This year’s essay prompt asked medical and nursing students to reflect on the following quote by Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman’s poem The Miracle of Morning:
“We’ll observe how the burdens braved by humankind
Are also the moments that make us humans kind;
Let each morning find us courageous, brought closer;
Heeding the light before the fight is over.
When this ends, we’ll smile sweetly, finally seeing
In testing times, we became the best of beings”
Students were asked to use this quote as inspiration to reflect on humanism in healthcare during the past difficult year using your experiences or observations, as an individual or as a team (doctors, nurses, therapists, etc.).
The essay contest is open to medical students at accredited schools of medicine in the U.S. and Canada and nursing students at AACN member schools.
The 2021 Essay Contest is now closed.