Conley Ethics Essay Contest
Scholarship Sponsored by American Medical Association Journal of Ethics
Established by the John Conley Foundation for Ethics and Philosophy in Medicine, this annual essay contest has been administered by the AMA Journal of Ethics since 2004.
Each spring, the AMA Journal of Ethics poses a question in ethics and professionalism as the topic for the contest. Essays are judged on clarity of writing, responsiveness to questions posed in the essay prompt, and applicability to decisions presented in the case. The author of the best essay receives a prize of $5,000. The author of the winning essay is typically contacted within six weeks of the submission deadline and must be willing, if needed, to revise the essays at the request of AMA Journal of Ethics editorial staff in order to have the work published in the journal.
Please visit online for more detailed information about contest rules.
Eligibility Requirements
Currently enrolled US medical (MD) students and osteopathic (DO) students, resident physicians, or fellows in ACGME-accredited or AOA-accredited programs are eligible to submit entries. Entries are original works that must not have been previously published in print or electronic format and must not have been submitted to any other publication.
Format Requirements
Essays must not exceed 1,500 words, excluding references. Essays must be submitted by a single author in Times New Roman 12 with 1.5 spacing.
Cover Page Requirements
The first page of the single Word document file must be the cover page, which must include the author’s name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, medical school (and year in medical school) or specialty training program (and year in training program), as well as the word count of the essay (excluding cover page and references), which must be tabulated as follows: In Word, on the Review tab in the Proofing group, click the Word Count icon or use Ctrl+Shift+G. This information must be included on the cover page only; essays including the author’s name on other pages of the essay will not be reviewed. If an Entrant’s contact information changes after submission, it is the Entrant’s responsibility to provide updated contact information to the Administrator. Administrator disclaims any responsibility to update Entrant contact information.
Submission Requirements
Essays must be submitted in a Microsoft Word document file attached to an e-mail to Mr. Kelly Shaw. The title of the Microsoft Word document file name must be the Entrant's last name only. All materials must be received by 5 PM central time on 22 September 2023, as marked by electronic timestamp when received by the Administrator. Authors who have waited even until 4:55 PM, for example, to submit materials have occasionally been disappointed, due to transmission delays, so please plan accordingly.
Case
Cardiologist and scientist Dr J oversees a federally funded cardiac anti-arrhythmic pharmacologic research lab in a well-known academic health center. Dr J teaches in many of the health sciences programs of the university, often invited to lecture on topics ranging from research ethics to animal research protocol design to pharmacology to cardiac pathophysiology. Dr J is especially known among students for their lecture on how mid-21st Century animal rights campaigns informed passage of the Animal Welfare Act of 1966.
Dr J’s team’s protocols have always adhered to federal animal care and use guidelines and Dr J served for many years on the university’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Dr J’s team’s research remains a controversial point of tension, however, between animal rights activists and patient advocacy groups, whose presence is always visible to students.
Dr J’s team’s research requires induction of cardiac arrhythmias in source-bred dogs. Anti-arrhythmic pharmacologic agents are then administered to the dogs and those agents’ cardiac effects in the dogs are observed over time, sometimes until their deaths. Over the course of a typical study, many dogs experience cardiac arrest and painful gastrointestinal and pulmonary side effects of the pharmacologic agents.
Protesters, usually animal rights activists, and counter protestors have long gathered with signs, pamphlets, and bullhorns outside the campus’s known research facilities. Counter protesters are usually patients and patient advocates, including children and parents of children with congenital heart conditions that predispose them to cardiac arrhythmias. Protesters’ signs often show photographs of live mammals, presumably animals just like those used in research on campus, connected to invasively placed tubes and devices. Slogans like, “Research is not ‘care’! IACUCs are sham federal covers for animal cruelty!” are commonly seen on signs.
Students in Dr J’s lectures sometimes ask Dr J about protesters’ messages and question whether IACUC requirements are enough protection for research animals’ welfare.
Dr J considers how to respond.
Essay Prompt
If clinician scientists can advance human-centered health science without complicity in speciesism, according to which criteria should we determine whether and when IACUCs are sufficient for protecting the welfare of animals used in research?
These are the official Contest rules for the 2023 Conley Ethics Essay Contest (“Contest”). By submitting an entry to the Contest, each entrant (“Entrant”) irrevocably agrees to be bound by these Contest Rules. Each Contest Entrant also irrevocably agrees to be bound by the interpretations to these Rules and decisions of the Judges and the Administrator. Decisions of the Administrator are final.
The Administrator may change these terms and conditions at any time. If the Administrator does change the terms and conditions, the Administrator will post an amended version of these terms on the Contest website. Your continued use of the Contest website or participation in the Contest after any changes are made to the terms will be deemed to constitute your acceptance of those changes. If you object to any changes to the terms, your only remedy is to discontinue your use of the Contest website and discontinue participation in the Contest.
