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BAUS Medical Student Essay Competition 2024

Essay Submissions for 2024 closed on 21st February 2024

Medical students were invited to submit a 1500-word essay for the competition.  The topic for 2024 was be:

"What is the role of Artificial Intelligence in Urology at present and what does the future hold?"

Word limit: 1500, excluding title, abstract (no more than 200 words) and references.  The word count includes words used in figures & figure captions, tables, appendices, footers and in-text citations.  It is important to read the Guidance Notes for full information on the format of the essay.  Essays may not be accepted if they do not meet the required format.

Students must be undergraduates enrolled at a medical school in either England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland on the closing date. Entries from students attending a medical school in overseas countries will not be eligible. The author of the essay judged to be the most outstanding in each medical school will receive a prize certificate and will be entered into the national competition.

The prize for the winner of the national competition is £750 with £500 for the runner-up.  The national winner and runner-up will be presented with their certificates at the BAUS Annual Scientific Meeting, and BAUS will give them guest registration for the conference.

Please click here to submit your essay to the BAUS Office by 12 noon on 21 February 2024.

2023 Competition - National Winner & Runner-up

The 2023 Medical Student Essay competition was entitled:

“"What steps can be taken in urology to recover from the COVID pandemic? How do we address health inequalities exposed by the pandemic? How do we promote good urological health?"

... and was organised by Mr Ben Ayres, St George's Hospital, London.

Winner: Grace Olatunde from Aston Medical School, Birmingham.
Runner-up: Ken Mackay from University of Aberdeen

 

2022 Competition - National & Regional Winners

The 2022 Medical Student Essay Competition was entitled:

“The healthcare sector generates about 8% of our greenhouse gases, with much coming from the operating theatre. What steps can urology as a specialty take to become more sustainable?"

... and was organised by Mr Ben Ayres, St George's Hospital, London.

National Winners

Winner: Amelia Crew from University of Leicester Medical School - view image of presentation at BAUS 2022
Runner-up: Chirag Rao from University College London Medical School - view image of presentation at BAUS 2022

Regional Winners

Click here for a full-screen list of regional winners for 2021 opening in a new browser window (** denotes a national winner or runner-up).

 

2021 Competition - National & Regional Winners

The 2021 Medical Student Essay Competition was entitled: 

“How has COVID-19 changed undergraduate Urology teaching? What innovations have been most successful? Has anything been lost?"

... and was organised by Mr Ben Ayres, St George's Hospital, London.

National Winners

National Winner: Lucinda Motie from University College London Medical School
Runner-up: Emily Finbow from University of Sheffield Medical School
Highly Commended: Papakas Wijeyendram from University of Southampton Medical School & Lavesh Mirpuri from Leeds School of Medicine


Regional Winners

Click here for a full-screen list of regional winners for 2021 opening in a new browser window (** denotes a national winner/runner-up/highly commended).

 

2020 Competition - National & Regional Winners

The 2020 Medical Student Essay Competition was entitled:

“How should urological undergraduate education be best delivered in an
expanding and busy undergraduate curriculum?”

... and was organised by Mr Toby Page (Newcastle).

National Winners

National Winner: Fortis Gaba from the University of Edinburgh Medical School 
Runner-up: Natasha Alford from University of Bristol Medical School 
Highly Commended: Akshay Narayan from University College London Medical School 


Regional Winners

Click here for a full-screen list of regional winners for 2020 opening in a new browser window (** denotes a national winner/runner-up/highly commended).

 

2019 Competition - National & Regional Winners

The 2019 Medical Student Assay Competition was entitled ...

Is there a role for kidney cancer screening on the NHS?"

... and was organised by Mr Toby Page (Newcastle).

National Winner & Runner-up

The 2019 winner was Kiran Saini (Oxford University School of Medicine - click here for high-res image) and the runner-up Shashwat Singh (University of Edinburgh - click here for high-res image) with Mr Toby Page:


Regional Winners

Click here for a full list of regional winners for 2019 in a new browser window (** denotes a national winner/runner-up). Other regional award winners are pictured below:



 

2018 Competition - National & Regional Winners

The 2018 Medical Student Essay Competition was entitled ...

