Episode 9
A Conversation With 2026 Master Preceptor Award Recipient Dr. Matthew Told
In this episode of DO.fm: Precepting Edition, 2026 Master Preceptor Award recipient Matthew Told, DO, assistant chief medical officer at Syringa General Hospital in Grangeville, Idaho, reflects on the mentors who shaped him, his journey into full-spectrum family medicine, and how he strives to model “quiet confidence” for his learners. He shares how he meets students where they are, challenges common misconceptions about family medicine, and focuses on humility, professionalism, and patient-centered care.
Dr. Told shares:
- How mentors, including his father, ACOFP leaders, and a confident residency preceptor shaped his teaching style, values, and commitment to osteopathic family medicine;
- How he meets students where they are by exploring their goals, easing anxiety, and giving them hands-on experiences that reveal the true breadth and meaning of family medicine;
- Why humility, openness to learning from everyone, and protecting patient privacy — especially in the age of social media — are essential to honoring patients’ trust and building a lasting legacy.
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Transcript
Welcome to DO.fm, a production of the
Juliana Parisi:American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians. Hello,
Juliana Parisi:everyone, and welcome to another episode of DO.fm: Precepting
Juliana Parisi:Edition. I'm Juliana Parisi, a communications intern at ACOFP,
Juliana Parisi:and I'm excited to have you with us today. In this episode, we'll
Juliana Parisi:be chatting with Dr. Matthew Told, one of two winners of
Juliana Parisi:ACOFP's 2026 Master Preceptor Award. Dr. Told joins us from
Juliana Parisi:Grangeville, Idaho, where he serves as assistant chief
Juliana Parisi:medical officer at Syringa General Hospital, practicing OB
Juliana Parisi:and emergency medicine and surgery. He also was the
Juliana Parisi:inaugural president of ACOFP Mountain West Regional Society
Juliana Parisi:and has been recognized as Idaho County Physician of the Year in
Juliana Parisi:2019, 2022, and now for five years running. Let's get
Juliana Parisi:started. All right. So my first question of today is: What does
Juliana Parisi:the Master Preceptor Award mean to you? What does it represent
Juliana Parisi:on a general scale, and then also for you personally?
Matthew Told:I think the Master Preceptor Award represents
Matthew Told:recognition of those that go a little bit above and beyond,
Matthew Told:more than just the general practitioner, but somebody that
Matthew Told:actually takes some time to spend with the students, to
Matthew Told:teach them and to show them some of how to practice. I think it
Matthew Told:shows longevity through teaching students not only what's current
Matthew Told:now, but what was current in the past, and how that all kind of
Matthew Told:combines to make a well-rounded physician going forward.
Juliana Parisi:Were you aware of the award, and is this
Juliana Parisi:something that you aspired for, or is this something that kind
Juliana Parisi:of just you were awarded without really aspiring?
Matthew Told:So I I wasn't actually aware of the award. I
Matthew Told:mean, it went out in the email, and I kind of you know breezed
Matthew Told:through it like I do with my all my emails to look to see if
Matthew Told:there's anything important. Otherwise, I kind of skip past
Matthew Told:it, not thinking too much about it. And then my father brought
Matthew Told:it to my attention, stating that look, you do all these things,
Matthew Told:and you've gotten a lot of recognition from students, and
Matthew Told:you know you should apply for it. And I think that's where we
Matthew Told:essentially applied for it. There's some criteria that you
Matthew Told:have to meet, as well as get recognition from others and
Matthew Told:letters of recommendation from others, so it was useful to have
Matthew Told:it pointed out that that was there to apply for.
Juliana Parisi:Right, wonderful. And then I was also
Juliana Parisi:wondering who are the mentors or preceptors who shaped your
Juliana Parisi:teaching approach or medical care staff.
