The following entrants were chosen from original poems submitted by undergraduates currently enrolled in accredited United States medical schools.
2023
First place: “Sanskrit for Beautiful,” by Palak Patel
Second place: “All My Heart,” by Michael Sun
Third place: “Order Up!,” by Nolan Winicki
2022
First place: “That Calcified Knot,” by Ellen Zhang, Harvard Medical School
Second place: “The Day After,” by Anneka Johnston-Dumerauf, Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago
Third place: “Marigolds,” by Katya Lavine, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
2021
First place: “October,” by Vivian Hua, Stanford University School of Medicine
Second place: “Fasciculation,” by Samuel Belfer, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Third place: “Welcome,” by Kristin Geczi, University of Michigan Medical School
2020
First place*: “Voyager,” by Fiona Miller, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.
Second place: “Mercy Drive,” by Irene Lin, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
Third place: “6-Letter Words,” by Hannah Kay, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin
*Published: JAMA
2019
First place*: “To Make a Living,” by Michelle Tong, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Second place: “unnamed on ward E,” by Nikita Raman, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Third place: “Encounters,” by Matt Perry, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
*Published: JAMA
2018
First place: "nick in time" by Matthew Lee, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Second place: "Grief, and Other Remedies" by Elaine Hsiang, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
Third place: "Fatherhood” by Allyson Brown, University of Florida College of Medicine
2017
First place*: "Preparation" by Abigail Lin, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Second place: "On a CT Scan" by Adam Lalley, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine
Third place: "The Strangest Thing" by Alexandra Lin, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
* Published: JAMA, 319(13):1387, April 3, 2018
2016
First place: "If Poems Were Bodies" by Laya Charara, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
Second place: "Ectopic" by Mariam Gomaa, Wake Forest School of Medicine
Third place: "Tired" by Elizabeth Karin, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
2015
First place*: "Remembrance" by Corina Iacopetti, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Second place: "Hippocampus" by Ali Rae, Brown Alpert Medical School
Third place: "The Importance of Remembering" by Eve Feinberg, State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Medicine
*Published: JAMA, 315(4):420, Jan. 26, 2016
2014
First place*: "Space for Donation" by Megana Dwarakanath, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Second place: "The Age of Magicians" by Katharine Lawrence, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University
Third place: "Sirens" by Ting Gou, University of Michigan Medical School
*Published: Pharos, 78(4):17, Autumn 2015
2013
First place: "Gnosis" by Shekinah Elmore, Harvard Medical School
Second place: "Tomorrow" by Hang Ho, University of Arizona College of Medicine
Third place: "The Garden" by Paul Thomas, Wayne State University School of Medicine
2012
First place: "Intimacy" by Daniel Grosser, Northeast Ohio Medical University
Second place: "My Almost Autumn Moon" by Kory Combs, Duke University School of Medicine
Third place: "A Blue Morning (Camille Monet on her deathbed)" by Sara Trowbridge, Harvard Medical School
2011
First place: "Yet To Be But Dated" by Gregory Larrieux, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
Second place: "3:27" by Amy Lauren Cummings, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California
Third place: "The Breaking of Morning" by Kirstyn Elizabeth Brownson, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago
2010
First place*: "DNA Damage Pathways" by Danielle Friedman, Emory University School of Medicine
Second place: "Sprouting Things" by Caitlin Cohen, Brown University School of Medicine
Third place: "Sophia's Marriage" by Jenna Le, Columbia University Medical Center
*Published JAMA, 304(15):1645, Oct. 20, 2010
2009
First place: "Remains" by Brandi Swanier, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Second place: "Defense Mechanisms" by Sarah Rosenbaum, New York University Medical School
Third place: "Family Fiction #9" by Dianna Ng, New York University Medical School
Honorable mention: "Sestina with Elephants" by Emily Gillett, Harvard Medical School
2008
First place: "The Whole Time You Lay Dying" by Joshua E. Fischer, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Second place: "The Named" by Rachel Smith, University California, San Francisco
Third place: "Donor" by Jeannine Ruby, Yale University School of Medicine
Honorable mention: "For What Has Gone" by Andrew Thurston, Baylor College of Medicine
2007
First place: "Funeral" by Abbey J. Winant, Harvard Medical School
Second place: "On the Ferry: Waves of Haiku" by Janet Shu, Brown Medical School
Third place: "New Art" by Hilarie Tomasiewicz, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
2006
First place: "How to Fix" by Kathleen Antony, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Second place: "Nefertiti in Berlin" by M. Cynthia Cheung, Baylor College of Medicine
Third place: "Last Dance" by William Yi, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
2005
First place*: "un pocco mosso" by Daniel Ma, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Second place: "Things that Break" by Elizabeth Weiner, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
Third place: "For a Long-Lost Autistic Friend" by Diane Stevens, Tufts University School of Medicine
*Published: JAMA, 924(20):2549, Nov. 23/30, 2005
2004
First place*: "News of Infertility" by Philip Ciampa, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Second place: Journeys" by Salil H. Patel, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Third place: "Bitter Blocker" by Ester Han, Emory University School of Medicine
Honorable mention: "Butterfly" by Jeremy Byrd, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University
*Published: JAMA; 293(6):657, Feb. 9, 2005