[Differences between generations: relevant for medical education in the Netherlands].

Provision of care is increasingly being tailored to patients' wishes, which means that insight into the ideas, norms and values of the care-consumer are required. This approach is also beginning to filter through into medical education. We can differentiate generations on the basis of shared opinions, because groups with shared experiences usually share the same values. This is a useful line of approach if we wish to serve different generations of consumers better. At the moment there are four different generations influencing the setup and division of the healthcare services and relevant to medical education in the coming decades. Future education methods will have to be in line with the wishes of the generation from which new doctors come. In order to achieve better care for patients it is important to give 'thinking in generations' more attention in medical education.