gold humanism honor society essay

Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS): How to Earn This Medical Honor

• By Dhaval Gandhi
• June 12, 2024
• honor society

One of the biggest criticisms of the entire medical field is that healthcare providers lack empathy and do not provide compassionate care. For the past few decades, there have been large movements to address these concerns, emphasizing that medical care should treat patients as human beings and not merely as cases or conditions.

The Gold Humanism Honor Society honors medical students who exemplify these positive traits, encouraging all medical students to always treat patients with respect and empathy.

Including GHHS membership on your CV or resume can help you positively differentiate yourself from your peers and achieve your career aspirations.

In this article, we will explain what GHHS is, its founding principles, why medical students should care, how you can position yourself to be admitted, and what to do if you do not earn GHHS status.

What Is GHHS (Gold Humanism Honor Society)?

The Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) is a prestigious national honor society dedicated to recognizing and fostering humanism in medicine. Established in 2002 by The Arnold P. Gold Foundation, GHHS honors medical students, residents, and faculty who exemplify exceptional humanistic qualities, such as compassion, empathy, respect, and integrity, in their clinical practice.

The Arnold P. Gold Foundation is also known for starting the White Coat Ceremony, which is a practice now adopted by 99% of MD schools and in 19 countries across the globe, as well as the highly prestigious Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award . The goal of the Gold Foundation is to ensure physicians practice patient-centered care based on humanistic principles.

But let’s take a step back and discuss what an honors medical society is. An honors medical society is an organization that recognizes outstanding medical students for their achievements, research contributions, and personal traits. There are several honor medical societies out there, but the most important two are Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) and GHHS.

The key difference between the two is that while AOA is more focused on highlighting students for their academics and research, GHHS focuses on students who have extensive community engagement and utilize patient-centered approaches to medicine.

The History of GHHS

The Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) was established in 2002 by The Arnold P. Gold Foundation, an organization dedicated to fostering humanism in healthcare. The foundation itself was founded in 1988 by Dr. Arnold P. Gold, a professor of clinical neurology and pediatrics at Columbia University.

The society was born out of a growing recognition that medical training and practice were becoming increasingly focused on technology and efficiency, often at the expense of the human connection between doctor and patient. The society was designed to identify and support medical students, residents, and faculty who demonstrated exemplary humanistic behaviors and to inspire others to follow their example.

Although this honors medical society started a little more than 20 years ago, over 175 medical schools have active GHHS chapters. See which schools have GHHS chapters .

Why Should Med Students Care?

There are multiple compelling reasons why medical students should care about GHHS.

1 | Recognition of Humanistic Excellence

GHHS recognizes and celebrates students who have demonstrated exceptional interactions with patients. Being formally acknowledged sets students apart from their peers and makes it clear to future employers that providing humanistic care is your top priority as a physician.

Additionally, having membership in GHHS will enhance your residency applications, as many programs actively value and seek candidates who exhibit strong interpersonal skills and have a patient-centered approach to medicine.

2 | Networking and Professional Development

GHHS is an exclusive network, and having membership opens doors to like-minded professionals who value humanistic medicine. This network comes with opportunities for mentorship, support, and professional development.

Additionally, because GHHS is a newer organization in the medical community, they are constantly looking for medical students and physicians to take on leadership roles within the society. By doing so, you are further bolstering your CV.

How to Earn Gold Humanism Honor Society Status

GHHS is unique in the sense that applicants need to be peer nominated and then selected from the pool of nominated students. Students eligible for nomination are typically 3rd year medical students who have completed their core clinical rotations. The majority of schools will limit the number of admitted students to 15% of the total class size.

Who submits your peer nomination depends on how your medical school operates. Some schools require nominations from fellow classmates, whereas others ask physicians you worked with during your clerkship years to submit the form.

