medical school essay competitions

2024 WPA Medical Student Essay Competition

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The World Psychiatry Association (WPA) announces its 2024 Medical Student Essay Competition, a WPA Presidential initiative with the support of the United Nations Secretariat – Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Sustainable Development Goals.

The WPA invites medical students from around the world to write and submit an essay of up to 3000 words on this year’s theme: " Improving Mental Health in the Global World Using the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals ."

This competition is now closed

All Finalists and the full text of their essays will be showcased on the WPA website, spotlighting both the authors and their ideas, and the winning essay will also be translated into all six WHO official languages. The Winner will be acknowledged at the 24th World Congress of Psychiatry (WCP) in Mexico City, will receive a Travel Award to cover his/her costs of WCP travel and accommodation (up to 1500 USD), and will have his/her Congress registration fee waived.

Essay Formatting and Submission Requirements:

Please download and read  about the competition deadlines and the essay formatting and submission requirements.

Submission Deadline and Schedule:

All submissions must be made via the online submission page before midnight on May 15, 2024. We cannot accept any entries received after this date. The winners have been announced and you can read more about them here .

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Essay competitions, awards and prizes

If you have a flair for essay writing, then look out for competitions run by the Royal Colleges and many other professional medical associations, usually to encourage interest in their specialty. Closing dates for submission fall throughout the year so keep your eyes open!

Some organisations that run competitions include:

British Association of Dermatologists

• British Association of Forensic Medicine
• General Medical Council
• Medical Women’s Federation
• Pain Relief Foundation
• Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
• Royal College of Ophthalmologists
• Royal College of Pathologists
• Royal College of General Practitioners
• Royal College of Radiologists
• Royal Society of Medicine (for members only, costs £25 a year to join)
• Institute of Medical Ethics (for F1 & F2 UK doctors)

Project Funding

Some organisations and Trusts offer funding for research projects, vacation research work experience and intercalated degree year research. We’ve compiled a list of these, again it isn’t exhaustive so we do encourage further research.

Some of these applications may require a supporting statement from a member of academic staff. Check criteria carefully before applying.

The Biochemical Society

Grants are available for stipends of £200 per week for 6 – 8 weeks, and up to £1,600 in total, to support a summer placement in a lab for an undergraduate student. Applications must be made on behalf of and in association with a named student.

Website: www.biochemistry.org Email: [email protected]

The British Association of Dermatologists offer a range of awards between £250 and £3,000 towards fees and living expenses for an intercalated year project related to dermatology and skin biology. It also offers £500 undergraduate project grants.

Website: www.bad.org.uk Email: [email protected]

Association for the Study of Medical Education

The Association for the Study of Medical Education offers awards related to the development of excellent medical education. Applications are welcomed from anyone on the continuum of medical education (UG, PG or qualified and studying professional development) and will be assessed against their criteria. They also have a number of other essay prizes available and awards so it is worth researching their website.

Tel: 0131 225 9111 Website: www.asme.org.uk Email: [email protected]

The Genetics Society

The Genetics Society Summer Studentship scheme offers grants of up to £3,000 for undergraduate students interested in gaining research experience in any area of genetics by carrying out a research project over the long vacation ( more information ). They also have a range of competitions and awards that you can look into on their website.

Website: https://genetics.org.uk/grants/summer-studentships/  Email: [email protected]

The Institute of Medical Ethics

The Institute of Medical Ethics (IME) offers grants, student elective bursaries, and scholarships (covering the next academic year) for students wishing to do an intercalated degree in medical ethics or an allied subject.

Website: https://ime-uk.org/grants-and-competitions/ 

The Physiological Society

Vacation Studentships offer undergraduates the opportunity to undertake a research project on an area of physiology over their summer break. Working under an academic supervisor, they can get to experience day-to-day life in the laboratory first-hand. Funding of £150 a week, to cover living costs, is on offer for up to eight weeks.

Website: www.physoc.org Email: [email protected]

The Pathological Society

Funding for students wanting to intercalate a BSc in Pathology but who do not have LEA or other government support. Also offer awards to fund electives and vacation studies in pathology.

Website: www.pathsoc.org

The Paget’s Association

The Paget’s Association awards Student Research Bursaries of up to £6,000 to promising UK medical or science students (MRes, MSc, BSc or equivalent higher degree) to pursue research into any aspects of Paget’s Disease of Bone.

Tel: 0161 799 4646 Website

Other resources

The list above is not exhaustive so we do encourage further research.

A good place to start is RD Learning , a database of health-related research funding opportunities.

Please contact us if you notice any broken links, of any other funding opportunities or if any options are no longer running.

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School Competitions And Prizes For Aspiring Medics

Learn about all of the competitions and prizes you can enter at school to boost your Medicine application.

If you’re an aspiring medic at school, you can boost your Medicine application by entering competitions and prizes. Regardless of whether you win or not, you’ll be able to include the experience in your Personal Statement and talk about it at Med School interviews . Here are some Medicine competitions you can enter to be proactive and make your application stand out.

Imperial College London – Science in Medicine School Teams Prize

Imperial College London has three team competitions to choose from:

• The British Heart Foundation Cardiovascular Prize – Submissions should focus on a topic with interactions between the cardiovascular system and the nervous system.
• The Lung Prize – Submissions can focus on any aspect of the prevention or treatment of respiratory disease.
• The Scleroderma and Raynaud’s UK Prize – Submissions should focus on promoting the health and wellbeing of individuals with Scleroderma and/or Raynaud’s.

