Eligibility, Selection Criteria, and Process - The Arnold P. Gold Foundation

Eligibility

The essay contest is open to medical students at schools that are members of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) and nursing students at schools that are members of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).

Nursing students must be pursuing a bachelor’s degree or higher (i.e. master’s, doctorate, etc. are acceptable).

Students at international medical schools that have a Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) chapter are also eligible.

Medical schools must have at least preliminary accreditation status from AAMC and AACOM.

Terms and Conditions

By submitting an essay, you agree to abide by the following:

I am committed to protecting the right to privacy of patients and others. I have changed names where applicable, and have omitted or altered other identifying characteristics of individuals and contexts within my essay.
I verify that this essay meets the ethical and HIPAA requirements of my educational institution and that I have obtained any necessary permissions to submit this essay.
I grant The Arnold P. Gold Foundation permission to publish all or parts of my essay on their website, in Academic Medicine, the Journal of Professional Nursing or another academic journal, and in other venues to promote the Essay contest.
I signify that I am the sole author of this essay, that I have written all sentences myself and that no sentences were written by AI, that all sources of information have been properly acknowledged, and that it has not been published elsewhere.
I signify that I will not submit this essay simultaneously to other contests or publications.
If my essay should win the Dr. Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest, I will postpone any further publication routes until the essay has first appeared in both Academic Medicine, the journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, and The Journal of Professional Nursing, of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Any subsequent shall include a note that it was originally published in Academic Medicine and The Journal of Professional Nursing (and include the full citations).
The Gold Foundation reserves the right to disallow essays based on editorial, ethical or other considerations.

Review Process

The Gold Foundation includes outside experts to support the review process and make recommendations to the Gold Foundation.

Judges will be looking for essays that connect strongly to the Gold Foundation’s mission of humanism in healthcare for all. Winning essays will illuminate how the human connection can make a meaningful difference in care.

Based on these external recommendations and internal reviews from Gold Foundation staff, Essay Contest winners are selected based on the following criteria:

Reflects the annual contest prompt and resonates with the mission of the Gold Foundation.
Narrative content (the piece is compelling, thought-provoking, and/or elicits a strong emotional response by the reader)
Demonstrates strong writing style (grammar, spelling, structure, etc)

The Gold Foundation champions humanism in healthcare, which we define as clinically excellent care that is kind, safe, and trustworthy. Winners of the Essay Contest are expected to reflect these values in daily practice and to continuously strive to be exemplars of humanism in healthcare.

How to Enter

The 2025 Dr. Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest is closed.

To ensure that you are made aware of the open call and the announcement of winners each year, sign up for the Gold Foundation’s monthly newsletter, News and Notes.

Honoring the Winners

Winners receive a monetary award of up to $1,000 for first place, $500 for second place, and $250 for third place.

The nursing and medical student essays will be published both in Academic Medicine, the journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, and The Journal of Professional Nursing, published by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

Winners of the 2024 Dr. Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest have been announced.