The 2014 Mollie and Paul Hill Student Writing Competition in Medical-Legal Interprofessional Collaboration – Deadline January 2, 2014
Beginning in 2014, the Florida State University Center for Innovative Collaboration in Medicine and Law, based in both the FSU College of Medicine and the FSU College of Law, will present awards for the outstanding original papers submitted by a law student and a medical student or medical resident in response to a question pertaining to collaboration between the medical and legal professions. This writing competition is made possible by a generous gift from Mollie and Paul Hill.
Outstanding Paper by a Law Student — $250
Outstanding Paper by a Medical Student or Medical Resident — $250
2014 Contest Question:
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) enacted into law in 2010 attempts to improve the access of Americans to improved quality health care, while controlling the nation’s escalating health care expenditures. As the ACA gets further implemented in 2014, discuss opportunities and challenges this law presents for constructive, innovative collaboration between the legal and medical professions in contributing to the quest for a more affordable and accessible high quality health care system.
Applicant and Paper Criteria:
1. All authors must be enrolled, at the time of paper submission, in an accredited law school or medical school (M.D. or D.O.) or participating in an accredited medical residency program in the United States.
2. No paper that has been previously published in any form will be considered; however, papers written for course credit are allowed as long as they have not been published. An applicant may submit a paper for publication consideration after the winner of this writing competition has been announced.
3. Each submitted paper must be the original work of a single author.
Format:
1. The length of the paper must be between 1,200 and 5,000 words. The word count applies to the total paper, including title page, body, footnotes, figures, and tables (if any).
2. No abstract is required.
3. All references should be in the form of footnotes, using either Blue Book or APA style.
4. All papers are to be submitted in Word document format, using 12 point Times New Roman font for all text, including footnotes. The body of papers must be double-spaced and footnotes should be single-spaced. All text must have one inch margins. All pages must be numbered.
5. The first page must be the cover page, which must include: the author’s name, full contact information, and school or residency program, as well as the final word count obtained from Word and a disclosure of any conflict of interest affecting the author concerning the subject matter of the paper.
6. At the top of the first page of text, only the title of the paper should appear.
7. If the author wishes to acknowledge an individual or institution, this may be done only on the cover page.
Judging:
1. All papers will be judged by a committee of national experts on medical-legal collaboration, appointed by the Center for Innovative Collaboration in Medicine and Law, in a blinded review process. The decision of the judges is final.
2. Prizes will not be awarded if the competition judges determine that no entry in a particular year meets the appropriate standards.
3. Papers will be judged according to the following criteria:
- Responsiveness to the competition question
- Originality and thoughtfulness
- Quality of analysis
- Quality of writing
Deadline and Submission:
1. All papers must be submitted in the proper format by midnight (EST) on January 2, 2014.
2. Papers must be submitted electronically.
3. Direct questions to:
Mollie and Paul Hill Student Writing Competition, Florida State University Center for Innovative Collaboration in Medicine and Law, 1115 W. Call Street, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4300.
For additional information, please visit the website.
Winners will be announced on or before April 1, 2014.