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Writing Competitions for Law Students: Legal Medicine

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Sponsors/facilitators of student writing competitions provide more detailed instructions and rules at their websites.  Students need to review the information and rules available at these websites.  

Legal Medicine

Hirsh Student Writing Competition in Legal Medicine (annual)

  • Sponsor: American College of Legal Medicine
  • Topic of 2025 Competition was: "Submissions may address any aspect of legal medicine, including healthcare law, medical licensure, regulation of the profession, business aspects of medical practice, liability of physicians, hospitals, and managed care organizations, ethics, bio-pharmaceutical and medical device regulation, public health law, legal issues in physician-patient relationships, food and drug law, regulation of clinical research, forensic science, or the history of legal medicine.  Submissions must be the entirely original work of the individual submitting author.  Submissions may have been used for academic credit but must not have been submitted for publication.  The author may not have a financial interest directly or indirectly in the material presented."
  • Format requirements in 2025 Competition included: "There is no word count limit, but articles under 25,000 words, including footnotes, are preferred."  "All papers must be submitted in MS Word or Google Doc format using 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, and with one-inch margins."
  • Eligibility requirements in 2025 Competition included: "All eligible authors must be currently enrolled in an accredited college or postgraduate school in the United States or Canada.  All students are encouraged to compete, particularly those studying medicine, law, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, podiatry, healthcare administration, public health, or other healthcare fields."
  • Prizes in 2025 Competition were: "The writer of the winning paper will be presented the Hirsh Award and will receive $1,000.00, round trip economy airfare to Houston, one-night hotel accommodations during the conference, and conference registration to attend the ACLM 2025 Annual Conference where they will have an opportunity to present the paper, receive the award, and meet with experts in the field of legal medicine.  The winning paper will be published in The Journal of Legal Medicine, and all other papers entered for the Hirsh Award will receive consideration for publication in The Journal of Legal Medicine.  The second-place winner will receive $500.00.  The third-place winner will receive $250.00.  The top three winners will receive complimentary one-year membership in the American College of Legal Medicine and will be invited to serve on the 2026 Student Awards Committee."
  • Deadline for submission was: January 15, 2025.