‘Cross-mentorship’: How generations from Gen Z to Boomers are taking different approaches to medical education

With Gen Z students dominating the current cohort of medical residents and students, the changing attitudes among the new generation of trainees is forcing supervisors to rethink their approaches.At a session at the International Conference on Residency Education in Ottawa, medical student Nichole Sanchez Diaz and Drs. Sanja Kostov, Erin Bearss and Milena Forte facilitated a discussion on the generational divides in medical education. Participants discussed and debated the generational challenges with the current peer medical trainees, such as the greater tendency among Gen Z residents to prioritize their personal wellness and mental health.“We know the perception of wellness very much varies between generations and it's very much influenced by societal influences on the time,” said Edmonton-based family physician Dr. Sanja Kostov, one of the session panelists. “Gen Z has a tendency to prioritize wellness and to discuss it. Of course, this comes to clash with Gen X and boomers, who really grew up in a context where wellness was not discussed.”Read: Bridging generational divides in medical education: Gen Z med students’ POVOne member of the audience—a Gen X family physician from Ottawa who called herself a “borderline boomer”—pointed out that because of this greater tendency among younger physicians to seek out accommodations for wellness reasons, she and her older colleagues are often the ones to pick up the slack.“As the person who is responsible for making sure there's supervision and scheduling, I am noticing a terrible burnout in older generations, because we are having to step up more and more,” she said. “Rightfully, there are accommodations and stuff like that, but we have not figured out yet how to change the work schedule. We have many people who have reduced hours and many people who can't do weekends and overnights and we end up having to do the shifts.The participants also discussed how there is a “strong sense of social accountability” among Gen Z medical trainees.“There's a strong sense of social accountability and they expect a learning environment where equity, diversity and inclusion is not just conversation, but is interwoven into the everyday,” Dr. Kostov said.The panelists shared a case study in which a fourth-year medical student sees a patient for a first prenatal visit. However, the student their supervisor they did not address obesity-related risk factors in pregnancy as they wanted to “avoid perpetuating fatphobia culture in medicine,” despite the patient’s BMI being at 41.Participants agreed that in this case, the medical student would actually be doing a disservice to their patient by not mentioning the high BMI. However, Dr. Forte discussed how she still appreciates how the differing perspectives of the younger generation opens the door to more cross-mentorship, where different generations can learn from each other.“I do appreciate that my Gen Z learners are bringing these issues up because it kind of keeps me on my toes,” Dr. Forte said. “You’re actually valuing the information coming from all the generations, but also recognizing the clinical experience that comes hopefully from reflective practice over several years and decades.”

‘Cross-mentorship’: How generations from Gen Z to Boomers are taking different approaches to medical education

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