#59 Connecting on a Human Level: teaching and working with Gen Z learners

May 29, 2026 | By Karly Loy

Audio

Video

Transcript available via YouTube

With guests Mrs. Deena Segal and Drs. Elle Newcome and Sanjay Patel

Join us as we journey through how to best improve our teaching and learning environments for Gen Z learners with guests from 3 different workshops at AIMW26 related to the topic. You will walk away with practical tips to enhance teaching, learning, and mentoring with Mrs. Deena Segal and Drs. Elle Newcome and Sanjay A. Patel. 

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Meet our Guests:

Deena Segal has been employed with University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center/Case Western Reserve University in the Department of Medicine for 35+ years. She has been working with Residents and Fellows in the Internal Medicine Residency program for 25 years. Deena has been involved with Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine/APDIM for 25 years and has presented at many workshops for Program Administrators. She served as Chair for GME Resident and Fellowship committee for University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Chair Elect-Chair-Past Chair for the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine. Currently, Deena is overseeing the Residency and Fellowship Administrators within the Department of Medicine.

Elle Maureen Newcome, MD is a former cycling tour guide and current clinical assistant professor with University of Utah’s department of internal medicine. She attended University of Minnesota Medical School followed by residency and a chief year at University of Arizona College of Medicine — Phoenix. Her academic interests include leadership in graduate medical education and the application of evidence-based, trauma-informed care for refugees and asylees. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, arts and crafts, and cross-country skiing. 

Sanjay A Patel, MD is Senior Associate Program Director at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, OH. After college, he was a computer programmer before pivoting to a career in medicine. He spent his first 2 years of medical school in the United Kingdom and graduated from Ross University, followed by residency and chief residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, IL.  His interests include point of care ultrasound, Procedures, Global Health, Technology/AI and Learning Theory for adults.  In his free time he is a #GirlDad to an 11 and 12 year-old, and a husband of 19 years.  He loves to cook (and eat) and travel.

Show Segments

• Intro, disclaimer, guest bio
• Guest one-liner/ Best piece of advice
• Why teaching Gen Z can feel challenging
• The generational model and its limitations
• Psychological safety and learner-centered coaching
• Communication strategies across generations
• Organizational psychology and leadership theory
• The Drama Triangle and Powerful Questions
• The Multigenerational Alignment Map
• The BELIEVE framework from Ted Lasso-inspired leadership
• Similarities across generations
• Practical feedback strategies for clinician educators
• Take home points
• Outro

Teaching and Learning with Gen Z Pearls

1.  Generational labels can be a helpful lens, but the more useful move is curiosity about the individual learner, their goals, and how they process feedback.
2. Curiosity before conclusions: avoid assumptions and ask questions first.
3. Clear expectations, psychological safety, and a bidirectional conversation help learners feel seen, heard, and better able to act on feedback.
4. Psychological safety accelerates learning and growth.
5. Explicitly discussing expectations early improves alignment.
6. Powerful questions beginning with “what” often work better than “why.”
7. Learners thrive when educators combine high expectations with support.

Teaching with Gen Z Show Notes 

Teaching Gen Z Learners Requires Curiosity, Not Assumptions

Our guests remind the audience that a conversation (with observations communicated) is needed with bidirectional feedback when there is a perceived mismatch on review of behaviors. Alignment is also necessary, and there’s not a one-size-fits-all approach to have feedback conversations.

Dr. Newcome notes the power of the generational model (an imperfect heuristic) in medicine; it specifically aligns with the older generation which is focused on hierarchy and apprenticeship. Gen Z focuses on humanity, authenticity, and feedback. The pitfall is that people in both groups stop being curious. Generational thinking is a tool to keep us open and learning. 

Reviewing a case involving Marian, a clinician educator struggling to help Jane, a Gen Z learner, apply feedback effectively, the guests emphasize that rather than framing the issue solely as a “Gen Z problem,” recall that many learner-teacher conflicts stem from mismatched expectations and unclear communication. Older medical training structures often emphasized hierarchy and “paying your dues,” whereas many Gen Z learners expect more collaborative and bidirectional feedback relationships.

Although shared generational experiences may influence perspectives, educators should avoid overgeneralizing generational traits or assuming they define individual learners (Lyons 2015). Instead, our guests remind us that educators should approach learners with curiosity–give space to be their authentic self– and seek to understand their unique backgrounds, motivations, and learning preferences. Sometimes this can come from offering 1:1 interactions and also considering individual moments with peer mentors as an important tool for Gen Z learners. 

Psychological Safety Creates Better Learning Environments

Dr. Patel emphasizes that learners grow best in psychologically safe environments where they feel comfortable asking questions, being vulnerable, and making mistakes (Edmondson 2018). Residents occupy a uniquely vulnerable space—they are simultaneously learners, employees, and physicians—which makes psychological safety particularly important in medical education.

Psychological safety as an environment is described as a setting where:

• Learners can admit uncertainty
• Mistakes become learning opportunities
• Vulnerability is normalized
• Questions are welcomed without fear of judgment

Dr. Patel highlights that some of the most powerful words an attending can say are “I don’t know,” modeling vulnerability and collaborative learning.

Organizational Psychology and Leadership Theory Help Reframe Learner Challenges

Dr. Newcome describes two key frameworks from organizational psychology and leadership theory:

• Organizational psychology emphasizes that learner performance is shaped by environmental factors such as hierarchy, feedback culture, and psychological safety.
• Leadership theory encourages educators to adapt their teaching style to the learner rather than expecting learners to adapt to them.