For each competition, the challenge is to design an ePoster. A team can have up to six members (they recommend assembling a team with varied interests) and schools can enter one team per prize.

The top ten shortlisted teams in each contest will be invited to present their ePosters at an online finals event. In each stream, first, second and third prizes of £3,000, £2,000 and £1,000 will be awarded to schools in order to support science-related activities.

Deadline – midnight on 30th June 2023.

University of Cambridge – Robinson College Essay Prize

The Robinson College Essay Prize is open to Year 12 students in the UK, providing an opportunity to develop and showcase independent study and writing skills. It also allows students to experience the type of work that they might be expected to do at Cambridge.

Entrants submit an essay (no more than 2,000 words) answering a question from various options. Last year, one of the possible titles was ‘Can science tell us how we should live?’. Up to three entries can be submitted per school, so you should discuss your application with your school before entering.

Five prizes are awarded, with each winner receiving book tokens to the value of £50. Winners will also be invited to Robinson College for a prize-giving ceremony.

The 2023 prize will open with more info in June.

Specialist Application Advice

Want expert advice to navigate the Medicine application process?

Medic Mentor – National Essay Competition

Medic Mentor’s National Essay Competition requires students to write an essay (up to 1,500 words) from the perspective of a medical professional.

There are essay titles available for Medicine, Dentistry , Veterinary Medicine and Allied Health .

For 2023, the essay questions are:

• Medicine – Should the patient be viewed as part of the multidisciplinary team?
• Dentistry – How can the holistic approach minimise periodontal disease in patients?
• Veterinary – What is the importance of a holistic approach when caring for livestock?
• Allied Heath – How can the multidisciplinary team optimise the care of the older person in hospital?

Deadline – midday on 1st May 2023.

Minds Underground Medicine Essay Competition

Minds Underground Medicine Essay Competition is aimed at students in Year 12, but younger students are also welcome to enter, and there are various essay title options to choose from. For the 2023 competition, one of the possible titles was ‘Should all healthcare be free? Discuss.’

The competition is designed to give students an opportunity to engage in research, hone their writing and argumentative skills, and prepare for university interviews. Minds Underground also runs essay competitions for other science subjects like Psychology and STEM.

The submission deadline is typically around March/April. Get more info here.

The Libra Essay Prize

The Libra Essay Prize is for students in Years 12 and 13 who are looking to prepare for university. Inspired by the admissions process at All Souls College, Oxford, entrants write an essay (1,500-2,000 words) responding to a single-word title.

For the 2023 prize, the single-word options were: Control, Collaboration, Exchange, Freedom, Claim.

Entrants are encouraged to use imagination in their essays to build interesting links between their chosen title and their school learning. There are prizes available of £50 for first place, £30 for second place and £20 for third place.

The deadline has varied from year-to-year: it was June in 2022 and April in 2023, so keep an eye on their website for more details.

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Essay Contest

Congratulations to the 2024 Essay Contest winners !

About the Contest

The Lasker Essay Contest engages early career scientists and clinicians from the US and around the globe in a discussion about big questions in biology and medicine and the role of biomedical research in our society today. The Contest aims to build skills in communicating important medical and scientific issues to broad audiences. The topic is announced annually in early February, and winners are announced in mid-July.

Eligibility

The Contest is open to medical school students, interns, residents, and fellows; doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows in biomedical sciences; and graduate students training in health professions programs e.g., public health, dental, pharmacy, etc who are currently doing research. Applicants (from the US or any other countries) must be currently participating in an educational program. This program may be located in any country.

Winners will receive up to $5,000. Monetary prizes will be directed to the winner’s university to be used towards the winner’s educational expenses.

Essays should be 800 words or less and must be written in English. We allow only one essay submission per applicant, and the essay must be written by a single author. The use of any generative AI tool (e.g. ChatGPT) in composing an entry is prohibited – all essays will be screened with software designed to detect use of AI. Essays need to be original; content previously published will be disqualified.The file containing the essay should include the essay title and the applicant’s name, email, and institutional affiliation. The 800-word limit applies to the body of the essay. Field-specific scientific jargon should be avoided or explained.

Evaluation Criteria

Essays will be evaluated based on their originality, quality of writing, style, and clarity. Essays that are not written in English or are longer than 800 words will not be considered.

Publication

The winning essays will be published in the July issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation .

All Winners

Meet the Winners of the 2024 Essay Contest and Read the Essays

Meet the Winners of the 2023 Essay Contest and Read the Essays

Meet the Winners of the 2022 Lasker Essay Contest

The 2022 Lasker Essay Contest

Meet the Winners of the 2021 Lasker Essay Contest

The 2021 Lasker Essay Contest

Winners of the 2020 Lasker Essay Contest

Winners of the 2019 Lasker Essay Contest

Winners of the 2018 Essay Contest

Winners of the 2017 Essay Contest

Winners of the 2016 Essay Contest

Winners of 2015 Essay Contest: The “Research Challenge”

2014 Essay Contest: Supporting Medical Research

Read the winning essays.

Kevin S. Blake Missing microbiomes: global underrepresentation restricts who research will benefit

Catherine M. Bridges Illuminating maternal sepsis: a call for improved recognition and prevention

Andrea M. Maxwell What happens to the brain during pregnancy?

