OK Boomer, Meet Gen Z: The Future of PT Culture

WEBVTT

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You're listening to the P.T.

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Pinecast,

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where smart people in healthcare come to

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make noise.

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Here's your host, Jimmy McKay.

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Thanks, voice guy.

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Live from CSM twenty twenty six.

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Devin Morris stopping by the booth here at

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U.S.

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Physical Therapy.

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Devin, first of all,

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what were we reading on the plane?

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I saw because this is how the world

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works.

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We can see what other people are doing

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at any time.

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And you're reading a book.

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And I, of course,

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like what book is that?

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So what book was it?

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And what'd you learn on the flight?

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Yeah,

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so I was reading The Anxious Generation

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and it was a little bit of prep

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work for the discussion,

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the panel discussion we had this morning

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with my team.

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So The Anxious Generation talks about how

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Gen Z,

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which I'm a proud part of as a

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ninety sevener,

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how we grew up in a phone based

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world instead of a play based world.

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You didn't know.

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Yeah.

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Like, I can't I can't understand that.

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I can't because I graduated high school in

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nineteen ninety seven.

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So that made me feel great.

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A couple of seconds ago.

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So so what's a lesson or two you

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learned from the book about what that was

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like?

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And nobody who didn't live it can't can't

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understand it.

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So would you learn there?

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What was the talk about?

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The biggest thing I learned from the book

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when I started reading it was that

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We, as a generation,

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have a different lens than any other

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generation before that's unique.

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We essentially grew up on Mars,

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and then that was further enhanced by the

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COVID-Pandemic.

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Yeah, that didn't help.

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So what I took from that,

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going into our conversation this morning,

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so the title was OK Boomer,

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Meet Gen Z, Bridging the Gap.

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Here we are.

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Bridging the Gap in Healthcare Workplaces.

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So the talk was really powerful because we

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had a multi-generationally diverse panel

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from Gen X, Millennial,

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and then a couple of Gen Zers.

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And we were talking about things that

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really make each generation's heart sing

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because we're talking about

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life stages.

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So we're challenging the stereotypes that

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come with just talking about generations

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in themselves,

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because every generation says the same

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thing about the generation younger.

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These kids today, yeah,

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they don't want to work.

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We don't want to work.

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When in reality,

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it's just what life stage is this person

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at and what needs do they have?

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It's like two different Rubik's cubes,

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right?

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So it's not just where are you in

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life?

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It's also what's the world look like

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where you are in life and what did

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you grow up thinking seeing and

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understanding life when you grow up and

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now how do you see this stage of

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life and what the world is like right

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now those things are never the same i

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forget what philosopher said it but you

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never you never walk through the same

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stream twice it's because the stream is

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changing but so are you but the world

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like we're never going to go back to

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how it was.

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And that's all people wanted to talk about

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during COVID.

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But once we get back to normal,

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and I remember just listening to smart

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people being like, it's never, there's no,

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it's just going to be a new normal.

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This is our new normal.

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Right.

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So anything that,

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that surprised you raised an eyebrow

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during the talk and the panel like that

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you walked away with that you were like,

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yeah, that felt good.

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Well,

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there were a lot of fun conversations that

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we had.

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And I think one thing, too,

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that ties into our new normal that I

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thought was something that we don't really

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think about is that now that we have

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so much of our interactions on Zoom and

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we've got the Gen Z stare.

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Which is, I've seen it.

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When I do calls or lessons,

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if I talk to a group of students,

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it is hard for me as a Gen

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Xer who grew up like in your face,

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live, whatever,

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in person to get a blank stare.

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And I've also got a woo personality.

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So when I'm getting nothing, I'm like,

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oh my God, they hate me.

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Meanwhile, they're just absorbed.

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They're doing what you're asking them to

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do.

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They're listening to you.

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Yeah.

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Have you ever caught yourself like on a

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Zoom or whatever,

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what your own face looks like?

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And then you're like, oh gosh,

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that's what I look like.

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Right.

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But that's a good point.

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Literally kids in middle school are

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practicing being on Zoom and taking

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courses that way and taking classes that

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way.

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And we have a built-in pause because one,

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we're waiting for, you know,

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is their Wi-Fi buffering?

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Are they going to say something?

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Would they have to mute and unmute?

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And that's like a whole like three seconds

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that we've then built into human

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interaction that we didn't even realize

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was happening.

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Like that's part of our new normal.

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But if you're not paying attention to that

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and trying to understand it,

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then you would say these kids today,

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they can't do this.

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They only do that.

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The funny part was I won't say where

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I was yesterday because that's not the

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point.

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But I remember, you know,

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ten years ago and laptops and phones were

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everything.

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These kids today,

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they bury their face in a phone.

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I was in a room where I was

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the youngest person by fifteen years.

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We were in a meeting.

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We were flown to Anaheim,

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California from around the country,

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whatever that costs for meeting.

