Lessons from Jose M. Villalon-Gomez, MD, MPH

Educational Landscapes

José M. Villalón-Gómez, MD, MPH is program director for the Family Medicine Residency Program, Emory University School of Medicine. In this episode Jose talks about how his passion for education started as early as high school and how his mentors encouraged him to remain curious and try new things. As an educator and leader, he sees his roles as helping the future generations of physicians or learners and society in general. Some of his words of wisdom include: "I think this kind of position / role, we have to perceive it and treat it as a marathon. It's not a sprint. If you take it as a sprint or short race, you're going to get fatigue, you're going to get tired. That's where the burnout comes in. So you have to come in with a marathon runner perspective of find your pace, find your tempo, so then you can be an effective leader." and "I think that's one of the beauties of education is that knowledge is constantly changing and growing, and you have to really expose yourself and get out of your comfort zone to be an effective teacher. Because you're going to be teaching younger generations that are in a different mindset than the framework that you use to learn. So you have to adapt to those. And I think that's one of the reasons I enjoy teaching is it keeps your heart young despite your body getting old."

Resources

• Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM)
• AFMRD : Association of Family Medicine Residecy Directors
• Residency Leadership Summit | AAFP