Matthew Told:I had a lot of mentors throughout medical
Matthew Told:school. I had the dean of my medical school, Tony Salani. I
Matthew Told:also had mentors that you just meet in ACOFP, like David Park
Matthew Told:and Jeff Grove and Bob George. I mean, these are all people that
Matthew Told:have done well and been successful in their practices,
Matthew Told:and they've gone on to teach and to hold deanships in medical
Matthew Told:schools and such. I also think of mentors like my father. He's
Matthew Told:my ultimate hero. He's done well in ACOFP. He's lived and done
Matthew Told:all the things in ACOFP that I one day hope to aspire to. And
Matthew Told:then also my mother. She's always been the secret
Matthew Told:behind-the-scenes, quiet encourager of education as well
Matthew Told:as learning. I also had somebody in my residency, Dr. Stone was
Matthew Told:his name. He's now retired, but he was an Air Force captain and
Matthew Told:a full-fledged general practitioner. I think I took a
Matthew Told:lot of my experiences from him because he was just a quiet
Matthew Told:gentleman who would listen to a lot of things, and then he would
Matthew Told:kind of nod his head, and then he would put forth a plan, and
Matthew Told:he would be relaxed, always. There was never a problem too
Matthew Told:great that he would get anxious about. He would just quietly
Matthew Told:look for solutions to all the problems, and I thought that was
Matthew Told:something I always wanted to do: just demonstrate quiet
Matthew Told:confidence, not getting shaken up and just solving the problem.
Matthew Told:Everything was a problem that could be solved.
Juliana Parisi:Yeah, and so with this quiet confidence and
Juliana Parisi:problem solving, what other aspects of precepting and
Juliana Parisi:mentorship do you think makes a master preceptor?
Matthew Told:Yeah, I think that's where it comes in. You
Matthew Told:demonstrate a quiet confidence, but you also meet the student
Matthew Told:where they're at. I think one of the things that I like to do
Matthew Told:when the student first gets here — Rocky Vista has them tell you
Matthew Told:their goals — is I always try to take that goal and say, okay,
Matthew Told:these are what you're saying, but what do you really want to
Matthew Told:learn? What do you feel like you were deficient in? What do you
Matthew Told:think you need to gain confidence in? And we talk about
Matthew Told:those going forward. I usually put them at ease and say, you
Matthew Told:know what, you've shown up, you're here. If you have a good
Matthew Told:attitude, you have an A from me. I'll be happy to put forth an A
Matthew Told:and a good letter of recommendation. But I really
Matthew Told:want you to relax and love what you do and want to practice and
Matthew Told:do the things that you want to do in life. And so I do think
Matthew Told:that helps going forward, because most people don't
Matthew Told:realize that family medicine can do quite the breadth of what we
Matthew Told:still do. I kind of practice like the general practitioners
Matthew Told:of old, where I get a chance to do all aspects of medicine,
Matthew Told:which they find to be very intriguing when they're up here.
Matthew Told:And so I usually help them and let them do the things that
Matthew Told:they're interested in. And I think they find a lot of joy in
Matthew Told:that.
Juliana Parisi:Yeah, that's great to hear. And then, what is
Juliana Parisi:something that you do to help learners that you haven't seen
Juliana Parisi:widely adopted, but really work?
Matthew Told:I think I just be straightforward with them. I
Matthew Told:just say, hey, these are some of the things that I find important
Matthew Told:in my practice, and these are some of the goals and desires
Matthew Told:that I wish to have as a physician going forward. I try
Matthew Told:to bring my past knowledge to them, and so I try to put forth
Matthew Told:some of the experiences that I've had, being totally
Matthew Told:transparent and saying, hey, these were some of my pitfalls,
Matthew Told:but this is what I did to overcome them. And these are the
Matthew Told:things that you should watch for, particularly in a political
Matthew Told:environment. Sometimes medicine can be political in a hospital
Matthew Told:setting as well as a clinical setting. I tell them how to work
Matthew Told:through those and navigate through those calmly, because we
Matthew Told:sometimes can get triggered and upset and spurred on to be
Matthew Told:irrational. But as physicians, sometimes we need to exude that
Matthew Told:quiet confidence going forward and say, you know what, I'm not
Matthew Told:going to get triggered by these things. I'm going to be logical
Matthew Told:about it and smart going forward. So really, I just try
Matthew Told:to put forth some common sense pearls of wisdom that they can
Matthew Told:utilize going forward.
Juliana Parisi:Then so shifting from teaching style to more what
Juliana Parisi:a good trainee looks like. Can you describe how you have seen
Juliana Parisi:in your experience what separates a good trainee from an
Juliana Parisi:exceptional one?
