The Podcast by KevinMD Blaming younger doctors for setting boundaries ignores the broken system
Jan 31, 2026
Christie Mulholland, a palliative care physician and physician development coach, challenges blaming younger doctors and reframes boundary-setting as a response to a broken system. She discusses why wellness programs fail without funding or authority. Conversation covers generational shifts in medicine, coaching on calling versus job identities, and the need for institutional accountability when adopting new technologies.
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Boundaries As Rational Response
- Younger doctors' boundary-setting is a rational response to a changing, corporatized system that adds administrative burdens.
- Christie Mulholland urges attention to what these behaviors reveal about structural problems rather than blaming the generation.
Make Space For Diverse Motives
- Listen to physicians' values and create space for diverse definitions of medicine as calling or job.
- Encourage clinicians to clarify their why and allow flexible roles so more doctors stay in medicine.
Untrain The 'Medicine As Identity' Myth
- Untrain the notion that medicine must consume identity and normalize setting boundaries during training.
- Help trainees find communities outside medicine and validate feelings through coaching and dialogue.