Doximity’s 2nd Annual First Stab Writing Contest has come to a close! We asked physicians and medical students to share a story about a transformative experience or “first stab” at a procedure that they remember from medical training.
Winner
A Silver Lining In My First Patient Death is the winner of Doximity’s 2nd Annual First Stab Writing Contest, written by third-year medical student Colleen McDermott of Tulane University School of Medicine.
Runner-Up
Our runner-up essay was written by Dr. J. Lane Wilson, a Family Medicine physician at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. Dr. Wilson's essay will be published in the coming weeks.
The number of submissions this year doubled since our inaugural First Stab Writing Contest in 2018. This year, the applicants represent physicians and students from 38 states and span 28 specialties.
We want to thank each and every applicant for taking the time to put pen to paper to share their personal stories with us and their peers. It was difficult to narrow down the best submissions, however, we did select a winner and runner-up. Along with being the first essay to be illustrated and published from this year’s “First Stab” submissions, the winner is also invited to Doximity’s 7th Annual Leadership Summit.
All Submissions
We will share the other First Stab submissions throughout the year and are excited for you to read the poignant and thoughtful experiences, both heart-warming and heart-wrenching, that shaped the writer and will likely stay with you.
Last year’s winner was Dr. Holly Neville’s story, The Meaning of Goodbye in which a Pediatric Surgeon learned the value of life, the meaning of love, and what it means to say goodbye.
Last year's runner-up was Dr. Joseph Chao’s My First Time of Death, in which a Dermatology resident remembers a trauma case where he realized he knew the deceased patient.