Matthew Told:Yeah, I think what demonstrates a good trainee is
Matthew Told:somebody that's willing to put away their pride. We all know
Matthew Told:that everybody that comes out of medical school is smart. They've
Matthew Told:demonstrated the basic understanding, the knowledge
Matthew Told:that got them to the place that they're at. You don't become a
Matthew Told:third-year medical student by being a dumb person. You are a
Matthew Told:very smart person, and really, truly, in the top percent in the
Matthew Told:nation as far as knowledge and stuff. And so I really try to
Matthew Told:say, hey, you know what? I know you know a lot of things. I may
Matthew Told:not pimp quite as much as everybody else because this
Matthew Told:isn't a surgical rotation. I really want you just to put
Matthew Told:forth your best effort and be humble and try to learn some of
Matthew Told:the things that I put forth to teach, and that others will
Matthew Told:teach you. And I really have to say that when I became a
Matthew Told:preceptor, it took me a few years. But being a teaching
Matthew Told:hospital doesn't always have to qualify as a teaching hospital.
Matthew Told:I remember our CEO said, "Well, this isn't a teaching hospital,
Matthew Told:Dr. Told." And I said, "Well, I think every institution should
Matthew Told:be a teaching hospital or teaching institution, because we
Matthew Told:have the opportunity to impart wisdom to our future
Matthew Told:generations, and we need to do so." And from that time forward,
Matthew Told:I've seen kind of a shift, and our nurses take nursing
Matthew Told:students, and we try to take people from the community and
Matthew Told:show them what medicine's all about. And so I think that a
Matthew Told:good student is somebody who is willing to put forth a little
Matthew Told:bit of effort, quite a bit of effort, and just put away their
Matthew Told:pride and really focus on honing their skills and trying to learn
Matthew Told:the most pearls of wisdom that they can, and those tidbits of
Matthew Told:knowledge that they can, from whoever that is. That could be
Matthew Told:from a nurse. It could be from front office staff. It could be
Matthew Told:from the patients themselves as they try to tell you things that
Matthew Told:they've learned and what they've seen and what they've
Matthew Told:recognized. The medical students that really shine are the ones
Matthew Told:who can be humble enough to accept knowledge from wherever
Matthew Told:knowledge comes.
Juliana Parisi:Do you have any memories or specific stories
Juliana Parisi:that stick out about certain students or residents who have
Juliana Parisi:either changed you as a teacher or changed your perspective on
Juliana Parisi:medicine?
Matthew Told:Yeah, I think it's not one person in particular,
Matthew Told:but I've seen a lot of medical students come here with the
Matthew Told:preconceived idea that family medicine is just mainly seeing
Matthew Told:patients in clinic and turfing them off to specialists. And to
Matthew Told:some extent we do do that, but I try to impart the knowledge that
Matthew Told:— and I've seen students shine and change their mind going
Matthew Told:forward about family medicine as they realize that you can do as
Matthew Told:much in family medicine as you feel comfortable doing. And so
Matthew Told:that really goes back to how much experience you can gain as
Matthew Told:a medical student and a resident. That is the biggest
Matthew Told:thing that I've seen across all medical students, no matter what
Matthew Told:specialty they choose to go into: some of them, if they just
Matthew Told:realize what family medicine has to offer, they can really change
Matthew Told:and grow and get to the place that they want to be. So I think
Matthew Told:that's the greatest story I've seen from several students —
Matthew Told:that they have an opportunity to grow in this specialty, and it
Matthew Told:is something of worth.
Juliana Parisi:Did you ever have that kind of perspective
Juliana Parisi:going into family medicine?
Matthew Told:You know, I did. When I went into medical school,
Matthew Told:I wanted to be the glorious orthopedic surgeon. I wanted to
Matthew Told:be the bone doctor. And then as I went through medical school, I
Matthew Told:thought I wanted to be a surgeon, until I started to go
Matthew Told:audition for surgical rotations, and then I realized, wait a
Matthew Told:minute, I still love doing pediatrics. I still love
Matthew Told:delivering babies, but I also kind of like doing inpatient
Matthew Told:medicine and clinic too. And so really, that's what it came down
Matthew Told:to. And I realized that I want to be just like my father. I
Matthew Told:want to be a family physician who practices in all specialties
Matthew Told:and does the best that I can to provide the best experience for
Matthew Told:my patients that I can.
Juliana Parisi:It sounds like your father has been a really
Juliana Parisi:great role model for you, especially since he does family
Juliana Parisi:medicine. But then also, you were saying that his kind of
Juliana Parisi:teaching style was something that you aspired to emulate.
Juliana Parisi:That's really great to hear.
