RCSI Results Day
NEW MEDIC MINDSET
How will millennials shape healthcare in the future and what kind of leaders will they turn out to be? We asked alumni for their views ...
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oday, there’s a multi-generational workforce in most healthcare settings, comprised of three generations: the Baby Boomers (1946-1964), the Gen Xers (1965-1980), and the millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996. Creating a workplace culture that demonstrates respect and inclusion for all is an urgent aspiration for healthcare institutions, especially in light of possible change. Millennials, by far the biggest cohort, will have the most influence to bear on how healthcare is shaped in the future. Millennial is a word that tends to draw opinions and assumptions, some of criticism and others of praise. Among typical strengths ascribed to this group are tech-savviness, the confidence to speak up and the ability to multi-task. Weaknesses are cited to be a work-to-live rather than a live-to-work approach and a need for regular and meaningful feedback. Millennials are also impatient with what they regard as plodding progress, the slow pace of innovation and the lack of responsiveness. These are all characteristics that will be shared by millennial patients. Patients are used to quickly accessing products and services from the convenience of their smartphone and tablet. According to research comissioned by PNC Healthcare, they will reject the current traditional model of accessing healthcare. These patients will not have cultivated relationships with their family doctors as the baby boomers did. It seems that for both millennial healthcare providers and the patients they will treat, the system as it is appears archaic. But that on-demand approach to medicine taken by millennial patients comes with its own challenges. Trends, confirmed in a study by TransAmerica Centre for Health Studies, show millennials prefer to
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treat their medical problems by waiting for them to arrive and being seen urgently, in emergency rooms. The choice not to have a primary care physician leaves patients without a long-time care relationship or a medical “home”. A recent graduate of PU-RCSI in Malaysia, Theeviya Manivannan believes Emma Meagher that both as healthcare providers and consumers, millennials are a force to be reckoned with. “For what it’s worth, I think “WE NEED TO millennials are already moving mountains QUESTION in medicine today.” She credits the influence WHETHER WE ARE of millennials on the gathering speed of adoption of new technologies. “They are IDENTIFYING THE more reliant on apps and options that can RIGHT PEOPLE ease their access to medicine. Healthcare is FOR THE JOB ...” now seen to be an on-demand service, from arranging appointments online to retrieving medical records electronically. These are no longer a novelty. Telehealth or telemedicine services, too, have increasingly gained popularity. Sharing opinions and expertise amongst colleagues are the norm today, thanks to the advent of instant text venues, so saving time and cost.” On an organisational level, most healthcare systems are just not ready for the arrival of the millennial practitioners. “The expectations are different,”
