Stanley M. Kaplan Essay Award

Stanley M. Kaplan, MD, was an alumnus of the UC College of Medicine and a member of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience faculty from 1954 until his death in 2011.

In 1992, Dr. Kaplan established the annual Stanley M. Kaplan, MD Medical Student Essay Contest to encourage improvement in writing and research skills among medical students.

All U.S. medical students are invited to submit an original written work to the contest. Entries may include topical essays, case reports, review articles or original research. Entries will be judged on creativity, knowledge of psychiatry, style, and contribution to understanding important problems in any of the biological, psychological, or social dimensions of psychiatry.

Flyer - Kaplan Essay Award 2024 (PDF)

2023 Winners

First prize: “Investigating the impact of hoarding disorder media and social comparisons on individuals with hoarding symptoms” by Dr. Rebecca Henderson at University of Florida

Second prizes: "Anti-Social Personality Disorder (ASPD) in Females: A review of one patient case" by Mindy Le, University of Florida (UF) College of Medicine and "Stagnant daily smoking prevalence between 2008-2019 among Black and Hispanic adults with serious psychological distress" by Dana Rubenstein at Duke University School of Medicine

2022 Winners

First prize: "Adolescent Sleep and Mental Health Across Race/Ethnicity: Does Parent-Child Connectedness Matter?” by Marvin So, University of Minnesota

Second prizes: “The Predictive Validity of the DSM-5 Alternative Model for Borderline Personality Disorder: Associations with Coping Strategies, General Distress, Rumination, and Suicidal Ideation across One Year” by Kapil Chauhan, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, DC and “Rhode Island's Response for COVID-Positive Individuals Experiencing Homelessness and Housing Insecurity: A Qualitative Process Evaluation” by Isabel Chin, Alpert Medical School of Brown University

2021 Winners

First prize: "Marketing Medicine for the Mind: Mental Hygiene, Neurasthenia and Patent Drugs in Mid-1930’s Shanghai” by Richard Zhang at Sidney Kimmel Medical College

Second prizes: “Neuropsychological Comparison of Guilt and Grief: A Review of Guilt Aspects in Prolonged Grief Disorder” by Brandon Joa at Ensign, Medical Corps, USNR Sidney Kimmel Medical and “Racial Disparities in Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: A Review of the Literature” by Faris Katkhuda at New York Medical College

2020 Winners

First prize: "Effects of duration and midpoint of sleep on cortico-limbic circuitry in youth” by Aneesh Hehr at Wayne State University School of Medicine.

Second prizes: “Genius or Madness: Neurosyphilis Among Great Artists in the Pre-Antibiotic Era” by Samantha Cheng at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and “AS TOLD BY A DAUGHTER” by Miriam Rosen at the University of Pittsburgh

2019 Winners

First prize: " The Case of Mr. P: Psychodynamic Case Formulation " by Shefali Hegde, University of Virginia School of Medicine.

Second prizes: “The Incapacitating Grip of Addiction: Reflections on a patient’s struggle with substance abuse” by Deborah Rose at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and “A Fortunate Man or a Bad Doctor? “Good Doctoring” in Two Voices” by Taylor Purvis at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

2018 Winners

First prize: “Stereotype Threat for Parental Education Level” by Lindsy Pang from Stony Brook Medicine.

Second prizes: “Ketamine as a Rapid-Acting Antidepressant: Promising Clinical and Basic Research” by Danish H. Ghazali and Andrew N. Tuck from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; and “The Mālaekahana Path: An Ecological Model-Based Intervention for Increasing Walking and Biking in Rural Hawai‘i” by Michael Harding at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

2017 Winners

First prize:"From Healer to Patient: a Journey of Misconceptions, Acceptance, and Growth," by Alex Carter at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

Second prizes: “Psychosis management during pregnancy” by Virginia Ramos at New York Medical College and “Psychosis in a 22-Year-Old Woman with Narcolepsy after Restarting Sodium Oxybate” by Patrick Buckley at University of Virginia School of Medicine.

2016 Winners

First prize: “Associations of Childhood Adversity and Adulthood Trauma with C-Reaction Protein: a Cross-sectional Population-based Study,” by Joy Lin at University of California, San Francisco.

Second prizes: “Suicide Education in the University of Colorado Medical School Curriculum” by Sarah Allexan at University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, Colorado and “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and REM Sleep Behavior Disorder: Coincidence or a Cause for Worry?” by Stuart McCarter at University of Minnesota.

2015 Winners

First prize: “MAD WOMEN: A Brief History of a Twisted Differential Diagnosis,” by Arya Shah at Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minnesota.

Second prizes: “Things to do in Denver When You’re Dead: On Fear, Narrative, and Writing with The Terminally Ill” by Richard Froude at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, Colorado and “Psychodynamic Case Conference Presentation” by Penelope Carter at University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville, VA.

2014 Winners

First prize: "Identification of Differentially Expressed MicroRNAs Across the Developing Human Brain" by Mark Ziats at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

Second prizes: "Biopsychosocial factors in rampage violence - nature or nurture?" by Amy Huang at State University of New York Downstate College of Medicine in Brooklyn, New York and "Neurofunctional Changes in Adolescent Cannabis Users with and without Bipolar Disorder" by Samantha Bitter at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Cincinnati, Ohio.