About the Contest
Each year, Baylor College of Medicine hosts its annual Michael E. DeBakey Medical Student Poetry Awards.
This annual contest honors the legendary, preeminent cardiovascular surgeon, pioneering medical scientist, gifted medical educator, prolific author and scholar, and passionate advocate of optimal healthcare throughout the world. Dr. DeBakey strongly advocated a role for the humanities in medical education and in the development of a full, enriching intellectual life.
2023 Awards Recipients
- First place: “Sanskrit for Beautiful,” by Palak Patel
- Second place: “All My Heart,” by Michael Sun
- Third place: “Order Up!,” by Nolan Winicki
Honorable Mention
- “This House is Nothing Without You,” by Fae Kayarian
- “Didactics,” by Parisa Thepmankorn
Entry Rules and Guidelines
Entrant must be a medical student currently pursuing a medical doctor (M.D.) degree in an accredited United States medical school.
Poems must be written in English (no translations from other languages), on a medical topic, no more than 50 lines, and original.
Your entry cannot have been previously published (in print or online including social media and blogs and videos) and/or sold to the public or transferred to another entity for sale to the public. Your entry cannot be under consideration for publication and cannot have been awarded recognition in another writing contest. (Additionally, posting or publication of your entry in any form [in print or online including social media and blogs and videos] prior to the announcement of the contest winners will result in immediate disqualification.)
Each medical student may submit only one poem. Your submission must be submitted online (add link) with the following components:
- One cover page that includes your name, current mailing address, e-mail address and telephone number.
- One photocopy of a current student I.D. card documenting medical school enrollment. If a medical school student ID is not available, either a letter of good standing from the medical school, a current class or clinical rotation schedule dated within the current school year or a tuition bill or statement dated within the current school year is acceptable.
- Font size must be at least 10 points.
- Limited to two 8.5 x 11 inch pages and the aforementioned 50 lines.
- Single space within each stanza, with a line between stanzas. For poems with nontraditional spacing, submit a PDF along with the Word document as an attachment on the link.
- Put your name in the upper right header of all pages of the poem (last name followed by first name, separated by a comma). If two pages in length, add page numbers after your name.
Entries must be submitted by December 31st. Winners will be announced online by Spring/early Summer.
The first-prize poem will become the property of the Michael E. DeBakey Medical Student Poetry Awards program and will be submitted to a major medical periodical for consideration for publication. If it is accepted for publication, the publisher will own copyright.
Recognition and cash awards of the following amounts will be awarded to the three poems receiving the highest scores from the panel of judges:
- $1,000 for first prize
- $500 for second prize
- $250 for third prize
View all DeBakey Poetry Contest Winners.
