2016 essay contest winners

This year's essay contest was endowed with a generous gift by Pam and Rolando Del Maestro. Students from across the Faculty of Medicine, (now the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences), submitted research proposals and were matched with mentors drawn from the Library’s Board of Curators and various departments at McGill. Out of the final essays submitted, three finalists were selected to present their research on Osler Day on October 26.

 

We are pleased to announce that first place went to Maria Barrette for her essay entitled, “Contrarian Contraception: Radical Feminism and The Birth Control Handbook in late 1960s Montréal." She was mentored by Prof. George Weisz of the Department of Social Studies of Medicine. You can also read her reflective piece on working with online archives.

 

Second place was awarded to Sunny Wei for her essay, “Neonatal Anesthesia: The Origins of Controversy,” written under the mentorship of Prof. Thomas Schlich of the Department of Social Studies of Medicine. You can also read her reflective piece on the research skills he learned working on this project.

 

Yi Tong received third place for her essay, “The Antipsychiatry Movement of the 1960s and its Influence on the Mental Health Care Model in the United States.” She was mentored by Prof. David Wright of the Department of History and Classical Studies. You can also read her reflective piece detailing experience writing this research paper.

 

The 2016 competition was especially tight, as the library received many other noteworthy, thought-provoking essays. As such, we decided to share all of them with you. Here are, in alphabetical order, the other submissions we received. Thank you all for participating!

Michael Destounis, "Meditators as Modern-Day Pilgrims." Mentor: Prof. Faith Wallis. See reflective piece here.

Mary Koziol, "Diagnosing Womanhood: Lessons Learned from Gender Bias in 20th Century Psychiatry." Mentor: Dr. Andrea Tone. See reflective piece here.

Philip Leger, "Environmental Sustainability in Medicine: An Ethical Study." Mentor: Dr. Nicholas King. See reflective piece here.

Luca Melnychuk, "McGill Medicine on the Frontlines: A Student's Perspective of the 3rd Canadian General Hospital." Mentor: Dr. Richard Fraser. See reflective piece here.

Surya Sakr, "On the Cutting Edge: Artificial Intelligence in Medicine." Mentor: Dr. Jonathan Kimmelman. See reflective piece here.