School of Medicine students introduce Candle Award
Students at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine will be asked this week to nominate basic science faculty, residents, interns, attending physicians, nurses, dietitians, or other individuals for a new monthly student-initiated award called the Candle Award.
The Candle Award will be given for devotion and extraordinary service toward the students’ medical education.
“The Candle Award is both a symbol and an acronym for those individuals who help light the way for medical students and embody the traits we wish to recognize: caring, advocating, nurturing, doing, leadership and empathy,” said Jeffrey Holmes, a third-year student who is a member of the student curriculum committee who initiated the new award. Holmes now chairs the Candle Committee, comprised of students from each class. The students have been guided in setting up the qualifications for the award by Drs. Steven G. Gabbe, dean of VUSM, Bonnie M. Miller, associate dean for Medical Students, and George C. Bolian, associate professor of Psychiatry and chair of the academic affairs committee.
“The award is given by Vanderbilt medical students to those individuals who have sacrificially devoted themselves to teaching and mentoring,” Holmes said. “Recipients of the award have been nominated and chosen based upon their positive impact on the lives of physicians-in-training, and are recognized by their students as examples of excellence in medical education.”
The recipients can range from certified nurse anesthetists, to physicians who lecture large groups about basic sciences, to residents who work with two or three students on a general surgical rotation.”
The award will recognize individuals who, although may not work with a large number of students, still make a significant contribution to our medical education, Holmes said.
Each recipient will be awarded a black and gold Candle Award pin and will be recognized in front of their peers in a setting such as grand rounds, Holmes said.