Often, the nomination form will ask for the following information:

• Examples of how you demonstrated humanistic qualities
• Rating your clinical care skills
• Involvement with advocacy and leadership positions
• Commitment to your community
• Engagement with self-reflection and narrative medicine

After a student is nominated, the selection process becomes equally variable. At some schools, nominated students are asked to interview for a position, while others will do classwide elections. Naturally, the classwide elections have amassed criticism, as many medical students view these elections as popularity contests.

If you want to know your school’s specific policy, we encourage you to ask your student affairs office for the most up-to-date information.

What If You Don’t Get GHHS?

Because many schools limit the number of admitted students to 15% of the total class size, many students will ultimately not be admitted into this prestigious honors society. However, you should not be overly worried if you do not get this recognition.

1 | Residency Applications Are Holistic

GHHS status is only one component of your residency application. Residency programs evaluate candidates based on many different factors, including clinical performance, letters of recommendations , personal statement, research experiences , and more.

Residency applications are more holistic than GHHS, so much more goes into predicting if you would be a good doctor than whether or not you were deemed to be in your class’s top 15% of students who demonstrated humanitarian values. You can more than make up this ground by having a stellar personal statement and giving excellent residency interview answers.

2 | Alternative Recognizations and Opportunities

There are other honor medical societies and awards you can apply for, like AOA. Earning this status would be equally or more impactful.

Another opportunity to consider is pursuing a second graduate degree. Earning a second graduate degree, like an MBA or MPH, can also separate you from your peers.

You can also become a founder of a club on campus, attend conferences, participate in national workshops, and build connections. Building your research experience and publications is a soft component most admissions committees take seriously.

The Med School Insiders Ultimate Premed & Medical Student Research Course takes a deep dive into the world of research to help you differentiate your application from other candidates. Created by doctors with over 60 publications each, we’ll show you how it’s done step by step!

3 | Development of Humanistic Qualities without Formal Recognition

Commitment to humanistic values, such as respect, compassion, and empathy, occurs daily through interactions with patients. Even if you do not earn formal recognition for these traits, developing these skills will help you throughout your career and still give you a leg up on peers who have not intentionally cultivated these qualities.

Success in Residency and Beyond

The Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) is a prestigious organization dedicated to honoring medical students, residents, and faculty who exemplify compassion, empathy, and humanistic patient care. Membership in GHHS is a testament to one’s commitment to the core values of medicine and offers numerous benefits, including enhanced residency applications, networking opportunities, and a lifelong affiliation with a community dedicated to humanism in healthcare.

Medical students aspiring to earn GHHS status should proactively demonstrate humanistic qualities in their daily interactions, engage in patient-centered care, take on leadership roles, and participate in community service. Seek opportunities to reflect on your practice, develop your communication skills, and build strong relationships with peers and mentors who can support your nomination.

By embodying the principles of compassion, empathy, and respect, you can make a profound impact on your patients’ lives and set the foundation for a fulfilling career in medicine.

Residency Application Editing

Whether or not you earn GHHS, Med School Insiders can help you prepare a residency application that will get you noticed by your top choice programs. We offer industry leading application editing, tutoring, and mock interviews tailored to your specific needs. Access our Residency Admissions Consulting Services today.

We also offer a number of online resources, including guides on the entire residency application process , how to choose a specialty , how to successfully interview , and more.

Dhaval Gandhi

How to Earn AOA Honor Medical Society Status

Learn what the AOA Honor Medical Society is and the steps to take to earn this prestigious AOA status.

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Gold Humanism Honor Society Application Essay - On Humanist Medicine

Humanism is the perspective through which I understand my desire to help others feel secure as persons, while under duress, in otherwise dehumanizing circumstances. It is an outlook regarding medicine, rather than a skill set within it; a set of priorities that refocus care around the patient as an individual, beyond the scope of their immediate medical predicament.

The practice of medicine is rife with de-humanization, from issues of autonomy to concepts of wellbeing in general. In most cases, expedience and limitations of circumstance set the priorities of care. When emergent treatment allows for only superficially informed consent, or when time constraints and language barriers force a patient to accept a care plan without adequate understanding, human connection is sacrificed for systematic efficiency. Whatever its origin, however ubiquitous its practice or beneficent its intent, this failure to fully engage as humans can only degrade the basis of trust underlying the patient-physician interaction.

