A few days ago, The Wall Street Journal published an article quoting a 63-year-old surgeon who noted that the younger generation tends to view medicine as a job rather than a vocation. This perspective, he argued, highlights a shift in values as society changes over time. Today, we explore this theme, examining how these evolving viewpoints reflect broader trends in professional identity and social expectations. We invite you to join the conversation and share your thoughts. Thank you for following us!
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There’s a growing debate in the medical community today that gets to the core of what it truly means to be a doctor: Is medicine a job, or is it a calling? This fundamental question is dividing physicians across generations and reshaping long-held perspectives on the nature of the profession.
Veterans Doctors
For many veteran doctors, medicine is more than just a career—it’s a calling that demands an unwavering commitment. These doctors entered the field with a profound sense of duty, prepared to make personal sacrifices for the sake of their patients. They recall grueling schedules, endless on-call hours, and even missed family milestones, all in the name of patient care. In their view, medicine is a vocation that demands total dedication, often at the expense of personal time and family life. To them, the sacrifices are intrinsic to the profession, and they wear the job`s demands as a badge of honor.
New Generations
But a new generation of doctors is challenging this “all-in” mentality. Younger doctors, fresh out of training, are increasingly vocal about their desire for a balanced lifestyle. While they, too, feel a commitment to patient care, they see their role as something that can—and should—respect their need for personal well-being. For these young professionals, medicine is both a meaningful career and a job that allows room for family, mental health, and self-care. They believe that a fulfilling life outside of work enhances their ability to be compassionate, effective caregivers, and they’re not afraid to push for structural changes that make this vision a reality.
This generational divide highlights a larger cultural shift in professional expectations. For decades, the practice of medicine has been built around an ethos of “total commitment.” Older doctors recall a life where medicine always came first, and where an “always-on” mentality was not only expected but celebrated. They were taught to embrace the field wholeheartedly, with little regard for rest or social life because that was the price of providing uninterrupted patient care.
In contrast, younger doctors are coming of age in a time where the importance of mental health and self-care is widely recognized, even in demanding professions like medicine. They’ve seen firsthand the toll that long hours and burnout can take on health and family life, and they’re advocating for a system that better protects against these outcomes.
Many, want more flexibility in scheduling, limits on overnight shifts, and the ability to set boundaries around work hours. In their view, maintaining a balanced life is not only beneficial for them but also enables them to stay committed to their patients over the long haul.
Different Views
The differing views between older and younger doctors reflect the changing nature of healthcare itself. With rising patient loads, staffing shortages, and burnout rates climbing steadily, it’s clear that a constant “always-on” approach may not be sustainable. For healthcare to thrive in the future, some believe it will need both perspectives—honoring the commitment and resilience that have historically defined the profession while recognizing the importance of doctors’ health and personal time. After all, healthier doctors will likely provide better, more compassionate care to their patients.
This debate between work-life balance and traditional views of doctoring isn’t just about individual doctors’ preferences; it’s about the future of healthcare. Can the profession evolve to support doctors’ well-being without sacrificing the commitment patients expect? Or will it continue to demand that practitioners put patients above all else, even at the expense of their own health and personal lives?
Ultimately, the profession may need to adapt to remain sustainable and attract top talent. As younger doctors continue to gain influence, they’re bringing a new vision of what it means to be a doctor—one that values both dedication to patient care and sustainable practice. This shift could redefine medicine in today’s world, suggesting that perhaps being a doctor can indeed be both: a deeply meaningful calling and a job that respects the lives and well-being of those who answer it.
First of all, I am not a doctor but I was a medic in the U S Air Force from 1961 to 1965 and have had personal experiences enough to know the demands on medical staff.
I helped with recovery efforts after a jet crash in the Philippines and worked in an intensive care unit where I met my future wife and had the great fortune to have worked along side a pioneer in vascular surgery at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery AL in 1964. My wife was a registered nurse and we have a son who is a doctor who served in Iraq in 2003 and currently practices here in Pennsylvania.
I am responding to this article because of my concern for something even more sinister confronting the field of medicine today. That is the encroachment of government into the field of women’s health as regard to abortion complications.
The possibility of law suits and bounties along with jail time is certainly having its effect on choices in medicine and the overall fear of practicing medicine in the first place.
Is there any hope for rectifying this very serious obstacle in the medical field?
I would certainly regard the concern for the health and well being of all doctors and shun the idea of being “all-in” for most employment situations. The problem there will be keeping enough prospects enthused enough to become a doctor in the first place. The current legal and governmental involvement with medicine is a very serious hindrance to achieving those goals and will most certainly affect the interest and commitment required in those fields of service.
