Description
Created to honor outstanding academic promise.
Your award includes complimentary registration for the AAP Annual Meeting, and up to $1,000 reimbursement for meeting-related travel and meal expenses.
The theme is: The Art of Communication in Psychiatry: Connecting with the Patient.
Thank you for your interest! SUBMISSIONS FOR THE 2026 MEDICAL STUDENT ESSAY CONTEST ARE NOW OPEN!
Submission Requirements
The contest is open to any student who is both currently enrolled in an accredited medical school (US, Canada, or anywhere in the world) and will be enrolled at the time of the Annual Meeting September 16-19, 2026. The work must be an original unpublished essay of 1,000 words or less. Due to an overwhelming response, ONLY ONE SUBMISSION PER STUDENT WILL BE ACCEPTED.
Essays should be submitted electronically through the JOYN Awards Portal by clicking the link below. Please include a cover page with the following information: Student’s Name
Name of Medical School where enrolled, year in school
Mailing Address, Phone Number, Email Address
Selection Criteria
Judges will be blinded to the participant and affiliated medical school. Judging will be based on originality, uniqueness, flow of thought, and appropriateness to the theme.
Thank you for your interest. Submissions are NOW OPEN! The deadline for submissions for this award is June 1, 2026. Click here to access the Awards Portal.
For QUESTIONS ONLY, contact James Haliburton, MD, Medical Student Essay Subcommittee Chair, at jhaliburton39@siumed.edu.
All essay submissions must be made through the Award portal.
Academic Psychiatry, the journal of the Association for Academic Psychiatry, reviews new article submissions of brief reflections centering around a trainee’s experience of learning psychiatry or becoming a psychiatrist under its "The Learners' Voice" perspective category (publication is not guaranteed). Interested authors may review the journal's publication criteria and submission instructions here.
Award Benefits
Award Reipients
2025
Winner: Christopher Schorr, Indiana University
1st Runner Up: Olivia Ossege, University of Louisville School of Medicine
2nd Runner Up: Alexander Junxiang Chen, University of California - San Francisco
3rd Runner Up: Bruny Kenou, George Washington School of Medicine
2024
1st Place: Y. Zhuang
2nd Place: Ruby Reed, Stanford University School of Medicine
3rd Place: Anneliese Mair, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
2023
1st Place: Brian R. Smith, Stanford University
2nd Place: Isabel Draper, Baylor College of Medicine
3rd Place: Serra Sozen, University of Vermont College of Medicine
2022
1st Place: William Thomas (Tommy) Baumel, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
2nd Place: Eun Jin (Gloria) Yu, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
3rd Place: Brittany Perry, University of South Florida College of Medicine
2021
1st Place: Sahana Nazeer, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
2nd Place: Chloe Malava, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College
3rd Place: Mollie Marr, Oregon Health Sciences University
4th Place: Edward Tie, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
2020
1st Place: Jeff Jin, McGovern Medical School
2nd Place: Nicole Hadler, University of Michigan Medical School
3rd Place: David Jevotovsky, NYU Grossman School of Medicine
2019
Winner: Alan Elbaum, University of California - San Francisco