Each year, recipients of the Molina Scholarships and the Pam and Rolando Del Maestro Essay Awards are invited to present their research at the Annual American Osler Society Meeting. This year’s conference, held in Kansas City, three Molina Scholars and McGill medical students, Saman Arfaie (who graduated in the spring), Neevya Balasubramaniam and Yoel Yakobi (both from the Class of 2025), Pam and Rolando Essay award recipient Meygan Brody (Class of 2026) and 2023 McGill medical grad Brendan Ross all presented their papers. The group did not come home empty handed.
Saman Arfaie and Neevya Balasubramaniam were among the winners of American Osler Bean Awards for 2022 and 2023, respectively. The award comes with a $1,500 stipend to support medical student research in medical history and medical humanities.
McGill students went on to sweep all major awards at the conference. Yoel Yakobi secured first place with his compelling presentation titled “An Army of the (Illustrated) Dead: The Role of Andreas Vesalius’s Skeleton and Muscle Men in Overthrowing Galen as the Emperor of Anatomy”. Meygan Brody earned second place for her insightful oral presentation, “Mortality in Medicine: How Palliative Care and Euthanasia Reframe Our Relationship with Death”, while Saman Arfaie took third place with his fascinating work on “Leonardo Da Vinci’s Medical Library: Mining the Secrets of Genius and Creativity”.
This year’s conference featured 32 medical student presentations from nine medical schools across the United States, Canada and England. McGill was the only Canadian institution represented, underscoring its students’ longstanding dedication to the medical humanities.
Congratulations to our outstanding medical students on these prestigious awards!
About
The McGill Osler Society, dedicated to fostering a deep appreciation for the history and philosophy of medicine, plays a pivotal role in this educational experience. The society encourages students to delve into the medical humanities through various initiatives, promoting a well-rounded understanding of medicine that combines scientific rigor with humanistic insight. This commitment to integrating the medical humanities distinguishes McGill Medicine as a leader in medical education.
The Molina Foundation Scholarships and the Pam and Rolando Del Maestro Essay Awards provide invaluable support to McGill medical students, enabling them to embark on summer projects focused on medical humanities and other critical areas within medicine. These opportunities allow students to transcend the traditional medical school curriculum, offering a chance to explore medicine through a broader, more reflective lens and significantly enriching their educational journey at McGill.