Matthew Told:Oh, absolutely. Yeah, he focused a lot on
Matthew Told:education, and he really taught me that imparting wisdom to the
Matthew Told:future is so important. Right? We all don't ever have $20
Matthew Told:billion that we can invest in a hospital to have them build a
Matthew Told:wing in our honor, but we can impart small and simple things
Matthew Told:to medical students or residents every single day that change
Matthew Told:their life going forward. Yeah, no question. My father has been
Matthew Told:a huge example and a huge light in my life and a great example
Matthew Told:going forward. Would I be? Probably — probably not quite as
Matthew Told:much as I am now. I think his example was truly a type set
Matthew Told:forth that I could follow to really bring that forth. It
Matthew Told:does take somebody special to help you realize that there is
Matthew Told:something more to life than just making money and leaving your
Matthew Told:career. There's something very special about teachers, whether
Matthew Told:that be in general education or in medical school or a
Matthew Told:preceptor. There's something to be said about people who just
Matthew Told:take the time out of their busy schedule to impart little facts,
Matthew Told:little pearls of wisdom, to teach future generations how to
Matthew Told:practice or how to do things in the future. I think you can
Matthew Told:really feel your being and calling in the world by
Matthew Told:imparting knowledge to future generations.
Juliana Parisi:And then you were saying earlier that you
Juliana Parisi:know sometimes people have misconceptions of family
Juliana Parisi:medicine or have challenges kind of understanding what family
Juliana Parisi:medicine is. I was wondering if there are any mistakes or
Juliana Parisi:challenges that you've had to overcome, other than that
Juliana Parisi:misconception, that have made you a better preceptor.
Matthew Told:Yeah, I think some of the mistakes that I've made
Matthew Told:throughout my life are just thinking that the board of
Matthew Told:medicine was there to represent me. I think that was the biggest
Matthew Told:thing, and the biggest epiphany that I've ever had in my life
Matthew Told:was that the board of medicine is not there to protect
Matthew Told:physicians. It's there to protect patients from
Matthew Told:physicians, and so they're there to enforce the rule of law. And
Matthew Told:so you come up against that in several capacities. It doesn't
Matthew Told:always have to be in legality terms, but you always have to be
Matthew Told:mindful of who you are and what you're trying to bring forth as
Matthew Told:an osteopathic physician. And so I think that's the most
Matthew Told:important thing, especially when it comes to social media
Matthew Told:nowadays. I think we tend to overshare on social media, and
Matthew Told:as physicians, the greatest thing that you can hold for your
Matthew Told:patients is their privacy, their autonomy to be who they are,
Matthew Told:because they do share things that are absolutely special and
Matthew Told:absolutely unique to them, and very, very private. That's
Matthew Told:something they want to come in and share with you, and you have
Matthew Told:to have the trust there. So people who are oversharing or
Matthew Told:very flamboyant or very social media driven, sometimes that can
Matthew Told:get them into trouble, and that's what I'm referring to
Matthew Told:with the boards and stuff. We have to make sure that we keep
Matthew Told:their privacy and keep respectful what we've been
Matthew Told:entrusted with going forward. So I think that's the
Matthew Told:biggest thing I've seen with others. I think that's the
Matthew Told:biggest thing that we need to put forth in this generation.
Matthew Told:Sometimes growing up, we tend to be on social media, we tend to
Matthew Told:overshare, and we have to keep that to ourselves as physicians
Matthew Told:and make sure that we keep absolute privacy of the things
Matthew Told:we've been entrusted with, because patients do entrust us
Matthew Told:with a lot.
Juliana Parisi:And then circling back to the Master
Juliana Parisi:Preceptor Award, I was wondering: have any
Juliana Parisi:recommendations for people who are seeking to receive the
Juliana Parisi:Master Preceptor Award?
Matthew Told:Yeah, I think for people that are seeking to do it
Matthew Told:— I think sometimes we tend to diminish what we do and diminish
Matthew Told:our worth in general. And so I think that if you are doing any
Matthew Told:kind of teaching, any kind of mentoring for residents or
Matthew Told:medical students, you should take a look at this and really
Matthew Told:look at the qualifications, because you will meet them. Any
Matthew Told:type of capacity that you can put forth a good face to show
Matthew Told:that yes, I am helping people meet the standards to teach and
Matthew Told:to have a better future — I think that's something they
Matthew Told:should look for. I know there are many teachers out there who
Matthew Told:probably are so busy that they don't take the time to have the
Matthew Told:application filled out and to get somebody to write a letter
Matthew Told:of recommendation. But I would encourage them to do so, because
Matthew Told:it is something that we do need to recognize. I think that was
Matthew Told:the greatest thing I realized when I was sitting in Florida to
Matthew Told:accept this award: how many times as a medical student was I
Matthew Told:so focused on my path that I failed to recognize those who
Matthew Told:had put forth the knowledge and the time to get me where I am.