Instead of asking “Why isn’t this learner improving?” educators can instead ask:

• What aspects of the environment are hindering learning?
• How can leadership approaches be adapted?
• What supports might improve learner success?

This reframing shifts focus away from blame and toward systems-level improvement.

The Drama Triangle Helps Reframe Conflict

The Drama Triangle is introduced as a framework for understanding interpersonal conflict. It helps teams notice when people drift into persecutor, victim, or rescuer roles and intentionally shift toward coach and agency. In tense situations, people often default into one of three roles (Karpman 1968):

• Persecutor
• Victim
• Rescuer

Productive educational relationships require movement away from these roles. Dr. Newcome encourages educators to move from “persecutor” toward “coach,” while learners move from passive “victim” toward empowered “thriver.” The framework encourages collaborative problem-solving rather than blame assignment.

Powerful Questions Encourage Reflection Instead of Defensiveness

Dr. Newcome reminds us that it is important to lead conversations with “what” instead of “why,” to shift the vibe toward understanding, reduce defensiveness, and open up to insight. For example:

• “What were you thinking in this situation?” instead of
• “Why did you do that?”
  

“What” questions encourage insight and reflection, while “why” questions may provoke defensiveness. This subtle shift can dramatically improve feedback conversations. Gen Z learners will be Gen Z experts, per Dr. Newcome, and important to understand and get curious with them in conversations. 

The Multigenerational Alignment Map Clarifies Expectations

Dr. Newcome presents a new tool in the Multigenerational Alignment Map as a structured conversation starter designed to align expectations early in a rotation. The tool addresses five domains:

1. Communication style
2. Feedback preferences
3. Professionalism
4. Workload and wellness
5. Learning preferences

Sample questions include:

• How quickly should team members respond?
• What feedback cadence works best?
• What behaviors define professionalism?
• How do we protect wellness while maintaining patient care?

The Alignment Map is not a validated tool, but rather a practical framework for explicit communication and expectation-setting.

The discussion pushes back on the idea that the problem is simply a Gen Z problem. Instead, the guests describe an alignment problem: two people may be operating from internal worldviews that were never made explicit. Older medical hierarchy often rewarded a “pay your dues” mentality, while newer learners may expect more explicit, two-way feedback. The key is not to assume the generation explains everything, but to ask what the learner needs and how their prior experiences shaped the moment.

The guests suggest asking questions such as how quickly team members should respond, what feedback cadence feels right, and what learning format works best. They note that the tool is time-intensive, but even a partial version can help the team start on the same page.

A recurring theme is that learner diversity is real. Different schools, training environments, and prior experiences shape how people respond to coaching. The guests encourage educators to sit down, ask questions, and create a safe space where a learner can say, “this is my experience,” so the educator can respond with support rather than assumptions.

The BELIEVE Acronym Promotes Psychological Safety

Dr. Patel shares the BELIEVE acronym inspired by Ted Lasso:

• Be curious, not judgmental
• Be a goldfish
• Learn from failure
• Invest in people
• Express gratitude
• Vulnerability is strength
• Embrace uncertainty
  • Believe in belief

The acronym that Dr. Patel and colleagues created serves as a practical framework for cultivating psychologically safe learning environments. The “be a goldfish” principle encourages learners to reflect on mistakes but not become consumed by them. The BELIEVE acronym, drawn from Ted Lasso, reinforces a culture of psychological safety: be curious, not judgmental; be a goldfish; learn from failure; invest in people; express gratitude; vulnerability is a strength; embrace uncertainty; and believe in belief. The point is not perfection, but a team climate where people can take risks, make mistakes, and keep learning.

Communication Across Generations Continues to Evolve

Mrs. Deena Segal discusses how communication methods in medical education have shifted over time—from pagers to secure messaging systems and digital communication platforms. She emphasizes the importance of concise, clear communication and maintaining open-door policies for learners who need clarification or support.

The guests also discuss how visual design and communication strategies have evolved to better capture learner attention and improve engagement.

Focus on Similarities More Than Differences

A major theme throughout the episode is that learners and educators across generations often share more similarities than differences. Regardless of generation, most clinicians:

• Want to be good doctors
• Want meaningful mentorship
• Value trust and belonging
• Care deeply about patients

Dr. Newcome brings up the concept of “onlyness,” or recognizing (and elevating) the unique perspective each individual brings to a team, from the work of Dr. Leah Georges (Georges 2018). 

Take home Points: 

The guests recommend several practical strategies for educators:

• Shift from “feedback” to “coaching”
• Focus on a few specific skills at a time
• Set clear expectations early
• Normalize vulnerability
• Ask curious questions before drawing conclusions
• Involve mentors and near-peer educators when appropriate
• Collaboratively develop action plans and follow-up strategies

Links/Plugs: 

1. Fearless Organization by Amy Edmondson
2. Ted Lasso show on Apple
3. ChalktalkMD.co 

Goal

Listeners will learn approaches to successfully navigate teaching and learning scenarios with Gen Z learners

Learning objectives

After listening to this episode listeners will be able to …

1. Review the challenges and opportunities to teaching and learning with Gen Z learners
2. Describe approaches to fostering a successful learning environment with Gen Z learners
3. Identify strategies to support learners in knowledge acquisition relative to their learning preferences 

Disclosures

Mrs. Segal and Drs. Newcome and Patel report no relevant financial disclosures. The Curbsiders report no relevant financial disclosures. 

Citation

Kryzhanovskaya E, Segal D, Newcome E, Patel S, Heublein M, Cheng MKW. “#59 Teaching and Learning with Gen Z. The Curbsiders Teach Podcast. https://thecurbsiders.com/teach. May 28, 2026.