A Subashan Vadibeler The (unresolved) antibody paradox

Sarah Voss The enemy of my enemy is my friend

Allison R. Chen Research Training in an AI World

Louise O. Downs Is a Test Better Than No Test When There Is No Treatment?

Ayush Kumar Using HG1222 — A Perspective Into the Ethics of Collecting Biospecimens

Salman E. Qasim The Human Brain: The Final Frontier and the Wild West

Sneha P. Rath Cementing the Bricks

Kaelyn Cummins Microbes, Medicine, and Astronauts: Reflections on a Collaborative Project

Azmina Karukappadath Two Fields, One Dream

Hussain Lalani I Would Be Scared if I Heard That Too

Rutvij Merchant Pathways to Global Health Equity: More Seats, Fresh Perspectives

Kirti Nath Puzzles

Avik Ray Unified Diversity: The Team Game

Ziad Ali What Happens Now?

Banafsheh Nazari Embracing Technology, the Pandemic’s Lesson for Us

Trisha Pasricha One more question

Miriam Saffern My Mother is a Layperson

Adina Schonbrun The Cornerstone of Scientific Success: Unsung Frontline Heroes of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Emily Ashkin Michael Bishop: A Scientist for the Next Generation

David Basta For the Love of Science

Avash Das Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein: Tribute to My Inspiration

William Dunn Sweet Are the Uses of Adversity

Safwan Elkhatib Salk, Sabin, and the Crown of Health

Laurel Gabler Putting “People’s Health in People’s Hands”: How the Bangs Inspired my Personal Journey

Kwabena Kusi-Mensah As One Single Tribe: Thinking Globally and Locally

Lisa Learman With the Corn, Against the Grain

Olivia Lucero Genetics as a Tool for Generational Empowerment

Hannah Mason My Gym Genie: Gathering Inspiration from Dr. John Schiller

Samantha Wong Fauci: Science as a Voice of Reason

Grace Beggs Game On: Smartphone Technology for Science Education

Peter John Making it All Fun and Games in the Biomedical Sciences

Dereck Paul Pathways: A National Mentorship Program for High School Students Underrepresented in Science and Medicine

David Hartmann Cancer Survivors: Outstanding Advocates for Trust in Science

Debra Karhson A Verification Vaccine for Social Contagion

Caroline Vissers Diversity at the Top of the Social Media Signaling Cascade

Abigail Cline Science and Cinema: From the Benchtop to the Big Screen

Tammy Tran Science Is Everywhere: Unexpected Science Encounters in the Course of Everyday Life

Michael Wu Search for Science: Smart Search-Linked Discussion Forums

Jennifer Bratburd Breaking through Barriers to Science with Citizen Science

Apurva Lunia Dissemination of Biomedical Research Via Multimedia Platforms Using Existing Healthcare Frameworks

Jessica Sagers Let’s Get Real: (Re)making Scientists Into People

David Ottenheimer Modern Neuroscience Has the Tools to Treat Psychiatric Illness

Therese Woodring (Korndorf) Hacking the Bacterial Social Network: Quorum Sensing and the Future of Microbial Management

Unikora Yang The Cutting Edge of DNA Editing: Translating CRISPR to Improve Human health

David Hill Mutual Understanding: Uncovering the Mechanistic Basis of the Host-Symbiont Relationship in Human Health

Joseph Rathkey In Silico Modeling as an Ideal Platform for Future Biological Research and Discovery

Stephanie Ng Depression and the Final Frontier

Omar Toubat Mastering the Genetic Reprogramming of Cells

Peter Soh Offering Incentives for Future Scientists

Michael Burel Catalyzing Broad Public Interest in Scientific Research

Nick Andresen Crowdsourcing a Medical Research Donation Database

Gregg Gonsalves Researchers as Advocates and Activists

Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Guidelines for the 2022 Medical Student Essay Contest

Students currently enrolled in a medical school or program are encouraged to submit to Hektoen International ’s 2022 Medical Student Essay Contest. Submissions will be reviewed by the Hektoen International Editorial Staff and a select group of contest judges who will determine the two winners of the following awards:

Grand Prize: Single winner of $3,500 Runner-Up: Single winner of $2,500

Essays can be on any topic as it relates to medicine. Art, history, and literature topics are preferred. Fiction will be accepted. Original poetry and standalone artwork will not be considered (though essays on poetry and on original artwork are welcome). Before submitting an article, please search for your topic to see that it has not been fully covered already. For possible topic categories, see our Sections .

To enter, you must be:

• Currently enrolled in medical school or can verify your acceptance into medical school,
• Currently serving as a medical intern or resident, or
• Currently serving as a fellow to pursue a medical specialty.

Essays should be under 1,200 words. The deadline is March 15, 2023, at 12 PM (noon) CST.  The contest is now closed.  Late submissions will not be considered. Contest submissions should be sent to  [email protected] or via the form below . Participants must certify that their work is original. Participants must have copyright ownership or permission to use any images submitted. 

