FEATURE
Millennial IR
A look at how the incoming generation of IRs will impact the field
By Melanie Padgett Powers C
ollaborative. Entitled. Optimistic. Lazy. Technology experts. Smartphone- obsessed. These positive and
negative generalizations are frequently used to describe the millennial generation, but such words oversimplify its traits.
Millennials are a huge, diverse group in the United States: made up of 83.1 million people, this generation overtook the baby boomers in size in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Millennials were born roughly between 1981 and 2000, ranging in age from 16 to 35. In health care, they are the medical students, residents, fellows and early career physicians. How will their upbringing and experiences affect health care and IR?
“Every young generation has been told they’re entitled because, when you’re young, you’re eager, you’re excited, you have so much positive energy, you believe you can do so much and you’re told that you can do so much,” says millennial Hannah Ubl, a generational expert at BridgeWorks consulting firm. “When you come out of college that’s the message that you’re told, right? You’re going to change the world. And so sometimes that can come off as being entitled.”
Unlike previous generations, millennials grew up with a focus on teamwork and group projects. Combine this with their ease of technology, and it’s easy to understand
28 IR QUARTERLY | SPRING 2016
why they’re always connected to each other and default to a collaborative approach. In addition, they are more comfortable questioning superiors.
Raj Pyne, MD, a private practice IR at Rochester General Hospital and medical director of The Vein Institute in Rochester, N.Y., can easily pinpoint the differences between his residents and his partners. At age 37, he belongs to Generation X, which tends to be more independent and follow a strict workplace hierarchy.
“Nothing was questioned when I was training. You read the textbooks, and your attendings’ words were gospel,” Dr. Pyne says. “Now, they learn differently so it’s much more of an interactive and collaborative environment even in terms of teaching because, for better or worse, they question everything. It’s a lot of problem-solving and thinking outside the box.”
Dr. Pyne says his residents already review cases and message each other in groups before they even get to the hospital, having Googled on their smartphones the latest papers and trials regarding the upcoming cases.
“There is, I suppose, an elevated sense of teamwork,” says Kyle Wilson, PhD, age 29, a third-year medical student at the University of Maryland and chair of the SIR Medical Student Council. “I think that’s a good thing—to have a
surgeon collaborating with a radiologist collaborating with an internal medicine physician. What we’re starting to see is that the health care system is starting to value outcomes in a way that it hasn’t previously … and we’re finding out we do that much better as a team.”
Work–life balance A common debate between millennials and older generations concerns work– life balance. “I think sometimes what comes across as [lazy is the desire] to have a flexible work schedule and work anywhere at any time,” Ubl says.
But baby boomers tend to have the mentality that you work long hours, pay your dues, and eventually you’ll reach the top of the hierarchy. Generation Xers often support balance, but they go about it differently, Ubl says. They tend to think, “I’m going to get to work at the time that I’m asked to be there. I will do twice as much work in half the time, and it will be so great and so wonderful that I can then leave and be with my family and my kids,” she says.
However, millennials eschew the traditional hierarchy and work environment, yet embrace merging their professional and private lives. “We really want integration, so it’s like every single part of our lives is integrated,” Ubl says. “We’re always on, and that schedule’s flexible.”
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