The Student Voice Prize international essay competition has turned 10!
The Student Voice Prize (SVP) is an annual, international essay competition that raises the profile of rare diseases within the medical field, particularly with medical students, nurses and scientists who may have never come across rare diseases in their training.
SVP is a decade-long collaboration amongst Beacon: for rare diseases, Medics for Rare Diseases and the Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases, launched to showcase the voices of trainee healthcare professionals worldwide.
To celebrate this monumental milestone in SVP’s history, our CEO, Dr Rick Thompson, and the CEO of Medics for Rare Disease, Dr Lucy McKay, took the opportunity to reflect on the competition’s impact and to publish their perspectives on this beloved competition in the Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases.
Join them as they go down memory lane, beginning with the simple beginnings of The Student Voice Prize and building connections to exploring the lasting impact the competition has had on the rare disease community and more!
A few highlights from their article include:
The Student Voice Prize was the inspired idea of an intern (Rhys) working for Beacon (then Findacure) to encourage medical students to learn about rare diseases.
In 2018, we launched the Patient Group Partnering scheme, allowing student participants to request a direct connection with rare disease patient organisations.
Students now had the opportunity to hear and reflect on the stories of people with lived experience and patient groups could raise awareness of the unique challenges facing their community.
In 2023, this annual essay competition received more than 100 entries from 18 countries and 30 universities, and the team paired more than 90 entrants with patient groups to support both their learning and writing.
Rebecca Nunn’s essay, “It’s not all in my head!” – The complex relationship between rare diseases and mental health problems, has 40 citations and the winning essays have a combined total of over 46,000 article views to date.
The competition has launched long-term careers in rare disease with several participants going on to become involved in patient groups, take part in The Global Genes RARE Compassion Project, become Medics for Rare Disease Ambassadors or pursue careers in rare disease specialisms.
We commend Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases and Springer Nature Journals for their commitment to publishing student reflections and insights as part of The Student Voice Prize – Long may this collaboration continue!
