Gold Foundation's Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest Expands to Nursing Students

In a new interprofessional collaboration, winning essays by medical and nursing students will be published in both The Journal of Professional Nursing and Academic Medicine

FEBRUARY 13, 2018  —  The Arnold P. Gold Foundation is delighted to announce that the Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest will expand in 2018 to include nursing students, a collaboration with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). 

The annual essay contest highlighting humanistic experiences has sought submissions from medical students for nearly 20 years.

“The winning essays have long provided a beautiful glimpse into the minds of students who are taking their first steps into an empathic career in healthcare. To strengthen the human connection in healthcare requires the work of the whole healthcare team, and we are truly excited to spread greater interprofessional understanding by welcoming nursing students into the Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest,” said Richard I. Levin, MD, president and CEO of The Arnold P. Gold Foundation, a nonprofit organization that focuses on humanism in healthcare.

“With health care becoming more team-based, AACN applauds the Gold Foundation for inviting nursing students to add their voices to the national conversation on the need to elevate the patient care experience,” said AACN Board Chair Dr. Juliann Sebastian. “Through the Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest, AACN is delighted to join with AAMC and the Gold Foundation to showcase exemplars that underscore the connection between interprofessional engagement and compassionate care.”

The Gold Foundation’s annual contest asks medical students, and now 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.  First-, second-, and third-place essays for both nursing and medical students will be chosen by a panel including healthcare professionals, writers/journalists, and educators.

Winners receive an award of up to $1,000. First-, second-, and third-place nursing and medical student 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. The winners will be spread out among the 2018 October, November, and December issues with a winning medical essay and a winning nursing essay together in each issue. This innovative cross-publication is designed to foster interprofessional understanding.

“Humanism is at the core of what it means to be a physician, even as big data and technology grow in the clinical care setting," said Darrell G. Kirch, MD, AAMC president and CEO. "We are pleased to continue this valued partnership with the Gold Foundation to provide an opportunity for medical students, and now nursing students, to express the importance of humanism in their journeys to becoming caring health professionals.”

The Gold Foundation is committed to infusing and sustaining our healthcare system with a culture of compassion, caring, and respect for patients and the whole healthcare team. The Gold Foundation has created rituals, such as its iconic White Coat Ceremony, awards, and programs to support the dedication to compassionate patient care that draws so many to the healthcare profession. 

Hope Babette Tang-Goodwin, MD, was an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, whose 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.

The prompt for the 2018 contest will be:

“It’s not what you look at that matters, but what you see.” — Henry David Thoreau 

Tell us about a healthcare experience with a patient or fellow clinician that led you to a new, unexpected understanding or perspective.