BSANZ Writing Prize 2017
Results of the BSANZ Medical Student Essay Competition, 2017
This is the second essay competition curated by the BSANZ. This year’s competition has been an outstanding success, with 84 entries from a range of medical schools in Australia and New Zealand.
We have now completed a quite rigorous reviewing process and are pleased to announce the two winners being Annabelle Hughes from Griffith University (‘Lessons from Luna’) and Isabel Hanson from Sydney University (‘Between a beginning and an end’). These students are recipients of the Lawrence Gilbert Memorial Prizes of A$500. Runner-up was Simon Chadwick, also from Sydney (‘Sharing the little lights’) who receives $250. The top 2 students also receive a BSANZ funded scholarship to attend the Balint Society Annual Residential Workshop to be held in November 2017 in Hobart. We are now arranging for the top essays to published in medical journals.
We felt the standard of description, reflection and writing was very high this year. The table below is a list of the top 30 essays. These essays focused more particularly on the student-patient relationship, and in many instances, the patient benefitted in some way from those interactions. It is very heartening to read from so many students of their compassion and commitment to patient welfare. The essays also revealed many of the challenges in being a medical student, such as how to maintain one’s own personal identity while also learning how to act and behave as a doctor. The next competition will be held in 2019.
Hamish Wilson and Alexa Gilbert-Obrart
Curators
August, 2017
Winners
| Name | University | Title of essay |
| HUGHES, Annabelle | Griffith University | Lessons from Luna (PDF) |
| HANSON, Isabel | Sydney University | Between a Beginning and an End (PDF) |
Runner Up
| CHADWICK, Simon | Sydney University | Sharing the Little Lights (PDF) |
(pdf)Highly commended
| WHITMORE, Kirsty | Griffith University | Trust |
| HOLLAND, Carissa | Griffith University | The Way You Looked At Me |
| TRILOKEKAR, Natasha | University of Auckland | Broken-hearted |
| MONTELEONI, Natina | University of Tasmania | Crossing Paths |
| HARVEY, Christopher | University of Tasmania | Knowing What you Don’t Know |
| TAN, Heather | University of Tasmania | It is the Small Things |
| LOW, Elizabeth | Monash University | Dancing the Shoreline Called Uncertainty |
Commended
| PARKER, Clare | University of Melbourne | Human Patients: Seeing the person behind the disease |
| XIAN, Susan | University of Otago | Health Care of the Elderly – Case History One |
| PATERSON, Jeannine | Griffith University | Small Scar or Giant Keloid |
| NG, Diana | University of Auckland | With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility |
| HO, Markus | University of Otago | Kāinga rima – The Ambulance at the Bottom of the Cliff |
| TIE, Tiffany | Monash | Listen |
| Du TOIT, Marie | James Cook University | Reflection on Personal Emotional Processing When a Young Patient Dies |
| PO, William | University of Melbourne | Imprisoned |
| JEN, Roger | Sydney University | Here’s Looking at you, Kid |
| SOO, Lai | Melbourne | The Miracle of Birth |
| WAHAB, Sakeenah | UNSW | Fundamentals Foundations Rudimentary |
| MOHAMED, Fardowsa | University of Otago | Doing Better |
| ALEXANDER, Linda | Notre Dame Fremantle | The Patient I never Met |
| DAWES, Kathryn | Monash | Minefield at the Museum |
| RANN, Helena | Monash | Holding Hands |
| ARNOLD, Lauren | University of Otago | It Hurts Because we Care |
| WEE, Ian | UNSW | “Listen to understand”, not “listen to reply” |
| THEIS, Nicholas | University of Otago | Finding the Story within the History |
| TIE, Tiffany | Monash | Listen |
| LEUNG, Viviena | UNSW | (Pre) Conceptions |