The Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest asks medical and nursing students to engage in a reflective writing exercise that illustrates an experience where they or a healthcare team member worked to ensure that humanism was at the core of care.
The essay contest is named in memory of Hope Babette Tang, MD, an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and the Pediatric Medical Director of the hospital’s HIV clinic until her death in 1998 at age 36. Dr. Tang’s patients were often facing numerous obstacles on top of their devastating medical challenges, which made healing even more difficult. Her mantra in caring for her patients was “Whatever it takes.” Her approach meant she saw the person in front of her, not just their medical situation. Many of her acts of caring only came to be known after her death. She treated the whole patient, a hallmark of humanistic care.
For the 2024 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest, medical and nursing students were asked to reflect on the following quote from Sir William Osler, whose writings about the practice of medicine have influenced clinicians for over a century: “The practice of medicine is an art, not a trade; a calling, not a business; a calling in which your heart will be exercised equally with your head.”
Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 Dr. Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest! Read the full announcement here.