Matthew Told:And so I use the caveat, and I'm sure it's been used before, that
Matthew Told:we stand on the backs of giants to get where we are. Sometimes
Matthew Told:we need to recognize the giants we stand on as we go forth into
Matthew Told:our own future. So I'd encourage medical students and
Matthew Told:residents to look back occasionally to the people who
Matthew Told:helped them get where they are. Encourage those people to seek
Matthew Told:recognition, or give them an opportunity to be recognized,
Matthew Told:because it is super important. Some people go, they teach, and
Matthew Told:they aren't recognized. Recognition isn't everything,
Matthew Told:but it sure is nice to be recognized on occasion for the
Matthew Told:good works that you put forth.
Juliana Parisi:Yeah, that's really wonderful sentiment.
Juliana Parisi:Thank you. And then, as someone who seeks to further others'
Juliana Parisi:education and be perhaps a giant that other people can lean on
Juliana Parisi:and stand on, what kind of legacy do you hope to leave
Juliana Parisi:through your students?
Matthew Told:The legacy that I hope to leave is something
Matthew Told:somewhat like my father's. Right, I want to be recognized
Matthew Told:for doing good for other people. I want to be recognized for
Matthew Told:taking the time to teach other people pearls of wisdom that
Matthew Told:they can put forth in their life to help others. I think the
Matthew Told:other thing I want to stand for is this: I want to encourage
Matthew Told:them to reach the best potential they can and to continue to pass
Matthew Told:it forward. I think, as an osteopathic physician,
Matthew Told:particularly in our organization, we need to make
Matthew Told:sure that we are teaching future generations so our legacy can be
Matthew Told:preserved going forward. I think that's the main thing I want to
Matthew Told:stand for — just preserving the legacy of this wonderful
Matthew Told:profession that we've been entrusted with.
Juliana Parisi:Yeah, thank you so much. And then my last
question is:How do you forage your relationship with students,
question is:and what does that look like?
Matthew Told:I would identify myself as more of a practical
Matthew Told:knowledge person. Certainly, I try to read and keep up on the
Matthew Told:things that are current today. Would you say I'm a scholar?
Matthew Told:Probably not. I'm definitely a little more practical sense,
Matthew Told:common knowledge kind of thing, and just doing common sense
Matthew Told:medicine going forward to help other people. I think that's
Matthew Told:basically where I'm at. So I really like people to focus on
Matthew Told:the things that — I mean, you can have a diagnosis, you can
Matthew Told:put forth all of these ways to diagnose, but you have to
Matthew Told:sometimes step back and say, does that totally make sense in
Matthew Told:the grand scheme of things? And sometimes I think we fail to
Matthew Told:step back and look at the whole big picture and say, is this the
Matthew Told:right thing to do going forward? I know it's the proper thing, or
Matthew Told:what the education facilities would have us do, but is it the
Matthew Told:right thing for the patient? I've found that
Matthew Told:particularly as I've dealt with some of my older patients, as
Matthew Told:they look to do everything possible to perform
Matthew Told:life-sustaining measures. But sometimes we have to step back
Matthew Told:and ask the family: Is this really what your father wanted?
Matthew Told:Is this really what your mother wanted? Are we going to go
Matthew Told:through this effort to do this? And you kind of have to step
Matthew Told:back, and sometimes when they do, they realize that we could
Matthew Told:really cause a lot more pain and suffering going forward if we
Matthew Told:continue down this path — if we would just step back and say
Matthew Told:maybe this is not truly what the patient wanted going forward.
Matthew Told:And so I think those are important questions to ask,
Matthew Told:because we can always get off on just doing all that we can for
Matthew Told:people, and sometimes we have to ask: Is that something they
Matthew Told:really want to do, or is this something we really should do?
Juliana Parisi:Thank you so much for joining us today, Dr.
Juliana Parisi:Told. We truly appreciate your time, insights, and valuable
Juliana Parisi:contributions to this discussion. To our listeners,
Juliana Parisi:thank you for tuning in. We hope you found today's episode. Of
Juliana Parisi:DO.FM precept ignition, both engaging and informative.fm. is
Juliana Parisi:a production of the American College of Osteopathic Family
Juliana Parisi:Physicians. To learn more about ACOFP, please visit
Juliana Parisi:www.acofp.org.
