos
connection
curiosity
disaster
empathy
fear
heroism
humanity
humor
imagination
impulsivity
instincts
learning
memory
middle of the night
midnight thoughts
nature
nostalgia
parenting
perspective
playfulness
randomness
reflection
resilience
spontaneity
storytelling
surprise
unplanned
unpredictability
"Alaskan Tough" Story and Reflection
Memorial Day weekend was the best weather we've had in Anchorage in quite some time. My friend, Kari, a lifelong Alaskan, asked if I wanted to hike Bird Ridge which starts at the Bird Creek parking lot, a popular moderate to difficult 5-mile 3400 ft elevation hike. I've never done it, although mo...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jun 10, 2025
adaptability
assumptions
attentiveness
automaticity
awareness
clarity
confirmation bias
correction
curiosity
expectation
humor
identity
insight
interpretation
language
listening
mindset
miscommunication
mistake
narrative
observation
overconfidence
perception
preparation
presence
readiness
realization
reflection
reframing
storytelling
The Tale of Two Challenges
Challenge #1 The Hike. When my kids were both back in Alaska, they insisted that we climb the frontside of Flattop one rainy day. It's a popular local hike. It's my least favorite because I loathe the "scramble" at the top, where you create your own rock climbing path up. It's not particularly st...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jun 10, 2025
acceptance
adaptability
agency
automatic thoughts
challenge
control
discomfort
emotions
experience
fear
flexibility
frustration
growth
humor
memory making
mindset
narrative
negativity
ownership
perspective
reactivity
reflection
reframing
resilience
responsibility
self-awareness
self-compasssion
self-talk
storytelling
thoughts
transformation
Edit Reflection
When we lived in Florida, we had a lab mix named Snickers. True to his breed, he loved to be right next to his people. While we were temporarily in a rental house, he had to stay outside, and he became an escape artist. One day driving home from work, I saw him happily trotting on the side of the...
by Dr. Tonya Caylor —
Jun 08, 2025
acceptance
adaptability
bias
compassion
connection
forgiveness
grace
growth
humor
identity
interpretation
learning
lightness
mistakes
ownership
perspective
redemption
reframing
rescue
storytelling
Joy in Family Medicine – Stories & Reflections
