Millennials in medicine
The millennials have arrived, and they are shaking up the workplace-including the practice of medicine.
The millennials have arrived, and they are shaking up the workplace-including the practice of medicine.
The generation that came of age with personal computers, and more recently with smartphones, tablets, and social media now is starting to care for patients, educate medical students, and-although less frequently than their predecessors-start their own practices. Along the way they are infusing medicine with their attitudes, aspirations, and experiences.
Just how large is the millennial cohort? According to U.S. Census Bureau data analyzed by the Pew Research Center, Americans born since the early 1980s-those in their mid- to late-30s and younger-number more than 75 million. That makes millennials the largest living generation, surpassing the 74.9-million baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964.)
Pew also finds that millennials now constitute about one-third of the American workforce. At 53.5 million, their numbers exceed both the generation that immediately precedes them-so-called Generation X-and the baby boomers.
Looking specifically at medicine, about 155,000 physicians, or 15% of the total, are under age 35, according to American Medical Association data, while about 25% of the American Academy of Family Physician’s active membership is age 39 or younger. One-fourth of the American Osteopathic Association’s membership is 35 or younger.
Apart from sheer numbers-and bearing in mind that a population of this size can only be discussed in broad generalities, to which there will be many exceptions-what distinguishes millennials from preceding generations? One of the most significant, observers say, is a familiarity with computers and other forms of technology, derived from having grown up with them.
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