The salary doctors make corresponds with patient care above all. Including life balance. Thats why they are entitled to high incomes because they give up time, personal lives and family.
Several important aspects of the medical profession “infrastructure” need to be considered. Very few doctors today work solo or in private practice. Their after hours are well covered by predetermined “call schedules” that provide adequate time off for everyone. That system works well and is flexible for individual scheduling needs. And, with the advent of Nurse Practitioners MDs can easily pass their excess patient loads on to them. Again, there is plenty of means to share the care giving responsibility. Additionally the businesses make it clear what their office working hours are and how to “call 911”. Care is always available.
Other factors that really drive “over working” doctors and Nurse Practitioners is the third party reimbursement system veneered upon an unrealistic sense of professional worth. Both professions deserve to be reimbursed well for their provided care. With that said they nonetheless less both over value and subsequently over price many of the services provided. This is in general. I’m not talking about surgery or absolute emergency interventions.
And the businesses ……
,aka, hospital systems, they are employed by require unrealistic productivity. Some providers are required to provide care to over 30 patients per day. AND document those encounters to meet reimbursement standards to get paid. That type of scheduling is cruel and rugged. It eventually “burns” the medical doctors and practitioners out.
Also being under such pressure to keep up the productivity means less interactive time with the patient. This is very anxiety provoking because they fear missing something in the patient’s condition that is important That creates a dreadful worry for them and that is stressful.
And, last for this little summary, but certainly not least or the only addition that could be presented. Doctors and practitioners have very little control over the quality of the systems. They work in and receive very little respect by the system or the patience these days
Very few people understand the stressors that make healthcare delivery very complex and stressful, so without the sense of control and the sense of respect. It’s very difficult to practice and : “good about it.” For example. A medical order was to be followed now is they are often taken as “a suggestion”.
These are my thoughts. I hope they widen your perspective on what is involved in delivering patient care and causes professional anxiety and fatigue.
PS. I’m from a medical family and am a NP. and have many friends and colleagues in the various fields. Very few really complain, have had means to work around schedules and have raised mentally healthy children. And yes the profession needs to be from those who have the calling. It can never just be a job.
I am a doctor. It is a rewarding profession, but it also kills your soul, with the commitment it takes to become a physician. Even when you sacrifice everything to get to the point where you can practice medicine, and when you pour your heart and soul into taking care of patients, you can still be sued by patients for “malpractice” (which is usually mal-occurrence, and in fact the doctor has done nothing wrung and is being sued by patients and greedy lawyers who have absolutely no understanding of the underlying pathophysiology and medical care involved)…I am proud to be a physician, but also I must say that it has jaded me as much as it has rewarded me. The medical system It is a broken system which will destroy your faith in humanity as well as give you glimpses of its beauty along the way if you choose to be a doctor.
I am a doctor. a noble profession that I am passionate about. It took me years of everyday commitment and sacrifice to be one! This remains with me for my lifetime to keep up with the ever evolving nature of medicine and in order to provide the best possible care to my patients. As far as I am concerned, doctors maintain the ”all-in” mentality throughout their career regardless of the generational change because that forms the bedrock of the success of this profession. I believe all doctors are asking for are better working conditions and healthcare systems that advance best interest of patient care outcomes. These include but not limited to better pay for doctors, reasonable work schedule and compassion towards those who choose to serve.
I have worked in primary care, ER, and hospitality over past 15 years.. Physician employment environment has dramatically changed. Regarding responsibilities to society, these are simply esoteric responses and carry no ethical weight in today’s environment. Both the authority and with it respect for physicians and surgeons has diminished and with it their autonomy. If autonomy is removed then expectations must change accordingly.. Ethical responsibility of physicians is a widely misunderstood entity (e.g primum nom nocere or first do no harm is not in the Hippocratic Oath, and oath that has no relevance to todays society and concurrently is not binding, simply a remnant or comforting reminder of times long past us). This change in employment and compensation (which has been cut by ~20% over past 20 years) then results in direct expectation in employed physicians to provide X amount of work for Y amount of compensation. As a rule, older physician generations are financially sound and comfortable while younger generations have struggled with higher cost of educational debt. This combination has resulted in the a completely different existence of medicine. I get many questions from younger colleagues about this and my advice is…first medicine isn’t changing, it already has changed…second if you do not adapt in the face of this change you are simply refusing to recognize it (first step in any solution is recognizing the problem)…and finally, every person has their own goals and non-medical responsibilities and to tie your personality to your career alone is not only misguided but will inevitably result in disappointment. Physicians need to make the best decisions they can for themselves with what tools they have to do that. Any self sacrifice is morally praiseworthy but not obligatory.