National Essay Competition for FY Doctors
F1 & F2 UK doctors are invited to submit an essay about an ethical issue raised by an experience they have had as a foundation year doctor.
For this annual competition, F1 & F2 UK doctors are invited to submit an essay about an ethical issue raised by an experience they have had as a foundation year doctor.
Up to five cash prizes of £300 each are awarded. Besides this, the Robert Hillman Essay Prize of an additional £250 is awarded to the best overall entry. All winners will receive a complimentary 12 month IME membership.
The 2025 round of the competition is now closed
The Robert Hillman Prize, for the best overall entry in the Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors National Essay Prize 2025, has been awarded to
Sean Bagary for ICU – A Game of Who’s Sickest?
The other Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors National Essay Prize winners 2025 has been awarded to
Hannah Crowley
‘Knife to skin no matter the consequences’
James Sullivan-McHale
‘What is the point?’
Mahjabin Kowser Chowdhury
‘To be or not to be: How should the MDT navigate discussions around assisted dying with patients in light of the End of Life Bill?’
Peter Crabtree
‘The Assisted Dying Bill: Medically-Approved Suicide?’
Congratulations to all our winners!
The Robert Hillman Prize, for the best overall entry in the Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors National Essay Prize 2023, has been awarded to:
Ali El-Rhalibi for White lies matter: An examination of lying for good in clinical practice
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The other Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors National Essay Prize winners 2023 are:
Sheema Chaudhry for Patient vs Team – Who Should Decide?
Josephine Do for The weight of a medical error
Naveen Goddard for Patient Safety Incidents in the National Health Service: The Boundaries of Corporate Versus Individual Culpability for Failing Institutions
Antonia Mentel for Better safe than sorry? The struggle of doing less
Victoria Yang for Defining a life worth living: Capacity and Best Interests in a patient with Personal Disorder
Congratulations to all our winners!
The Robert Hillman Prize, for the best overall entry in the Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors National Essay Prize 2022, has been awarded to:
Gauri Saxena for Slipping through the cracks: mental capacity in the context of coercion
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The other Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors National Essay Prize winners 2022 are:
Jun Yu Chen for Upholding professional values of honesty, integrity and accountability as a new doctor in the NHS
Charlotte Galvin for ‘Let me find someone else who can help you with that’ – Conscientious Objection in Healthcare
Elias Jamieson for Assessing capacity in the detoxing patient
Arham Sahu for A shock to the system: ECT in severe depression
Ryan Wolff for Is Age Really Just a Number? Admission to ICU in Times of Scarcity
Congratulations to this year’s winners!
The Robert Hillman Prize, for the best overall entry in the Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors Essay Prize 2021 has this year been jointly awarded to:
Joe Berry for Capacity in the aftermath of trauma
and
Denise Tan for Disclosing a near-miss ‘Never Event’: A retained surgical swab
The other Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors Essay Prize winners are:
Madeline Charles-Rudwick for The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth? The Use of Deception in the Care of Patients with Dementia
Alexander Miller for Prescribing; More than Meats the eye
Emma Pearson for Considering the Importance of Relatives in End of Life Decisions
Kaif Qayum for Are we playing God? Do we need to revise the abstinence mandate for alcoholic liver disease patients to be eligible for liver transplantation?
Akanksha Thumbe for Suicidal ideation and the capacity to self-discharge
Joshua Winton for Confidentiality Issues from the Heart of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Congratulations to all our winners!
