Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED)’s annual poetry competition was named for and envisioned in the spirit of William Carlos Williams. It honors his legacy by celebrating contemporary clinician writers—both medical students and established practitioners—whose work illustrates the art of medicine and the dynamic interplay of health care and the humanities.
Since 1982 NEOMED has recognized exceptional medical student poetry by awarding first-, second-, and third-place prizes, as well as honorable mentions, to students enrolled in a medical degree program in the US, Puerto Rico, or Canada. NEOMED’s William Carlos Williams poetry competition is the oldest running poetry competition for medical students in the United States. The competition introduced a new category for physician poets in 2025, welcoming submissions from any rank of physician (MD or DO) at any career stage, from residency to retirement, in North America.
More details about the poetry competition, and a review of the 2026 recipients of the awards, are available in Rachel Conrad Bracken’s open-access article William Carlos Williams Poetry Competition Celebrates Medical Student and Physician Poets in The Journal of Medical Humanities (September 2026) that is also archived here.