• The contest is open to participants currently enrolled in a medical school or program as described above. Educational status (including the name of your school) must be specified in your cover page/bio in order for entries to be eligible.
• Submission of an article implies consent to publish in  Hektoen International.  If accepted for publication, an article may be published at any time regardless of the outcome of the competition. If major edits are made, proofs will be sent to the author before publication.
• Inquiries about the contest should be sent to [email protected] .
• Single-author essays only; multiple authors on one article are not allowed.
• Entries must be written in English and follow our article guidelines, including a cover page and proper formatting of both text and illustrations. Incomplete submissions may be deemed ineligible for consideration in the contest.
• Submissions will be read by Hektoen International ’s editors and contest judges. They will review contributions for appropriateness, originality, style, and content.
• Submissions are processed on weekdays during business hours. Please check your email for confirmation of your submission. Please wait one week before inquiring about the reception of your article if you do not receive a confirmation email.
• The winners of the contest will be announced by email in 2023. Winning articles may be published in a 2023 issue of  Hektoen International .
• All submissions selected for online publication will appear in Hektoen International and will be placed into a corresponding  Section . Published articles may also be highlighted in Frontispiece —our front page—and/or in the various themes of  Hektorama .
• Articles and the images within them may also be publicized via our newsletter , which is currently received by 40,000+ subscribers, and on our Twitter ,  Facebook ,  Instagram , and  LinkedIn .

Articles must be unpublished, original work, saved as a Word document by the author’s last name followed by the title (or abbreviated title). For example, the article “Big Hugh” by Dr. Smith, should be saved as Smith_Big Hugh.docx . Each submission should include:

• A cover page with:
• Author’s name, titles/degrees, professional affiliation, contact information and location (as you would like it listed in the journal)
• A biography no longer than 100 words, written in the third person, that includes your current educational status and future educational/career goals. See the bottom of our articles for examples.
• Submissions must also have the following formatting:
• The title and page numbers in the document header
• The full text of the article in Times New Roman, size 12, and double-spaced. Please format according to the Chicago Manual of Style 17 th Edition ( chicagomanualofstyle.org ) or the American Medical Association Manual of Style 11 th Edition ( academic.oup.com/amamanualofstyle/book/27941 )
• References for quoted and cited material formatted according to Vancouver, Chicago, or AMA style, with the endnotes in numerical order.

Articles may include images. If you provide an image, please review and heed the guidelines below before you contact us with any questions, which we encourage.

• Final image choice will be determined by journal staff.
• Rights to use and publish images in  Hektoen International must be acquired by the author  prior to submission , either via a source’s declaration the images are in the public domain or under a Creative Commons or similar license, or by obtaining permission from the copyright holder(s) of the images. For more information, see https://guides.library.stonybrook.edu/copyright/public-domain or contact us at [email protected] .
• Images must be high quality and saved as a .JPG
• Images must be titled by author’s surname and short article name. For example, an image to accompany the article “Big Hugh” by Dr. Smith would be saved as Smith_Big Hugh.jpg . Add a number at the end to distinguish additional images ( e.g., Smith_Big Hugh2.jpg ).
• Images must be accompanied by a caption. In a separate Word document entitled “Caption” with the following information:
• Caption, source, and permission/copyright/licensing information (including the address of the website where you found the image)
• For artwork, please provide the title and date of work, the artist’s name, and the location of the artwork (museum or private collection)
• Save the caption as a Word document by author last name. In the example of Dr. Smith, the illustration would be captioned as Smith_Caption.docx .
• Caption example:   Spock Behind G.W. Library . Photo by Warren K. Leffler, October 15, 1969. U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection, Library of Congress . No known restrictions on publication.

General Guidelines for All Submissions

We DO NOT accept clinical studies All submissions should be the stated author/artist’s original work Authors are responsible for obtaining publication rights for accompanying images

Patient Consent/Confidentiality

Our confidentiality policy is based on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Please refer to this document if you have any questions:  https://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/ . Authors/artists should protect the confidentiality of all persons and not reveal personal details without their consent.

Copyright (©) and Plagiarism

Authors retain the copyright to their submissions to  Hektoen International . We request, however, that authors refrain from submitting their work for publication for four months after the piece has been published. Authors are requested to notify us and reference the  Hektoen International  website as the original publisher in subsequent publications of the article.

By submitting your work to us via Forminator or by email for consideration for publication, you consent to the scanning of your work by third-party plagiarism checker programs along with, on a case-by-case basis, research by our staff of your publication history to ensure the work published in our journal is original. By performing these checks, we protect our reputation as well as your own.

Plagiarism is, in its simplest wording, claiming someone else’s work as your own. When you submit work or portions of a work that you yourself did not write, without giving credit to its original author, that is plagiarism. Plagiarism ranges from copying another’s entire publication to rewording portions and ideas from another’s publication without a citation.

We also acknowledge the concept of self-plagiarism, in which you republish work you have already written without permission from the copyright holder. Examples of self-plagiarism include you submit an article to us that was already published in another journal without that journal’s permission; you draw information and/or concepts from an article you wrote that is already published elsewhere without citing that article in your submission.​

Form temporarily unavailable—please submit to [email protected] . If you submitted between January 24 and February 24, please resubmit.

Submissions are processed on weekdays during business hours. Please check your email for confirmation of your submission. Please also wait one week before inquiring about missing submissions through this form or resubmitting.

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-william w. root, md - founder, 1902.

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Helen H. Glaser Student Essay Award

To encourage medical students to write creative narratives or scholarly essays relevant to medicine. Winning essays will be published in the Autumn issue of  The Pharos .

Important Dates

Deadline for submission.

• Download the announcement and checklist here

Winners will be annouced

Cash awards of $1,500 for first place; $1,000 for second place; and $850 for third place.