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And we were looking at slides on our

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own computers around a table.

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And I'm like, this is hysterical.

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All these people are fifty years plus and

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we're all doing the thing we say these

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kids today don't do.

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Why do they do it?

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You're doing it.

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Yeah, yeah.

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So I would say, you know,

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circling back to the, you know,

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big picture discussions that we have this

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morning,

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it's make sure you're getting to know the

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individual that you're working with.

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Because even if they're a part of a

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certain generation with the stereotypes

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that you know,

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That doesn't mean that that's where their

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priorities lie.

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And I gave a personal example of why

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I decided to make a recent job shift.

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And it was because at my prior place,

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I was working with a lot of senior

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therapists.

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a lot of seasoned therapists.

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And so I wasn't able to relate to

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a level with my colleagues like I wanted

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to.

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It was really workplace culture oriented,

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even though I made a lot of good

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money there.

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But I made the shift because now I

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might not make as much money,

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but I get to laugh every day with

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my colleagues.

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And I feel I have a lot of

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fun.

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I get to go hang out with my

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friends all day and help people feel

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better.

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And that's the dream.

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That's all I wanted to do.

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I feel like if a clinic owner or

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a clinician

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understands this better,

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they'll be happier.

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You're an example of that.

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Um, I feel like an owner would be,

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would have a better culture in their

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clinic.

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And that usually relates to something

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better, keeping people longer,

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which hits your bottom line or patients

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just like the vibe,

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which leads to more people having good

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interactions there.

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So I feel like understanding this,

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someone might look at it and just say

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it's nuance or like, it's nice to have,

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but it sounds like it's need to understand

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and not, not, not just nice to understand.

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Yeah.

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I think a lot of employers,

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and this was feedback,

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a lot of employers think that money is

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everything that every generation wants.

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Just throw more money at it.

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Solve it.

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And mind you,

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there's a whole issue in that in itself

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with the DPT being incredibly expensive

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and new grad clinicians coming out making

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significantly less than what their degree

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is worth.

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And so there's that imbalance where you do

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have the new generation entering the

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workforce expecting higher pay and then

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reaching burnout to a point where they're

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overworked, underpaid and leaving.

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And the biggest issue we have is that

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we have therapists leaving the profession.

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We have really good clinicians who are

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going to make more money in leadership

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roles,

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doing managerial stuff and non-clinical

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roles.

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And now we're losing great therapists and

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our profession and our patients are

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suffering because of it.

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Yeah.

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And so how do we then create workplaces

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that really incentivize and just feel like

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home for clinicians to want to stay so

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that we can continue to grow as a

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profession?

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I'm going to guess those aren't built by

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accident.

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Yeah, it's intentional, right?

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It's intentional and paying attention to

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the people and what they value.

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Sounds really simple because it is.

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It's just not necessarily easy.

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Right.

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So there's a lot of systemic stuff that

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we have to that we have to sort

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through.

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You know,

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we can't necessarily make the changes that

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we want overnight.

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Uh, well,

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we definitely can't make the change we

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want overnight, but, um,

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as long as we're talking about it and

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the next generation, so my generation, uh,

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starts to create the change that we need

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instead of just talking about the issues,

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then I think we'll be moving in the

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right direction.

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Yeah.

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All right.

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Uh, every episode we do,

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we have a tradition called the parting.

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This is the parting shot.

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One last mic drop moment.

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No pressure.

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Just your legacy on the line.

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Pressure,

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just your entire legacy on the line here

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from CSM.

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We're hanging out with US Physical

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Therapy.

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You can see them,

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their logo right here on the screen.

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And we're at their booth.

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Find them online at USPH.com if you are

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a clinician looking for a great

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environment.

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USPH has clinics all across the country.

00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:43.539
All right, what's your parting shot,

00:08:43.580 --> 00:08:43.740
Devin?

00:08:43.760 --> 00:08:45.160
What are you gonna leave us with today?

00:08:45.841 --> 00:08:47.701
My parting shot.

00:08:50.043 --> 00:08:51.763
Get to know the person that's in front

00:08:51.802 --> 00:08:53.524
of you for who they are.

00:08:55.364 --> 00:08:56.565
Check your own biases.

00:08:58.245 --> 00:09:00.570
and try to make the world a little

00:09:00.590 --> 00:09:03.235
bit better than it was yesterday.

00:09:03.254 --> 00:09:03.394
Yeah,

00:09:03.434 --> 00:09:04.476
leave it a little better than you found

00:09:04.517 --> 00:09:04.596
it.

00:09:05.298 --> 00:09:05.899
Devin Morris,

00:09:06.198 --> 00:09:07.380
doing this thing the first time we're ever

00:09:07.421 --> 00:09:08.082
live at CSM.

00:09:08.102 --> 00:09:08.623
Thanks, Devin.

00:09:08.764 --> 00:09:09.384
Thanks for having me.