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BLOG: The kids are alright
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There probably has never been a generation that, in middle age, didn’t look with some judgment on the group following in its footsteps. So it’s not surprising that millennials have been cast as less than worthy heirs of the current professional world. To be sure, if you superimpose the values of one generation on the next, the areas in which they differ will be so much more obvious than the similarities.
As the cover story in this issue of OSN explores, the rising generation of ophthalmologists, on the whole, focuses more on a balanced life than we did. In fact, they insist on it. But I for one have a difficult time finding fault with anyone, physician or otherwise, who prioritizes family and leisure time.
On the positive side, millennial physicians have so many assets we never will. Brought up in an age of instantly available information, they are incredibly quick learners. Rather than being raised to cram useless facts into their brains, they have instead learned efficiently how to find what information they need, when they need it. Millennials are far more collaborative learners and workers than any previous generation. Valuing diversity, inclusiveness and humility, they readily realize the limits of their knowledge and welcome constructive feedback from elders. Their empathy with patients is as genuine as any prior generation, and despite knowing the declining financial rewards of practicing medicine, they overcame significantly greater competitive barriers to entering the specialty of ophthalmology than we ever did.
If those don’t sound like the attributes of a great generation of physicians, then I don’t know what will.
At my own practice at Harvard Eye Associates in Orange County, California, we have hired a new millennial physician in each of the past 3 years. The first of these, Sev Teymoorian, who also blogs at Healio.com/OSN, has wowed us with his knowledge, his work ethic and his leadership. All three are just about the finest physicians I’ve met, both technically and personally, and I will be most proud one day to pass the torch to them.
If hiring future physicians means structuring our practice to more carefully protect personal time, that’s a small sacrifice to make to foster the next generation of physicians who will most likely meet and exceed our own capabilities. Pete Townshend was spot on: The kids are alright.
Disclosure: No products or companies that require financial disclosure are mentioned in this article.