Department of Surgery

DeBakey Poetry Contest Award Recipients

Master
Content

The following entrants were chosen from original poems submitted by undergraduates currently enrolled in accredited United States medical schools.

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