Dopamine, distraction and disruption: a perspective on how Generation Z might redefine medical education (Preprint)

Abstract

UNSTRUCTURED This essay explores, from a reflective and interdisciplinary perspective, how the defining characteristics of Gen Z, such as their familiarity with technology, demand for emotional safety, and resistance to traditional hierarchies, might reshape the ways we teach, learn, and practice medicine. Drawing on neuroscience, psychology, sociology, and the medical education literature, the essay highlights both the promises and challenges posed by this generation: from their potential to destigmatize mental health and strengthen human connection, to risks such as declining empathy, attention dysregulation, digital overexposure, a potential erosion of resilience, and difficulty managing uncertainty. It argues that training future physicians must go outside content delivery and embrace the development of self-regulation, critical thinking, and ethical judgment. As a critical essay, it calls for a deliberate and compassionate adaptation of medical education to cultivate the skills required for a profession increasingly practiced in a context of overstimulation and complexity.

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