In this regard, the hospital experience stands out. From admission to discharge, the inpatient experience immerses the patient in a rigid and alien culture of medicine. The routines of daily life are disrupted, the social order and environment unknown, forcing a patient to abruptly reconstruct their own identity within the bounds of illness. A patient's hospitalization risks becoming an existential threat, and demands they reshape their sense of self in response to pathology they may neither understand nor accept.

Throughout my brief time on rotations this year, I've met many patients grappling with this phenomenon. Across ages, genders, cultures; these people find themselves stranded in illness, unable to explain exactly how they came to be here in the care of strangers, awaiting some vague and jargon-shrouded cure. Some react with anger, others with resignation, some small few with relief, but most share a sense of frustration at their inability to alter their own state of affairs.

With most of these patients, I—as a medical student—can do very little to influence their care plan, or shift the course of their physical illness. Rounding on my patients, recording their complaints and physical findings, generally serves a useful but minimal role in their routine care. In many cases, the protections that buffer me from liability wind up insulating me from meaningful patient care. As frustrating as these limitations can be, they provide me with an environment of otherwise stunning potential for interpersonal empowerment.

If my role as a medical student renders me impotent as a practitioner, it leaves me all the more empowered as a human actor within the healthcare system. I am uniquely entrusted with access into the lives of those undergoing profound stress, which allows me to address gaps in care and barriers to meaningful communication that might otherwise be invisible to healthcare providers. The most useful I've felt has been in simply talking story with my patients and their families, encouraging them to remember and engage with their lives, to set goals and priorities beyond the walls of their hospital room.

These conversations, these moments of semi-contrived normalcy, do not relate to the treatment of physical illness per se . They represent an effort in parallel with treatment, with complementary goals. Acting to empower a patient's sense of autonomy or self-value does not serve toward curing a pathology, but functions to aid a patient's transition away from a perspective of illness. This psychological transition, however abstract, is absolutely essential to the individual healing process. This focus on the subject, the patient, rather than the science of medicine, is Humanism at work.

Gold Humanism Honor Society

• Indiana University Student Research Symposium Committee

The following pages contain individual essays written by students of the Gold Humanism Honor Society, a national honor society that aims to highlight compassionate patient care and humanism within the field of medicine. Many students showcase narratives that highlight interactions with patients that taught them not only how to manage disease medically, but also important lessons about the human condition - how to treat all those who seek our help with empathy and understanding. We hope that the examples that follow inspire all those who read it to provide holistic care to all our patients.

Copyright to works published in Insight is retained by the author(s).

Insight: Medical Student Journal ISSN: 2639-1600

Gold Humanism Honor Society: Home

Gold humanism honor society.

The Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) is a community of medical students, physicians, and other leaders who have been recognized for their compassionate care. GHHS reinforces and supports the human connection in healthcare, which is essential for the health of patients  and  clinicians.

Read more about the GHHS, their initiatives, and chapters  here .

What is Humanism?

As defined by the Gold Foundation,

Humanism in healthcare is characterized by a respectful and compassionate relationship between physicians, as well as all other members of the healthcare team, and their patients. It reflects attitudes and behaviors that are sensitive to the values and the cultural and ethnic backgrounds of others.

These attributes are highlighted as essential to humanism in healthcare, which the Gold Foundation describes here :

• Integrity:  the congruence between expressed values and behavior
• Excellence:  clinical expertise
• Collaboration & Compassion:  the awareness and acknowledgement of the suffering of another and the desire to relieve it
• Altruism:  the capacity to put the needs and interests of another before your own
• Respect & Resilience:  the regard for the autonomy and values of another person
• Empathy:  the ability to put oneself in another’s situation, e.g., physician as patient
• Service:  the sharing of one’s talent, time and resources with those in need; giving beyond what is required.

