There is a quiet insurrection underway in the field of medicine. A coalition of doctors who refuse to trade their humanity for productivity metrics, bureaucratic load, or the mirage of flawlessness. We collaborated on *White Coats, Courageous Hearts* with thirteen other doctors to illuminate this transition—voices reclaiming their power in a system that frequently overlooks that physicians possess humanity as well.
**Alae Kawam, DO:**
A significant cultural transformation—and an emerging divide—exists in the medical practice today. Numerous doctors join large healthcare institutions with the hope that their contributions will have significance, their remuneration will be just, and their capacity to provide thorough, human-focused care will be safeguarded. Instead, many encounter exhaustion, ethical dilemmas, and the oppressive burden of red tape.
Corporate medicine has entrenched itself. In this paradigm, patient care is often diminished to what insurers will reimburse and what patients can afford. While scalable health care introduces efficiency and broader access, it often erases what renders medicine profound: the chance to authentically connect with and care for individuals. Within this model, physicians are no longer seen as an organization’s most valuable resource, but as interchangeable workers—expected to generate more while receiving less remuneration.
As a physician, I have personally experienced this anguish. I have assimilated the transactional essence of contemporary medicine. For many of us—particularly millennials—this is not the career we imagined.
We are dubbed the “therapy generation,” and for justified reasons. Establishing boundaries, declining requests, and opposing workplace harassment are practices we champion. Yet for many senior doctors—Gen X and Boomers—these actions are misconstrued as entitlement or a lack of commitment. But we are not apathetic—we are disenchanted. We are also burdened by debt, overcommitted, and increasingly isolated. For our generation, overexertion is no longer a mark of pride. The hustle culture of the past holds minimal attraction. We prioritize our families, our beliefs, our physical health, and our mental wellness. We exert effort, and we anticipate our efforts to be honored in return.
Medicine used to be a lifelong identity, a journey to self-fulfillment. Nowadays, it frequently appears as a contract devoid of personal autonomy. Millennials and Gen Z physicians increasingly favor sustainability over sacrifice. We continue to wish to contribute, but not at the expense of our health and humanity.
If you manage a healthcare organization, recognize this: Valuing your doctors is not merely compassionate—it is strategic. Engaged physicians provide superior care. You needn’t implement superficial wellness initiatives or offer vouchers for leisure activities. What we seek is independence. For some, wellness entails daily fitness; for others, it encompasses religious practices or time spent with family. Allow us to determine what we require to remain whole.
The harm inflicted by the current framework is genuine—and yet accountability remains elusive. If a physician experiences anxiety due to persistent work pressure and needs assistance, shouldn’t that be considered a workplace injury? Shouldn’t workers’ compensation be applicable? These concerns are not outliers. They are indicative of a system that desperately requires reform.
We must cease treating healthcare as a service. It is not a transaction—it is a relationship built on trust, compassion, and care. I became a physician to contribute and guide, not to become a “provider” in a mechanized system. We are doctors, nurses, physician assistants, and technologists. However, in the existing framework, we are deprived of the opportunity to genuinely serve—or to guide.
**Nicole Solomos, DO:**
As physicians, we have an authentic need to bond with patients, and with one another. In the examination room, or in the office, engaging in an empathetic dialogue and listening to one another is the most crucial way to bridge the gap in medicine.
In addition to the overwhelming expectations currently imposed on doctors by external sources, regrettably, there are instances where physicians impose extra pressures by belittling fellow doctors in various ways. Prejudices based on whether one is an MD or a DO, or the prestige associated with one’s medical school in comparison to another’s. Certain surgeons may look down upon non-surgeons. Some higher earners may disregard specialties that do not yield as high an income. There is bias based on how much one physician may work compared to another—being on call, in the OR, in the office, etc. There is also scrutiny based on politics, religion, culture, race, or sexual orientation. Those who challenge established norms in medicine versus those who staunchly maintain that this is “the science,” refusing to entertain alternative discussions.
Is this the dawn of the demise for physicians? Are the higher-ups perched upon their pedestals, ready to strike down anyone that poses a threat to their position in the hierarchy? The staunch “follow the” scientists who attended esteemed institutions and are clinging to their status for dear life? It appears we are at a tipping point in the profession. The traditionalists versus the rebels.