Annual Meetings
The Shryock Medal
The Shryock Medal Essay Guidelines
The Shryock Medal honors the memory of Richard Harrison Shryock, a pioneer among American historians interested in the history of medicine. The award is given for an outstanding, unpublished essay on any topic in the history of medicine. The essay must be the result of original research or it must show an unusual appreciation and understanding of problems in the history of medicine.
Eligibility:This competition is open to students enrolled in a graduate program in any discipline, including medicine, in the United States or Canada at the time of submission. No student should submit an essay to both the Shryock and the Osler Medal competitions in the same year. Essays that have been awarded an Honorable Mention are not eligible for resubmission.
Format and Presentation: The essay should be typewritten or printed in 12-point type and double-spaced, although notes (either footnotes or endnotes, at the author's choice) need not be double-spaced. Right margins should not be justified. Maximum length for the essay is 9000 words, and you must submit a word count along with yoru paper. The first page of the essay should give the title of the essay and the combined word count of text and notes, but not the author's name. Nowhere in the essay itself should the author's name appear. The essay should also have a cover sheet, which is described below.Criteria for winning essays: The committee will judge essays on:
1. the quality of writing;
2. appropriate use of sources; and
3. ability to address themes of historical significance.
All three criteria will weigh equally in the committee's deliberations.
If mailed the postmark will suffice: it is not necessary to to send them by overnight or express mail. Electronic submissions are preferred. Submission of entries: All essays submitted for the Shryock Medal must be accompanied by the following items:
1. a photocopy of your university ID or other evidence of the author's status as a student currently enrolled in a graduate program;
2. a cover sheet, on which should be presented the following information:
* your full name;
* the title of your essay;
* name of the university & graduate program in which you are enrolled;
* name and telephone number of your advisor or other faculty member who supervised the essay;
* address, telephone number(s) and e-mail address where you can be reached between February and the end of April.
Send the cover sheet and five copies of the essay to:
Results and Conferral of the Award:
The results of the competition will be communicated to entrants in March. The winner will be invited to attend the annual meeting of the American Association for the History of Medicine where the medal will be conferred. Reasonable travel expenses for the winner will be defrayed, and the winner will also receive a free two-year membership in the AAHM. Membership carries with it a subscription to the Association's journal, the Bulletin of the History of Medicine. Apart from the Shryock Medal itself, one or two Honorable Mention Awards, which include a two-year membership in the AAHM and subscription to the Bulletin of the History of Medicine, are sometimes given as well for outstanding essays.