February 6, 2025—The February 2025 episode of the STFM Podcast features Joseph Gravel, MD, of the Medical College of Wisconsin. STFM’s president joins hosts Omari A. Hodge, MD, and Jay-Sheree Allen Akambase, MD, to discuss a variety of topics, including the STFM 5-year strategic plan.

The episode, titled “The Life-Giving Act of Advocacy With Joseph Gravel, MD”, is available on the STFM website or streaming on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

In the episode, Dr Gravel illustrates how he has staved off burnout by building a career around the life-giving practices of advocacy, service, and gratitude. He also gives a sneak peek into the new STFM strategic plan, which is centered around topics such as artificial intelligence (AI). He also lets us know about his dislike of the “P-Word” (“provider”) and why the labels used for family medicine professionals are so important.

Dr Gravel is professor and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. During his 5-plus years as chair at Medical College of Wisconsin, his department has created three new family medicine residency programs in Milwaukee (2) and Green Bay.

Dr Gravel is a graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston and the Virginia Commonwealth University Fairfax Family Practice Center Family Medicine Residency. He was founding residency program director of the Tufts University Family Medicine Residency in Malden, MA and was chief medical officer and residency program director at the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, a Teaching Health Center FQHC in Lawrence, MA.

Dr Gravel is currently President of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (2024–2025). He also serves on the Wisconsin Academy of Family Physicians’ Board of Directors and as the senior Wisconsin delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates. He is a past president of the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors (AFMRD), the Family Medicine Education Consortium (FMEC), and the Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians.

The STFM Podcast features conversations with leaders of academic family medicine on key areas at the intersection of academic medicine, leadership, health equity, and medical education. These episodes give listeners insight into the guests’ and hosts’ experiences that have led to opportunities for personal growth and the development of leadership skills during their careers as health care professionals.

The episodes touch on several topics, including:

• Motivation and mentorship
• Burnout and transitions
• Milestones and meaning
• Barriers and bureaucracy

Subscribe to the STFM Podcast through Apple Podcasts and Spotify.