Older docs call younger docs "complete divas"—here's why they've got it wrong
Key Takeaways
Industry Buzz
“Man, these young doctors these days are getting so soft. [...] One of the guys was like, ‘I’m going to go home and coach my kid’s soccer team.’ Can you imagine coaching your own kid’s soccer team? Complete divas, man.” - Sagar Desai, MD
“44-year veteran RN and love the old-school doctors. Today's docs and nurses are obnoxious." - JebStuart Mariner, RN
A viral Instagram Reel is making doctors laugh—and think. In the video, Sagar Desai, MD, an orthopedic surgeon in Toronto, Canada, talks about the differences between old-school doctors who started their careers years ago vs younger doctors who are just starting out.
The Instagram reel is titled “old school doctors be like…” and Dr. Desai says things like “Man, these young doctors these days are getting so soft. One of our new surgeons just today was like, ‘I’m going home to have dinner with my family.’”
Dr. Desai ends the video by joking that younger doctors are “complete divas.” The reel is clearly a joke, but it struck a nerve.
Related: Are older doctors wiser? Not necessarilyComments flooded in from fellow healthcare workers, chiming in with “OG docs and nurses think we have to continue to suffer like them” and “Great video! Such a reminder to not lose ourselves in the medicine.”
Older generations of doctors came up in a system where 36-hour shifts, paper charts, and stoic professionalism were the norm. Burnout wasn’t discussed. Therapy was taboo. Asking for time off might’ve been seen as a weakness. For some, that’s still the culture.
But younger generations of doctors are pushing back—openly discussing burnout, boundaries, mental health, and workplace equity. And while humor helps bridge the gap, it also highlights how much medicine is evolving—and how much further it has to go.
Not everyone in the comments agreed. “44-year veteran RN and love the old-school doctors. Today's docs and nurses are obnoxious," one commenter, a registered nurse, wrote.
The reel might’ve started as a joke—but like most good comedy, it hit on a deeper truth: As medicine adapts to a new generation of physicians, moments like this—funny, raw, and relatable—are helping doctors talk about what really needs to change.