How can UK urologists justify the expense of using the latest technology within a nationally funded health system?"

... and was organised by Mr Toby Page (Newcastle).

National Winners

Sacha Moore, University of Southampton Medical School and Mikolaj Kowal, University of Manchester School of Medicine (pictures to follow).

Regional Winners

Click here to view a full list of regional winners for 2018 in a new browser window (** denotes a national winner)

 

2017 Competition - National & Regional Winners

The 2017 Medical Student Essay Competition was entitled ...

Urological technology - where will we be in 20 years?"

... and was organised by Mr Toby Page (Newcastle).

Images below show winners of the national essay competition, Mostafa Beshr (below leftLeicester University Medical School) and Rye Yern Yap (below right - University of Sheffield Medical School) with Mr Toby Page (below centre):

Regional Winners

Click here for a full-screen view (in a new browser window) of the full list of regional winners for 2017 (** denotes a national winner).

Images of the presentation of certificates to some of the regional winners of the competition are shown below:



 

2016 Competition - National & Regional Winners

National Winners

The 2016 Medical Student Essay Competition was entitled ...

What role should simulation play in the selection and training of urologists?"

... and was organised by Mr Nick Rukin (Wolverhampton).

The winners of the national essay competition were Andrew Robinson, Keele University School of Medicine (click here for high-res image), and George Miller, King's College London School of Medicine (image not currently available).

Download Andrew Robinson's essay and George Miller's essay.


Regional Winners

Click here to view a full list (in a new browser wihndow) of regional winners for 2016 (** denotes a national winner):

We have recorded the presentation of certificates to some of the regional winners of the competition in the image(s) below:



 

2015 Competition - National & Regional Winners

National Winners

The 2015 Medical Student Essay Competition was entitled ...

Social media in urological teaching & training: a new era or passing fad?"

... and was organised by Mr Ian Pearce (Manchester) and Mr Kieran O'Flynn (Salford).

The winners of the national essay competition were Tim Napier-Hemy, University of Liverpool Medical School (click here for high-res image), and Joel Ward, Oxford University Medical School (click here for high-res image).

Download Tim Napier-Hemy's essay and Joel Ward's essay.


Regional Winners

Certificates have also been presented to some of the regional winners of the competition - see the image(s) below:


 

2014 Competition - National Winners

The 2014 Medical Student Essay Competition was entitled...

This house believes that the UK government should implement a screening programme for prostate cancer"

... and was organised by Mr Ian Pearce (Manchester) and Mr Kieran O'Flynn (Salford).

The winners of the national essay competition were Sarah Williams, St George's Medical School (click here for hi-res image), and Katherine Turner, Bristol University Medical School (click here for high-res image) 

Download Sarah Williams's essay and Katherine Turner's essay

 

2013 Competition - National Winners

The 2013 Medical Student Essay Competition was entitled ...

Investigation and management of haematuria"

... and was organised by Mr Ian Pearce (Manchester) and Mr Kieran O'Flynn (Salford).

The national winners of the essay competition were Mueez Waqar, University of Liverpool Medical School and Alex Luen Hua Loh, University of Edinburgh College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine. 

Both essays have been published in the British Journal of Medical & Surgical Urology (now The Journal of Clinical Urology) and are available for download below:

Download Mueez Waqar's essay

Download Alex Luen Hua Loh's essay

 

2012 Competition - National Winners

The 2012 Medical Student Essay Competition was entitled ...

Medical management of symptomatic benign prostatic enlargement"

... and was organised by Mr Ian Pearce (Manchester) and Mr Kieran O'Flynn (Salford).

The national winners of the essay competition were Wazir Haja Sahabudeen, University of Bristol Medical School and Harriett Latham-Cork, Peninsula College of Medicine. 

Both essays have been published in the British Journal of Medical & Surgical Urology (now The Journal of Clinical Urology) and are available for download below:

Download Wazir Haja Sahabudeen's essay

Download Harriett Latham-Cork's essay