Opinion: Medicine thinks Gen Z is too soft. It’s wrong
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- Association of American Medical Colleges projects a U.S. physician shortfall of up to 86,000 by 2036, before factoring in early retirements or reduced clinical hours.
- Stanford Medicine's 2025 national study found nearly half of U.S. physicians report at least one symptom of burnout, and burned-out family physicians are far more likely to cut hours or leave practice.
- Large multisite studies cited in the piece show ambient AI documentation tools reduce documentation time and burnout by returning cognitive space to clinicians rather than adding surveillance.
- Roughly 1 in 4 Medicare patients used telemedicine in 2024 to bypass long waits — a tool Gen Z clinicians treat as legitimate care rather than contest as 'real' medicine.
- U.S. physicians now spend more time in electronic health records than with patients, a documentation burden closely tied to burnout that Gen Z clinicians are explicitly less willing to absorb.
Why it matters: A projected 86,000-physician shortfall by 2036 collides with burnout affecting nearly half of U.S. doctors, and Gen Z's refusal to absorb dysfunctional workflows forces leadership to confront system redesign rather than just recruit around the problem. Family physicians exiting or cutting hours directly erodes patient access.
