Millennials, older generations can't let differences get in way of patient care

At the AHRA 2016 Annual Meeting and Exhibition in Nashville, Tenn., I attended a presentation designed to help leaders in radiology engage employees from different generations. The session, presented by Linda Womack, CRA, MHA, executive director of medical imaging at John Muir Health, was informative, and one thing that stood out was how many people had questions about “how to handle” Millennials. Attendees complained that younger employees aren’t professional enough, for instance, and spend too much time on their phones. Womack was sympathetic with these questions, saying she had encountered such issues herself.

On a similar note, the Journal of the American College of Radiology recently published an original article about how to manage and work together with Millennials. Ana P. Lourenco, MD, and John J. Cronan, MD, both of the Alpert Medical School of Brown University, did a terrific job summarizing some of the issues educators and coworkers have with Millennials. Many of their points reminded me of Womack’s presentation, especially the notes about how Millennials are always multi-tasking and require constant feedback from their supervisors.

This much is crystal clear: a cultural divide exists between Millennials and their coworkers from older generations. Different generations have always had their disagreements, but this current clash is just a little more explosive than those of the past, and it spells trouble for both patient care and workplace chemistry.

So what can be done? Womack’s session and the analysis from Lourenco and Cronan presented advice for Baby Boomers and Generation Xers on how to interact with Millennials. Womack, for instance, said managers must learn how to let certain things go, while Lourenco and Cronan emphasized the importance of providing Millennials with the feedback and mentoring they crave.

But compromise is a two-way street, and Millennials must do a little adapting themselves. Millennials should go out of their way to show they have the utmost respect for those who came before them.

As a borderline Millennial myself, my message to imaging leaders from previous generations is simple: please be patient with your younger coworkers and give them the opportunity to shine. They mean well and want to provide the best care possible, just like you do.

And my message to Millennials in the imaging industry in even simpler: be respectful, be patient, and pay attention. People will be meeting you and immediately forming an opinion based on your age—you can either prove them right or prove them wrong.