Kilsby student essay competition
We are listening to the voice of the next generation of healthcare professionals.
The BHMA runs an annual student essay competition to broadcast the voice of the best and most innovative thinking from those about to embark on a career in healthcare. We want your fresh insight and opinion on how to transform the health service into a more compassionate and caring version of its current self.
Our title for 2024 (BHMA’s 40th Anniversary):
‘Holistic Healthcare in Action:
Reflections on the Past, Directions for the Future’
Please use 2 or 3 examples to illustrate your answer.
Essay option:
Essay of 1000-1500 words.
Creative Inquiry option:
The assignment should be in the form of a creative text (please submit photographs/DVD/music file as appropriate) alongside a written reflection of up to 1000 words. Marks will be allocated in four categories: Impact, Perception, Aesthetics and Reflection.
Please complete the form below along with your submission
Deadline June 30th
FIRST PRIZE – Essay and Creative Enquiry
- £250
- Your essay published in our journal and online
- Ticket to our conference & awards reception
- Free membership to the BHMA or free journal subscription for 1 year
RUNNERS UP
- Free membership to the BHMA or free journal subscription for 1 year
- Your essay published online
For just £17 per annum, your student membership enables you to access our entire online library of the Journal of Holistic Healthcare plus 10-20% discounts on selected events, courses and other membership packages.
Become an Ambassador
Previous winners & Runners-up
Note that we have recently started publishing winners and a few other choice essays as blog posts. These appear in the side bar above.
2023: Sayed Adam Bukhari, King’s College London, How can a holistic perspective benefit practitioners, patients, and the planet?
2023: Felicity Smith, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Arts and Crafts in Healthcare: What William Morris can Teach us About the Benefits of a Holistic Perspective for Practitioners, Patients and the Planet
2023: Kate Eustace, University College Dublin, How can a holistic perspective benefit practitioners, patients, and the planet?
2023: Alton Ajay Mathew, Medical University of Lodz, How can a holistic perspective benefit practitioners, patients, and the planet?
2022: Jonathan De Oliveira, St. George’s, University of London ‘What is missing in our clinical education’?
2022: Karla Hamlet, Canterbury Christ Church University – Creative Enquiry ‘What is missing in our clinical education?’ – The Student Voice
2022: Hamaad Khan, University College London ‘What is missing in our clinical education?’
2022: Lucy Butterfield, University of Manchester – Creative Enquiry ‘What is missing in our clinical education?’
2022: Andrew Zhou, University of Cambridge – Creative Enquiry ‘What is missing in our clinical education?’
2022: Pervana Kaur, University of Karol Marnkowski ‘What is missing in our clinical education?’
2021: Deeya Kotecha, Cambridge ‘How can holistic healthcare influence health inequalities‘
2021: Jabin Chowdhury, Birmingham ‘If holistic healthcare is the answer what is the question? A take on healthcare inequality‘
2021: Annie McKirgan, Liverpool ‘All Animals are Equal … Or are They?‘
2020: Lauren Wheeler, Imperial College London Faculty of Medicine ‘Holistic lessons from a pandemic…prevention is better than cure’
2020: Isabel Allison, University of Birmingham ‘Holistic lessons from a pandemic’
2020: Megan, University of Southampton: ‘Holistic lessons from a pandemic: Does anyone have a spare pen?’
2020: Simran, University of Southampton ‘Holistic Lessons from a pandemic: ‘All Lives Can’t Truly Matter Until Black Lives Matter’‘
2019: Jessica Frost Birmingham Medical School Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food
2019: Aaron Morjaria King’s College, London Is food the foundation for good health?
2019: Josephine Elliot University College, London Is food the foundation for good health?
2018: Thomas Christie Templeton College, Oxford Social Prescribing – are drugs or people the better cure?
2017: Fiona Field Imperial College London Re-imagining healthcare – in partnership with nature
2017: James Bevan University of Southampton Re-imagining healthcare – in partnership with nature
2017: Maddie Leadon University of Cambridge Re-imagining healthcare – in partnership with nature
2016: Robbie Newman Imperial College London Are we medicalising human experience? A radical review
2016: Alice Redfern University of Oxford Are we medicalising human experience? A radical review
2016: Vinay Mandagere University of Bristol Diagnosis: Are we medicalising human experience? A radical review
2015 Julius Kremling Germany, Why connection matters: Understanding patients’ illness by understanding their reality
2015: Tamar Witztum University of Bristol, Resilience in holistic care: Learning from Alice Herz-Sommer
2015: Lucy Brenner Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Cultivating compassion – students to lead the way?
2015: Eleanor Tanner University of Birmingham The Star of Compassion
2014: Olivia Sjökvist University of Hull, Coping with your own vulnerability in caring for a person who has a long-term condition
2014: Laura Clapham King’s College, London Coping with your own vulnerability in caring for a person who has a long-term condition
2014: Chiara Catterwell-Sinkeldam, King’s College London Coping with your own vulnerability in caring for a person who has a long-term condition
2013 Kundan Iqbal The importance of holism in medical care today and ways this can be promoted
2012 Reanne Jones Tears of Joy, tears of sorrow
2011 Thea Collins 2030: What made the NHS sustainable?
2010 Jason Ferdjani Improving global well being, improving personal well being
2009 Krishna Steedhar Student’s health matters
2008 Phoebe Votolato Being a Medical student
2007 Lewis Morgan A good holistic practitioner
Previous winners came from:
