Now in its 12th year, the Gerald F. Berlin Prizes for Creative Writing competition is holding its event at a new time and location. The awards ceremony and selected readings will take place at a brownbag lunch being held on Wednesday, May 4, in the Hiatt Auditorium beginning at noon.
Awarded to students and medical residents at UMass Medical School for original writing about what it means and how it feels to be a health care provider, the prizes are funded by a donation from Richard M. Berlin, MD. A widely published poet and practicing psychiatrist, Dr. Berlin, senior affiliate in psychiatry at UMMS, established the prizes to encourage creative writing among UMMS students and residents, and to honor his father who struggled with a severe chronic illness.
Nine writers are receiving this year’s awards:
First Place
Laurel Dezieck, MD (PGY1), for Farewell to the Stranger
Second Place
Haley Newman, SOM ’17, for Still Here, Kid
Third Place (tied)
Ava Chappell, SOM ’16, Medical School Reflections (I. Back pain, Percocet, or how it can all fall apart)
William Fyfe, SOM ’18, for Low Tech Medicine
Honorable Mentions
Cecilia Bahamon, SOM ’17, for PROV(e)
Tom Ford, SOM ’18, for Definition
Kirsten Hartwick, SOM ’19, for The Value of a Medical Student?
Sarah Ohnigian, SOM ’19, for Skin
Yevin Roh, SOM ’18, for Case Study: A 26 Year-Old Man with Chest Pain, Altered Mental Status
Valerie Valant, SOM ’17, for I Hold Her Hand
All members of the UMMS and UMass Memorial community are invited to attend the awards ceremony, which is sponsored by the Office of Student Affairs, the Office of Educational Affairs and the Humanities in Medicine Committee of the Lamar Soutter Library. Dessert will be available, and attendees are encouraged to bring their own lunch.
Visit www.richardmberlin.com to learn more about the awards and read previous prize-winning works.
