BLOG: We can learn from and teach our cross-generation colleagues
Across medicine, the shortage of physicians and its effect on our workplace are materializing before us.
More than ever, there is more work to be done in less time, and profit margins for hospitals and practices are shrinking. It’s more important than ever for us doctors to live our “best lives,” but how do we do that?
I believe we physicians of Gen X (age 44 to 59 years) and baby boomers (age 60 to 78 years) would be wise to look with admiration upon our younger associates and partners who are millennials (age 28 to 43 years) and Gen Z (age 12 to 27 years) for the lessons they can teach us about how to live and work. Here are just a few items I believe they do better than we:
1. Prioritize work-life balance. The saddest way to exit our profession is to suddenly retire because of an urgent health issue, having never taken time to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Take that time now. There’s no point in being the richest guy in the graveyard.
2. Accept people for who they are. Most of us Gen Xers and boomers grew up when bullying was commonplace in school. Maybe we should take some credit that we collectively taught acceptance to our millennial and Gen Z kids, and we should certainly follow their example not to judge others on their appearance, beliefs or lifestyle. Having grown up in a less kind world, we should now learn what “microaggressions” are and work hard not to commit them.
3. Realize there is negativity in the world, but view it through a positive lens. Learning positivity and gratitude is good for our health and lifts up the people around us. We all deserve that.
Doctors who are millennials and from Gen Z also have some important lessons they’d be wise to learn from us geezers.
1. Enjoy your work. You may not be in charge yet, but don’t think of work as a necessary evil. It’s a massive opportunity to make the world and your own life a better place. Ask not what you have to do but how you can do more.
2. Remember “be, do, have” rather than “have, do, be.” As I’ve explained before, becoming successful doesn’t come from negotiating a high starting salary. It’s a product of acting like the world’s best doctor with each patient you see. Approaching staff and colleagues as a servant leader will enrich your spirit and, ultimately, your finances.
3. Own your home. Homeownership is more difficult than ever, and that is unfair, but it’s been proven over and over that the only way to build lasting wealth is to own what you live in. Sacrifice in other areas, if necessary. If you ever want to retire, don’t be a renter for life.
Whatever generation we come from, we owe it to ourselves and our profession to occasionally view the world through the lens of those whose age differs significantly from ours. For the young, that brings us wisdom. For the wise, that makes us young again.
Follow @DrHovanesian on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Collapse