In addition to the ongoing development of an awareness of the social context within the practice of medicine, the Building the Modern MD steering committee wants to ensure you are given an early introduction to rigorous college-level research and writing. Searching databases for publications, analyzing data, forming coherent arguments, and being able to communicate findings to an educated (but not specialized) audience are common skills that university students and researchers around the world must master in order to be successful – regardless of their major or career path. Firstly, to guide you through this process, the steering committee will be holding trainings on topic selection, article sourcing, how to read / analyze / synthesize findings from different kinds of publications, and how to ultimately outline and write your paper. Secondly, all students and judges involved in the evaluation phase of this competition will be providing you with comments on your submissions to drive your growth as a writer even after the conclusion of the competition.
In addition to investing in your own growth as a doctor and a writer, this competition affords you many benefits. As mentioned before, the primary reward for winning first place in each category is the option to be published in a special DUJS issue. Since DUJS is a journal recognized by Nature, publication is held in high regard and can be a significant boost to your resume as you prepare for a future in science, medicine, or any experience that requires you to think critically about two seemingly different subjects. Additionally, this competition will allow you to engage with the work of like-minded high school students at the same point in their lives, perhaps considering a similar academic or professional path to what you had envisioned for yourself. You will also have access to several current undergraduate students who have the intention to pursue medicine and are currently working through their premedical coursework.
Finally, the intersection of healthcare and the humanities is not something that is commonly explored in high school; by choosing to spend your time exploring this junction, you will gain a unique understanding not only of medicine but also of the humanities topic of your choosing. Due to the increasing complexity of nearly every problem facing the modern physician, one-sided perspectives will not be enough to solve the problems of tomorrow. By engaging in this competition, we hope you will be more prepared to think deeply and comprehensively about the problems you discover and the positive impacts you can make as global citizens and budding scholars.
If you would like a pdf version of all the student information, see here. Please note that the PDF and BtMMD web pages change as broken links are noted and updated. If you are having trouble with a link on the PDF, try redownloading it and see if the issue is fixed; if it isn’t, please reach out to us via email!