Eligibility

Authors must be enrolled in medical schools that have an active ΑΩΑ Chapter or Association but need not be members of ΑΩΑ. However, if the author is an AΩA member, he/she must be an active member. Only one entry may be submitted per student.

Requirements

1. Essays must be written while the student is in medical school, must be the work of a single author, and must be an original work. The essay must not be offered to, or published by, any other journal or entered in any other contest prior to submission or during, the AΩA selection process. 

2. The essay must be related to medicine.

3. Essays should not be fictional or written in first person, but academic/scientific in theme.

4. The essay must not exceed 15 double-spaced pages of 12-point type with minimum 1-inch margins, exclusive of reference listing. The author’s name and essay title must be on each page, and all pages must be numbered.

5. Unique references, numbered consecutively, should be limited to 20. (Reference citation of a website is not acceptable unless a site is the sole source of the information or has official academic credentials. Examples of acceptable sites are official government web pages such as that of the National Institutes of Health.)

6. The Pharos Editorial Board suggests that authors review George Orwell’s “6 Rules for Writing”.

7. Essays that are not selected as award recipients may be submitted to other contests/publications after the winners are announced on March 8, 2024.

8. Essays not meeting all requirements will not be considered.

Questions may be directed to

Questions may be directed to  Libby Appel at 720-859-4149, or  [email protected]

All AΩA awards, fellowships, grants, and program submissions must be electronically submitted through the appropriate page on the AΩA website.

Past Student Essay Winners

Previous winners.

Begun in 1982, this award is annually awarded in June.  All medical students enrolled in schools with active AΩA chapters are encouraged to apply. The purpose of this award is to encourage medical students to sit down and write well-crafted creative narratives or scholarly essays relevant to medicine.

• First prize : $1,500
• Second prize : $1,000
• Third prize : $850

Winning essays will be published in future issues of  The Pharos.

• First prize – “Show me Your Scars” by Jeong Jun Kim, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

• Second prize tie – “The Fears and Needs of the Dying Child: The Case of Julianna Snow” by Aishwarya Gautam, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

• Second prize tie – “Remote Renaissance: Expanding Telehealth and Provider Incentives in Rural Areas” by Kathleen Warner, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

• Third prize – “Perseverance and Passion: The Road to Being a Woman in Neurosurgery” by Evangeline Bambakidis, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

• First prize – “The Words We Use Matter” by Mary (Molly) Fessler, University of Michigan Medical School
• Second prize – “Pathway Programs: A Promising Pipeline to Diversity and Equity for Tomorrow’s Physicians” by Ben Rhee, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
• Third prize tie – “What TikTok Teaches: Women’s Health and Medical Misinformation on TikTok” by Madelaine McElrath, New York Medical College
• Third prize tie – “Automation of Medicine: The Intersection of Healthcare and Artificial Intelligence” by Nitin Nadella, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine
• Third prize tie – “Chronic Pain: An Invisible Disease in Western Biomedicine” by Allison Yan, The Ohio State University College of Medicine
• First prize: “Yellow Plague in America: the intersections of disease, social determinants and discrimination” by Rebecca Chen, Baylor College of Medicine
• Second prize: “The Silent Pandemic: Told & Untold Stories of Mental Health in a COVID-19 World” by Geetanjali Rajamani, University of Minnesota Medical School 
• Third prize: “Sociomedicine: Explanations for Race Disparities in Infant Mortality” by Adrienne Simmons, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine   
• First prize:  “Historic Context & Communication: Undoing Medical Mistrust” by Olivier Joseph, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
• Second prize:   “Health Care’s Carbon Footprint” by Preethi Kesavan, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
• Third prize:  “Respect” by Jaclyn Arvedon, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine at Florida International University
• First prize:  “If Dementia Comes for Me” by David Ney, Sidney Kimmel Medical College
• Second prize:  “Just the Honey” by Gillian Stein, New York University School of Medicine
• Third prize:  “Hair and Its Stories” by Jesse Perdily, New York University School of Medicine
• First prize:  “The Price of Pills: A Brief History of the Kefauver-Harris Amendment” by Reid Wilkening, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine
• Second prize:  “The Louse Manifesto” by Prisca Alilio, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine
• Third prize:  “Don Ze Pill” by Rebecca Grossman-Kahn, University of Michigan Medical School“Historic Context & Communication: Undoing Medical Mistrust” by Olivier Joseph, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine

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Building Trust Essay Contest

• John A. Benson Jr., MD Professionalism Article Prize
• Profiles in Professionalism
• Medical Education and Training
• Endorsements of the Charter
• Organizational Trust
• Addressing Medical Debt
• 2019 Trust Practice Challenge
• Commitment to act for health equity
• Choosing Wisely®
• 2023 Reframing Trust – A Path to Address Misinformation
• 2022 Fact or Fiction – Strategies for the Misinformation Age
• 2021 Pursuing Trust Striving for Equitable Health Care
• 2020 Building Trust & Health Equity
• 2019 [Re]Building Trust – A Path Forward
• 2018 [Re]Building Trust

In 2022, the ABIM Foundation launched the Building Trust Essay Contest to explore the diverse activities or projects that medical students are engaged in that build trust with their schools, faculty, peers, patients, and communities.

