The Arnold P. Gold Foundation holds an annual essay contest to encourage medical and nursing students to reflect on their experiences and engage in narrative writing. For the 2025 contest, students were asked to use the following quote as inspiration to illuminate how the human connection can make a meaningful difference in care.
Of all the tools in my medical bag, the most important of all is not in the bag itself—it’s my ears, to listen to the patient.
—Dr. Arnold P. Gold, pediatric neurologist and co-founder of The Arnold P. Gold Foundation.
Each year Academic Medicine publishes the winning essays. Check out those essays below and listen to the authors read their essays on the Academic Medicine Podcast.
First Place
Nursing Student: The Heart of Hope by Roz Agheli
Medical Student: The Severance of a Thread by Nezienwa Ezenwa
🎧 Coming soon!
Second Place
Nursing Student: More Than a Stethoscope by Christine Dianne Nepomuceno
Medical Student: No Estás Sola by Maria Jose Gomez
Third Place
Nursing Student: Listening Beyond the Monitors: A Lesson From Joe by Vonnie Cesar
Medical Student: Between Silence and Speech: The Power of Listening in Psychiatric Care by Ziad Saade