History & Special Collections Division

CHARLES DONALD O' MALLEY PRIZE IN MEDICAL HISTORY

The Charles Donald O'Malley Prize in Medical History is awarded in the spring for the best essay on a medico-historical subject written during the medical school years by a student enrolled in the UCLA School of Medicine. The prize serves to honor the memory of UCLA's distiguished medical historian, and to encourage an interest in the history of medicine among medical students. It is made possible through the financial support of the Ahmanson Foundation.

Essays appropriate for submission may treat from an historical viewpoint any one of a wide range of topics in the clinical, scientific, social, and ethical dimensions of medicine. Examples of suitable topics include (but are not limited to); the historical development of a contemporary medical problem; the work and influence of a prominent physician or medical scientist; a health crisis in the past, such as an epidemic;or the development of an important innovation in medical science or clinical practice.

Essays should demonstrate either research or an unusual appreciation or understanding of the problem or situation discussed. It must be entirely the work of one contestant. Essays submitted to pre-clinical or clinical departments in the School of Medicine for other distinctions are eligible as entries. A suggested, although not mandatory, length is 15-30 double-spaced typewritten pages.

The winning contestant will receive an award of $2,000 and a large bronze medallion with a likeness of Charles Donald O'Malley. The O'Malley Prize Committee reserves the right to award Honorable Mention and $500 to one or more non-winning entries that are deemed to be highly meritorious.

A set of guidelines is available in the Student Affairs Office and from the History & Special Collections Division of the Louise Darling Biomedical Library. After reading these, prospective entrants are also urged to obtain further information from Dr. Robert G. Frank, Medical History Division, Department of Neurobiology, or from Dr. Dora B. Weiner, Department of Psychiatry. Elective credit may be arranged for spent researching essays in the history of medicine.

The papers of the winners are cataloged in the History and Special Collections Division of the Louise Darling Biomedical Library. For a list of titles, use the following search in the UCLA On-Line catalog, ORION:

fnt charles donald omalley prize

The deadline for submission of essays is April 1.

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