Building on the success of its first two years, the 2024 Building Trust Essay Contest expanded its scope to welcome submissions from students across all health professions, including nursing, medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, and others. This expansion maintains the contest’s foundational commitment to exploring and celebrating initiatives rooted in trust.

2024 Winners

• Kaveri Curlin , University of California, Irvine School of Medicine
• Ella Eisinger , Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
• Claudia Rivera Barbeito , University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine
• Margaret Sorg , University of Kentucky College of Medicine

Honorable Mentions

• Melodyanne Cheng , David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
• Nitya Devisetti , Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
• Shannon Fang , Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
• Meilynn Shi , Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
• Margaret Flinter, APRN, PhD, FAAN, FAANP , Senior Vice President and Clinical Director of the Moses Weitzman Health System and its Community Health Center, Inc.; member of the ABIM Foundation’s Board of Trustees
• Erica Johnson, MD, FACP , Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Disease at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center; Associate Vice Chair for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Medical Education for the Johns Hopkins Department of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland; member of the American Board of Internal Medicine’s Board of Directors and Chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine’s Infectious Disease Board
• Jackie Judd , former reporter for ABC News, CBS News, NPR, and the PBS NewsHour; Secretary-Treasurer of the ABIM Foundation’s Board of Trustees; member of the Board of Directors of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation
• Elina Kurkurina, MPH , medical student at the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University; winner of the 2023 Building Trust Essay Contest
• Bruce A. Leff, MD , Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Transformative Geriatric Research at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; member of the ABIM Foundation’s Board of Trustees
• Furman S. McDonald, MD, MPH , Senior Vice President for Academic and Medical Affairs at the American Board of Internal Medicine; Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science and the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania
• Shannon Scielzo, PhD , Associate Professor and the Associate Director of Education in Internal Medicine, and Evaluation and Assessment Analyst for Graduate Medical Education at the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center; member of the American Board of Internal Medicine’s Rheumatology Board
• Daniel Wolfson, MHSA , former Executive Vice President and COO of the ABIM Foundation
• Molly Fessler , University of Michigan Medical School
• Isra Hasnain , The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
• Ian Jaffe , NYU Grossman School of Medicine
• Meher Kalkat , The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Elina Kurkurina , Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University
• Christopher Montgomery , UCSF School of Medicine
• Maria L. Belalcazar, MD , Vice Chair for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the University of Texas Medical Branch
• Marianne M. Green, MD, FACP , Vice Dean for Education, Raymond H. Curry MD Professor of Medical Education, and Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine
• Lorna A. Lynn, MD , Vice President of Medical Education Research at the American Board of Internal Medicine
• Furman S. McDonald, MD, MPH , Senior Vice President for Academic and Medical Affairs at the American Board of Internal Medicine
• David Reuben, MD , Director, Multicampus Program in Geriatrics Medicine and Gerontology and Chief, Division of Geriatrics at UCLA
• Annelise Silva , AMSA National President-elect, medical student at Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine
• Rohini Siva , AMSA National President, 4th year medical student at Eastern Virginia Medical School
• Daniel Wolfson, MHSA , Executive Vice President and COO of the ABIM Foundation
• Teva Brender , Oregon Health & Sciences University
• Howard Chang , THe Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• Sunil Joshi , Oregon Health & Sciences University
• Meher Kalkat , The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• Clarice Douille , Creighton University School of Medicine
• Veenadhari Kollipara , Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
• Paul Lewis , Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
• Armaan Ahmen Rowther, PhD , The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Suman Vadlamani , UT Southwestern Medical School
• Nicholas Wilson , Morehouse School of Medicine
• Andres Diaz , Editor of AMSA’s  The New Physician , MD/PhD student at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson
• Shan Jin , AMSA Academy Chair, a third-year medical student at the NYIT College Of Osteopathic Medicine
• David Reuben, MD , Director, Multicampus Program in Geriatrics Medicine and Gerontology and Chief, Division of Geriatrics at UCL
• Michael Walls, DO, MPH , AMSA National President, graduate of Touro University California

Content links

Medical School Expert

Medicine Essay Prizes (7 Competitions For Year 12 and 13’s)

Every article is fact-checked by a medical professional. However, inaccuracies may still persist.

Having a medical essay prize on your CV looks absolutely fantastic when it comes time for you to apply to medical school.

In such an overcrowded marketplace, anything that sets you apart from the crowd in a positive manner is sure to drastically increase your chances of getting an offer.

Although when I was applying to medical school I hadn’t managed to win an essay competition (despite my best efforts!) hopefully you’ll have more luck than me!

To save you some research time, I’ve compiled a list of 7 medicine essay competitions that you can enter this year.

Competitions that if you win will skyrocket your chances of application success.

INCLUDED IN THIS GUIDE:

The Libra Essay Prize

The Libra essay prize is an annual essay prize for all students in years 12 and 13 looking to prepare for university.

Libra Education themselves describe it as:

“An excellent way for 6th-form students to demonstrate that they have the makings of a scholar, the Libra Essay Prize offers a chance to prepare for the academic rigour required by university assignments and provides a great accomplishment to discuss on a personal statement or at an interview.”

Students are free to choose any subject from a list of categories (one of which being science) and then have to write an essay with a title containing a chosen word.

The small pool of words you can choose from change each year but are all generally quite abstract so you can connect and use them in creative ways.

The essay has to be between 1,500 – 2,000 words, with Harvard style referencing which isn’t included in the word count.