2. Contest Entry Period.
The Contest will begin on March 24, 2023 and will end on 5 PM Central Time, United States, on September 22, 2023 as marked by electronic timestamp when received by the Administrator.
Note: All materials must be received by the Administrator by the time specified. Authors who have waited until 4:55 PM, for example, to submit materials have occasionally been disappointed, due to transmission delays. Please plan accordingly.
3. Prizes.
From all Entrants, one winner will be selected. The Winner(s) will receive a check for up to FIVE THOUSAND AND NO/100 DOLLARS ($5,000.00) and the opportunity to have their winning essay published in the AMA Journal of Ethics (see section 9 below).
In the event the originally identified winner is disqualified, fails to claim the prize or the Administrator deems itself unable to award the Prize, the judges may select another entrant as the winner. In the event of a tie, the Administrator may elect to split the prize.
Neither the Judges nor the Administrator have any further obligation to any Entrant or Winner after the award of the Prize mentioned above. Each Entrant assumes all liabilities associated with entering this Contest and the receipt of any Prize. An Entrant may decline advancement in the Contest and decline any Prize prior to its award. Withdrawal from the Contest or declining a Prize at any time will nullify an Entrant’s designation as a Winner of this Contest.
4. How to Enter.
Essay entries must be emailed to Mr. Kelly Shaw at Kelly.Shaw@ama-assn.org within the time frames specified in the Contest Entry Period (specified in section 2 above). Each Entrant must complete the Contest Submission Requirements (specified in section 7 below). Contest entry is only available by email. Submissions in person, by mail or other means will not be accepted.
5. Contest Background.
Funded John Conley Foundation for Ethics and Philosophy in Medicine, the Conley Ethics Essay Contest (“Contest”) has been administered by the American Medical Association (“AMA”) Journal of Ethics since 2004. Each spring, the AMA Journal of Ethics poses a question in ethics and professionalism as the topic for the Contest.
6. Eligibility Requirements.
Only currently enrolled US medical students (MD and DO), resident physicians or fellows (18 years of age or older) are eligible to submit entries. Resident physicians must be a resident in an ACGME-accredited or AOA-accredited residency program. Medical students must be enrolled in an LCME-accredited or COCA-accredited medical school.
Only entries by individuals are valid. Team entries or entries which reflect the work of more than one individual will be disqualified.
Entries are original works that must not have been previously published in print or electronic format and must not have been submitted to any other contest or publication.
7. Submission Requirements.
- Form of Entry. Essays must be submitted in a Microsoft Word document file attached to an e-mail to Mr. Kelly Shaw (as described in section 4 above). The title of the Microsoft Word document file name must be the Entrant’s last name only.Any accompanying materials submitted with an Entrant’s entry (for example, videos, photos, etc.) will only be reviewed at the judges’ discretion.
- Word length and font size. Essays must not exceed 1,500 words, excluding references. Essays must be written by a single author and typed in Times New Roman 12 with 1.5 spacing.
- Cover Page. Each Entry also must include Entrant’s contact information. The first page of the single Word document file must be the cover page, which must include the author’s name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, medical school (and year in medical school) or specialty training program (and year in training program), as well as the word count of the essay (excluding cover page and references), which must be tabulated as follows: In Word, on the Review tab in the Proofing group, click the Word Count icon or use Ctrl+Shift+G. This information must be included on the cover page only; essays including the author’s name on other pages of the essay will not be reviewed. If an Entrant’s contact information changes after submission, it is the Entrant’s responsibility to provide updated contact information to the Administrator. Administrator disclaims any responsibility to update Entrant contact information.
- Multiple Entries are not allowed. If an Entrant submits more than one entry (whether under the same or different names), the Administrator at its discretion may disqualify one or all of the Entrant’s submissions.
- Once an Entrant submits an Entry, the Entrant is prohibited from making substantive changes or alterations to the Entry. No substitutions or materially new versions of an Entry will be accepted under any circumstances once an Entry is submitted.
- The Contest is open only to individuals who are 18 years old or older as of their time of entry and who have not been convicted of a felony or crime of moral turpitude.
- Utilization of content, technology, materials or other intellectual property not created or owned by Entrant or submitted without authorized license is grounds for disqualification and legal action.
- Evidence that an Entrant is misrepresenting or inducing others to misrepresent support or engagement with Entrant’s project is grounds for disqualification.
- ALL INFORMATION SUBMITTED MUST BE NON-CONFIDENTIAL.
- Employees of Administrator or its subsidiaries or affiliates (and the immediate family members of said employees) are not eligible to participate in the Contest. Family members and extended family members of Contest Judges are not eligible to participate in the Contest.