Gold Foundation Essay Contest Open - Deadline March 13, 2023

2023 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest is now open Deadline: March 13, 11:59 p.m. PT

Medical and nursing students are invited to enter The Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and engage in a reflective writing exercise around an experience of humanistic care. This year’s essay prompt is an excerpt from "How Far Away We Are," a poem by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón: "I want to give you something, or I want to take something from you. But I want to feel the exchange, the warm hand on the shoulder, the song coming out and the ear holding onto it.”  Six winners (three medical students and three nursing students) will receive a monetary award ($1,000 for first place, $500 for second place, and $250 for third place). Their essays will be published in 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.

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About Dr. Hope Babette Tang The essay contest was named in honor of Hope Babette Tang-Goodwin, MD, an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics. Her devotion and generosity to the care of the children and infants with HIV infection in New York City was an inspiration to her colleagues and her students. Her approach to medicine combined a boundless enthusiasm for her work, intellectual rigor and deep compassion for her patients. In sum, Dr. Tang-Goodwin was an exemplar of humanistic care.

Essay Contest Details Essay contest participants 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. Submissions that touch upon students' personal experiences of humanistic care or stories of family and friends will also be accepted. Essays should be 1,000 words or fewer. 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. 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. Students at international medical schools that have a Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) chapter are also eligible. For more information on contest rules and eligibility, please visit our website. Submissions are due Monday, March 13, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.

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