Linda Brodsky MD Essay Award

The Linda Brodsky MD Essay Award, honors the women who have mentored, inspired, and encouraged young students to become physicians.  Dr. Linda Brodsky was a pediatric otolaryngologist in Buffalo, NY and a lifetime member of AMWA.  She had been a role model and mentor to many physicians throughout her career.  In 2000, she became an activist for fair treatment of women physicians, after winning a lawsuit against her university and local hospital for Pay Discrimination. Through her business, WomenMDResources, she helped women physicians “get the jobs they want, the pay they deserve, and not become prisoners of their careers.”  She was co-chair of the AMWA Gender Equity Task Force with Dr. Gebhard in 2013, but passed away in February of 2014 after sustained a subdural hematoma from a fall.

The winner of the contest will be presented with a $500 scholarship provided by the Linda Brodsky Memorial Fund at the Annual Meeting and will have their peer reviewed essay published as the featured essay in the next edition of AMWA’s Linda Brodsky Memorial Journal, a Medical Student Press Journal.  It is encouraged to attend the annual meeting. The winner of the contest will receive a travel grant and FREE student registration to the annual meeting.

Select non-winning essays will also result in peer reviewed publication in the AMWA’s Linda Brodsky memorial Journal.

The 2022-2023 prompt:

Part 1: Dr. Linda Brodsky was an example of resilience and perseverance, despite being the victim of discrimination. She turned her struggles into passion and activism, thereby impacting women and women physicians after her. What is your story of resilience? And how has this obstacle(s) shaped your life, personally or professionally?

Part 2: An essential part of being a physician is advocating for others in more ways than one. Treating patents requires listening to their struggles and understanding their conditions. On a larger scale, physicians hold a role as public advocates of health. Oftentimes advocacy requires speaking up for those who are unable to do so themselves. Please discuss a time in which you have given a voice to someone and how that has impacted both you and the individual.

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Applications will be accepted from November 1, 2022 till January 15th, 2023. 

Email completed essay as an attached document to awards@amwa-student.org. Please submit all files in PDF format.

Please keep essays under 1000 words. All applicants must be national AMWA medical student members. Please include with your essay your full name, medical school, year in school, and first year of national AMWA membership. Be sure to include a title for your essay. Please also include a professional headshot and a short bio (less than 175 words). Winning essays will articulate the applicant’s tools and strengths used to overcome adversity, as well as what was ultimately gained and learned from the experience. They will also have superior writing style in terms of grammar, organization, style and tone. The impact the experience described had on the applicant will also be evaluated. All applicants will receive email notification of receipt of application. By submitting an essay, all applicants give permission to publish their essays in the Peer Reviewed Medical Student Press Journal.

Congratulations to the 2020-2021 winner of the Linda Brodsky MD Essay Award, Tiffany Ramos from The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai! All winning essays are featured in AMWA’s Linda Brodsky Memorial Journal, courtesy of The Medical Student Press!