Edinburgh and Queen Mary medical students win history of medicine prize
Medical students at the University of Edinburgh and Queen Mary University of London have won the Royal Society of Medicine’s 2022 Norah Schuster prize for the history of medicine.
Joanna Park (Edinburgh) and Jomana Abdelhalim (Queen Mary) presented their prize-winning work to around 100 RSM members and other delegates at a special event at the RSM in London and online on Wednesday (16 March).
The event was hosted by the RSM’s History of Medicine Society, which awards the prize every year for the best essay or essays on the history of medicine or medical science.
Professor Sean Hughes, President of the RSM’s History of Medicine Society, welcomed attendees and chaired the event. He said: “We had many excellent submissions from medical students across the country and it is my very great pleasure to introduce this year’s prize winners.”
Before presenting her winning paper on the treatment of ‘shell-shocked’ soldiers at the Royal Edinburgh Asylum during and after the First World War, Joanna Park, a final-year medical student, said: “I’m delighted to be here and honoured to win this prize.”
Her fellow prize winner, fifth-year medical student Jomana Abdelhalim, was unable to attend on the evening. The audience was shown her pre-recorded presentation on the health-system impact of the post-soviet economic crisis.
Each receives a year’s membership of the Royal Society of Medicine as part of their prize.
The Royal Society of Medicine awards dozens of prizes every year to recognise and reward the best ideas and innovative thinking across healthcare, medicine and science.