Libra accept entries from all over the world, but the essays must be written in English.

First prize wins £50, second prize £30, and third £20, all paid out in book vouchers. There’s also Commended and Highly Commended entries for each category.

Minds Underground Essay Competition

Minds Underground is an online learning platform, designed to support and enhance the learning and problem-solving of determined young students.

Every year they run a medicine essay competition, primarily aimed at year 12’s (although they do say younger or older students are also welcome to apply).

To enter, you have a choice of three questions, to which you need to write a 1,000 – 1,500 word answer.

“Should all healthcare be free? Discuss.” “What goes wrong for cancers to develop?” “Tell us about a key development/invention that you think has been most influential to medicine.” – Past Minds Underground medicine essay questions

If you’re feeling ambitious, students are permitted to enter an essay for more than one subject- so you could have a crack at the psychology or science one too!

Helpfully, under each question Minds also give you a few pointers to get your creative juices flowing.

Newnham Essay Prizes

Newnham College of the University of Cambridge runs a medicine essay competition with a twist:

Only female students are allowed to enter.

Again, students have a choice of three differing questions.

For example, the questions in the 2021-22 competition were:

• How realistic is it to develop a small molecule therapy for Covid-19? Could such a therapy be rolled out in a timeframe that it could have an impact on the current pandemic?
• Sleep deprivation in clinical health settings. Does it matter?
• Looking to the future. Will stem cell therapies be outpaced by machine-brain interfaces for the treatment of retinal disease?

Newnham do give you a bit more of a range when it comes to the word count, accepting anything from 1,500 to 2,500 words.

There’s a generous £400 prize for first place, £200 for second and £100 for third.

Unfortunately for you as an individual though, prize money is split 50:50 between the essay prize winner and the funding of resources for their school…

John Locke Institute Essay Competition

“The John Locke Institute encourages young people to cultivate the characteristics that turn good students into great writers: independent thought, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis and persuasive style. “

The John Locke Institute arguably gives away the most generous prize out of any competition on this list.

You get a scholarship worth $2,000 towards the cost of attending any John Locke Institute program, as well as an invitation to their prize-giving ceremony in Oxford.

The essay questions for each subject are published in January, with the deadline for submission generally being in late June.

As well as the opportunity to secure the prize for medicine, the candidate who submits the best essay overall will be awarded an honorary John Locke Institute Junior Fellowship- which comes with a $10,000 scholarship to attend one or more of their courses!

American Society Of Human Genetics Essay Contest

Although this next essay competition comes from America, it’s open to students worldwide.

The American Society Of Human Genetics supports national DNA day through its annual DNA day essay contest: commemorating the completion of the Human Genome Project in April 2003 and the discovery of the double helix of DNA in 1953.

The contest is open to students in grades 9-12 worldwide and asks students to “examine, question, and reflect on important concepts in genetics.”

With a limit of only 750 words, not including reference lists, this is a short but sweet chance to bag yourself a considerable cash prize for your efforts.

In addition to the personal prize money, the ASHG will also provide you with a $1,000 grant towards genetics research or teaching materials.

Although it is a worldwide contest, so undoubtedly will have plenty of entries, there are also 10 honorable mentions up for grabs (in addition to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place) that all come with a $100 prize too.

Immerse Education Essay Competition

Immerse Education run summer programs for over 20 different subjects in Oxford, Cambridge, London and Sydney.

The reason why students get so much value from these courses is because they’re immersed in centers of academic excellence whilst learning from experts in their chosen field.

The good news for you is that their essay competition gives you the chance to attend one of their summer school programs for free.

10 winners receive a 100% scholarship and runners up are awarded partial scholarships of up to 50% to study their chosen subject.

According to Immerse, around 7% of entrants receive scholarship funding to attend a program- which is pretty good odds if you ask me!

“There is no downside to entering the competition. If you win, it is awesome. If you don’t win, you gained an experience. Entering the competition and working as hard as I did for it was one of the most gratifying experiences.” – Pedro L (100% scholarship winner)

You can find the full list of essay questions, in addition to top tips for writing academic essays (as well as the terms and conditions for the competition), simply by signing up via Immerse’s website.

The RCSU Science Challenge

The Royal College of Science Union (RCSU) is a student union at Imperial College London and run an annual science challenge open to both home and international school students.

The focus of the challenge is communicating scientific concepts in a non-technical manner, so that people without a science background could still understand and enjoy the content.

The big twist with this essay competition is that you don’t actually have to enter an essay!

The idea is to produce a ‘short piece of science communication’ which can be an essay or can be a short video in answer to one of the four questions set by the judges.

Written entries must be less than 1,000 words, whilst video entries must be less than 3 minutes and 30 seconds long.

For this competition, it’s really all about short and snappy responses that will captivate the reader whilst answering the question in a precise but easy to understand manner.

We hope to inspire those who take part in the Science Challenge to explore, develop and use their scientific skills along with their passion for their corner of science to help others see what all the excitement is about.

Why You Should Enter Medicine Essay Competitions

I think it’s fair to say that competition to get into medical school in the UK is insanely high- and it’s only getting worse.

With such large numbers of incredibly qualified candidates, medical schools have to find some way of differentiating them.

One way to make it easy for a university to pick you is to stand out from the crowd by having a medical essay prize on your application.

An essay prize demonstrates your dedication to the subject, scientific knowledge and an ability to write expressively and persuasively- all ideal qualities when it comes to being a doctor.

