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 team member worked to ensure that humanism was at the core of care.
In the 2020 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest, medical and nursing students were asked to use the following quote as inspiration to reflect on when they’ve experienced or observed, as an individual or as a team (doctors, nurses, therapists, etc.), the impact of human connection:
2020 Essay Contest Winners
2020 Medical Student Winners
First Place | “Seams”
Mahima Sukumar, Frank H. Netter M.D. School of Medicine
Read the essay in Academic Medicine
Second Place | “The Hidden Healer”
Grace Ro, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Read the essay in Academic Medicine and The Journal of Professional Nursing
Third Place | Untitled
Grace Ferri, Boston University School of Medicine
Read the essay in Academic Medicine and The Journal of Professional Nursing
2020 Nursing Student Winners
First Place | “In Good Hands“
Emily Friedman, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
Read the essay in Academic Medicine
Second Place | “Good Enough”
Lisa Cross, University of Massachusetts Lowel
Read the essay in Academic Medicine and The Journal of Professional Nursing
Third Place | “Mia”
Sonia Max, University of Maryland School of Nursing
Read the essay in Academic Medicine and The Journal of Professional Nursing
2020 Honorable Mentions
- Amber Lekey, third year, Boston University School of Medicine
- Morgan Barnes, first year, University of North Carolina at Greensboro Graduate School of Nursing, “A Critical Care Connection”
- Katrina Hannemann, third year, St. Catherine University, “Medicine cannot heal in a vacuum, it requires connection”
- Kelly Soto, third year, Oregon Health & Science University, “The Hallway of Power & Connection”
- Mark Alshak, third year, Weill Cornell Medical College, “For my Daughters / For my Sons”
- Caitlin McCarthy, fourth year, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, “To the Medical Student Crying in the Hallway”
- Heather Gochnauer, fourth year, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, “Dr. Sunshine”
- Yuna Oh, third year, Weill Cornell Medical College, “Medicine cannot heal in a vacuum; it requires connection”
- Kelsey McNew, fourth year, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, “Greg and (Regrettably) Me”
- Eleanor Wade, fourth year, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, “Nightshift”