Essay Prizes awarded for 2020
The Robert Hillman Prize winner for best overall entry in the Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors Essay Prize 2020 is:
Duranka Perera – Resisting data fabrication in neurosurgical academia
The other Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors Essay Prize winners are:
Natasha Grace – What a girl wants: the ethical implications of an elective amputation in a minor
Nicholas Heng – To resuscitate or not to resuscitate – that is the question
Anna Hutchins – Patients and placebos: an ethical, professional and legal analysis of the response to patients requesting antibiotics for viral upper respiratory infections
Tumbi Otudeko – Prison health – you have the right to remain healthy
Essay Prizes awarded for 2019
The Robert Hillman Prize 2019 for best overall entry in the Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors Essay Prize is:
Caitriona Cox – Unwise or misunderstood? The challenges of judging patient understanding
The other Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors Essay Prize 2019 winners are:
Natasha Grace – The other side of the glass: An ethical analysis from the patient’s perspective
Harry Heath – Dear Dr Google: The influence of search engines on consultations
Priya Khetarpal – The Doctor’s Narrative – Should it be shared?
Eunice Xing – With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Responsible Use of ‘Evidence’ Based Medicine
Essay Prizes awarded for 2018
The Robert Hillman Prize 2018 for best overall entry in The Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors Essay Prize is:
Kishen Patel – “I’m sorry there is nothing more we can do.” A closer look at the most final of statements
The other Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors Essay Prize 2018 winners are:
Anita Chithiramohan – Patient-centred care and the learning experience of the medical student. The ethics of pedagogy in a teaching hospital
Peter Johnstone – Decisions, decisions: Searching for the chimera of autonomy
Christine Bolton – Battery or Negligence: Calling it Oncall
Michael Houssemayne du Boulay – The buck stops with you
Congratulations to all our winners.
Essay Prizes awarded for 2017
Robert Hillman Prize 2017 for best overall entry in the Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors Essay Prize
Joshua Parker – Junior Doctors & Moral Exploitation
The Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctor Essay Prize 2017
Alistair Wardrope – Of amputation & autonomy
Jennifer Hall – A tortured mind: Self harm in psychiatric care
Matthew Stone – Cardiac Arrest: Is there any role for placebo resuscitation?
James van Oppen – Giving medical treatment against a patient’s wishes
Essay Prizes awarded for 2016
Robert Hillman Essay Prize 2016 for best entry in the Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors Essay Prize
Joshua Parker – War and Peace: Conflicts of Conscience in the Junior Doctors’ Strike
The Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors Essay Prize 2016
Yanrong Jiang – Sundowning and DoLS: Ethical Dilemmas in Managing an Acutely Delirious Patient as a Junior Doctor
Lucy Michael – Stumbling in the Dark
Essay Prizes awarded for 2015
Robert Hillman Essay Prize 2015 for best entry in the Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors Essay Prize
Bryony Coupe – The four principles or the four pillars? Reflecting on and learning from ethical issues as a junior doctor.
The Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors Essay Prize 2015
Anngona Ghosh – Not to Add Insult to Injury: Honesty is the Best Policy
Julia Harrington – Capacity Assessment in the Emergency Department: 50 Shades of Grey?
James Morgan – A Junior Doctor’s Duty To Inform
Laura Pugh – What the Patient Needs When the Relative Wants
Essay Prizes awarded for 2014
Robert Hillman Essay Prize 2014 for best entry in the Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors Essay Prize
Frances Butcher – A Hard Sell: Admitting a patient to the ICU
The Institute of Medical Ethics Foundation Doctors Essay Prize 2014
Johanna Andersson – An Exploration of compassion through narrative and reflection
Priyanka Chadha – Undocumented Migrants’ Access to Healthcare: Why Are We Still Having The Discussion?
Michael Newman – Confidentiality: A juxtaposition of medico-legal and ethical perspectives in a case of HIV
Hilary Thornton – Where hearts may break: the conflict of best interests
Essay Prizes awarded for 2013
The Robert Hillman Prize winner for best overall entry 2013 is:
Aimee Rowe – Reflective Practice
The other Essay Prize winners are:
Rebecca Sherlock – Withholding information from patients: A junior doctors experience
James McGowan – The Liverpool Care Pathway in a 21st Century National Health Service: Old Ethics, New Challenges
Rammina Yassaie – How much should we tell our patients and who are we to decide?
Sophie Newton – A patient refusing lifesaving treatment