You may surprise yourself.

Often, not as many people as you might think enter these competitions.

Simply by writing the essay, you’re also going to greatly increase your knowledge about that particular topic, which can still come in really handy at interview.

Even if you don’t win, just discussing the fact you entered still looks good in the eyes of an interviewer.

It shows that you’re willing to go above and beyond your school curriculum, to explore subjects you’re interested in and that you’re a highly motivated candidate.

How To Increase Your Chances Of Winning An Essay Prize

Although when I was applying to medical school I didn’t manage to win an essay prize, there are a couple of things I did that would have greatly increased my chances of doing so.

First and foremost, I think you’ve got to cast your net wide.

Don’t limit yourself to just one shot at the target: if you’ve got the time then I’d recommend trying to enter at least a couple of different competitions.

More entries will mean more chances for you to have your essay officially recognised.

Secondly, if you have the choice between entering a local or national competition, I’d always go with the local one.

Although a national prize would look slightly better on your CV, simply due to the number of entries, you’ll have a much higher chance of winning the more local competition.

By local I mean this could be a more regional charity, nearby hospital or university, or even your school.

Even better yet, you could always enter both!

Lastly, I think one of the best ways you can increase your odds of winning a prize is by entering a competition around a topic that you’re genuinely passionate about.

If you’ve no interest in genetics, then I wouldn’t enter the American Society Of Human Genetics’ contest!

Your interest in the subject will come through in your language, depth of knowledge and motivation to go above and beyond for your essay- all of which will put you in a much better position for winning.

Where You Can Find Further Essay Competitions

In addition to the essay prizes described above, there are tonnes of other opportunities available for you to distinguish yourself as a medicine applicant.

Loads of the Royal Colleges run an ever changing variety of prizes and competitions, usually to encourage interest in their specialty.

The opening dates and deadlines for these prizes are always changing so it’s worth keeping an eye out for the perfect essay question or new prize that’s just been announced.

Some of these organisations that run their own competitions include:

• The Royal Society of Medicine
• Royal College of Emergency Medicine
• British Orthopaedic Association
• British Society for Haematology
• Royal College of Pathologists
• Royal College of Psychiatrists
• British Association of Dermatologists

But there are many more out there. If you have a particular interest in one specialty or area of science then I’d definitely recommend doing a bit of digging to see if there’s a society or organisation related to that field that runs their own competitions!

Final Thoughts

There really aren’t many downsides to entering one of these competitions.

You get a shot at winning, gain a talking point at interview and develop your scientific knowledge (not to mention technical writing skills).

Although you might feel that some of the smaller prizes aren’t worth your time and effort to write the essay, the real value comes from the boost one of these prizes would give your medicine application.

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© 2024 Medical School Expert Ltd

Medicine Essay Competition

The Minds Underground™ Medicine Essay Competition is aimed at students in Year 12 (though younger applicants are welcome). The competition provides students with an opportunity to engage in university-level research, hone their writing & argumentative skills and prepare for university interviews. Entrants must choose 1 question to answer.

Submission Deadline: 3rd April 2024.

View Competition Guidelines

2024 Medicine Essay Competition Questions

If you were awarded a £100k medical research grant, what would you research and why.

Consider some of the key problems facing 21st century medicine. Obesity-related diseases? Cancer? Ischaemic heart disease?

Would you look at preventing/managing a common but not life-threatening condition, or would you try to find a cure for a rare but fatal disease?

There is no right answer to this as long as you have good reasoning – using terms like cost-utility and cost-effectiveness analysis will show an impressive level of thinking on this question (look up what they each mean!).

How might you suggest the government go about addressing the shortage of doctors and nurses in the NHS?

Start by thinking about why there is a shortage – e.g. working conditions, pay etc. These issues result in huge numbers of people leaving medical careers – start by addressing these and aim to retain the staff you already have.

Lots of doctors move to other countries such as NZ/Australia – perhaps look at their health systems and suggest why these might seem more appealing and how the NHS could adapt.

Do you think there is really a future for the NHS or do we need to privatise some parts of healthcare?

Are humans still evolving?

You could consider: Technology, how lifestyles have changed, access to healthcare.

Be careful with the above points as it could be argued these are not evolutional change pressures yet, evolution happens over 1000s of years.

Are you in Year 11/12 & Thinking of Pursuing Medicine at Degree Level/ Oxbridge?

We offer a range of exciting opportunities for students aspiring to a degree in Medicine at a leading university:

Research Projects in exciting current fields with subject experts (great for personal statement content)

Medicine Summer School for university/ Oxbridge applicants

Long-term Oxbridge / top UK University Medicine mentoring : Boosting knowledge beyond the curriculum, preparing for personal statement and interviews - visit our on-curriculum site, U2 Tuition for more information

Interested in a Medicine Competition Mentor? Looking for specialist support researching & writing? Our Oxbridge-educated masterminds are here to help! Sessions from £75/h + VAT. Enquire here

Past Questions

An ex-alcoholic patient [who is a mother of two children], a nine year-old girl, a 75 year old war veteran and a man with terminal cancer need a liver transplant. who should have it, tell us about a key development/invention that you think has been most influential to medicine., what goes wrong for cancers to develop .

N.B. You may be interested in undertaking one of MU’s online Medicine masterclasses with our experts to give you ideas and help direct your research. Some examples below!