Events and Activities

Solidarity Week for Compassionate Patient Care is a special week that takes place each year around Valentine’s Day to celebrate patients and clinicians and the special bond of trust and compassion that yields the best care.  This year, Solidarity Week will be held February 12-16, 2024!

Click here to learn more about Solidarity Week events past and future.

Join the upcoming event,  Mental Health: Response to Stress and How We Heal,  February 12, 2024.

Learn more or RSVP here .

• The labyrinth: presence and practice finger labyrinths. What happens when five nurse clinicians/PhD students come together in community to apply nursing theoretical constructs to the art of wellbeing? An immersive, nature-oriented, meditational labyrinth drawing attention restoration theory into practice and play. Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing PhD students Wendy Arena, Elizabeth DelSignore, Caitlin Healy, Elizabeth Terhune, and Amelia Toye invite you to step into the experience.
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• Last Updated: Feb 9, 2024 1:31 PM
• URL: https://libraryguides.umassmed.edu/GoldHumanism

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2023 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest

First-place medical student essay: the nail salon.

Erhart, Federico

F. Erhart is a third-year medical student, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida; email: [email protected] .

When Mr. D. walked through the door, he was not alone. He brought with him the street, that inseparable and cruel partner that had been part of his life for too long. His skin, hair, and clothes were all impregnated with the scent of abandonment and despair. His shoes were crumbling under his feet, forever crushed by an unforgiving loneliness. The crooked, pendulating gait resembled an imbalanced human metronome. There was a calm yet guarded look in his yellowish eyes, eyes that had learned not to trust anybody, not to remain closed for too long, not to shed any useless tears of pain or joy. But those eyes suddenly brightened up when they saw Dr. J., probably the only human being left to trust.

To not like Dr. J. was impossible. Short, bald, with a charming accent and jovial spirit, this man had the gift of softening up the roughest patients while delivering the best possible care. He did not mind keeping up with a strict schedule; what mattered was that each patient got what they needed and that usually involved calling pharmacies to confirm medications, requesting the help of social workers to sort out housing or transportation barriers, or texting colleagues to have an opinion on this or that condition or drug. He seemed to understand very well that those 30 or 40 minutes before him were the only chance many of these people had to communicate with someone who had more than an elementary school degree. Therefore, his work went far beyond managing HIV and chronic diseases. He often spent time discussing his patients’ family or work-related issues or simply sharing his wisdom in terms of how to approach life and the choices that we ought to make.

From a corner of the tiny examination room, I simply nodded and smiled, captivated by Dr. J’s charisma and overflowing empathy. I was a mere shadow, a mostly silent observer of these rather intimate rituals that were practiced dozens of times a day at the clinic. Gradually, Dr. J. started to pull me into a conversation with Mr. D., who was talking about his trouble remembering to take all those pills every day. A question here, a comment there, a simple request, an easy procedure, Dr. J. made me feel that I was more than a reflection on the wall.

Yet, I could not help but look at Mr. D’s shoes. Severely outgrown toenails were coming out of them like stubborn roots in a forgotten garden. After a long conversation, medications were discussed, labs were ordered, and a follow-up appointment was scheduled. “But, what about those toenails?!” I wanted to shout. The fact that Mr. D. had not mentioned them seemed very strange to me. It was evident that they were a problem. Perhaps he did not want to bother Dr. J. with such a petty issue? Or instead, was this something Dr. J. was not prepared to or did not even want to focus on?

I feared shedding light on a problem we could not resolve right then and there. Regardless, I dared to ask Mr. D. about his toenails. Dr. J.’s face froze for a second. My heart stopped, thinking that I had overstepped my role. The doctor then looked at the patient’s shoes. The story was rather simple: Mr. D. could not cut his toenails anymore and there was no one around to ask. After years of uncontrolled growth, the nails were so badly curved and so tough that they were stabbing the flesh of both feet. It was so painful he could barely walk at this point.

Dr. J. thanked me for my observation and immediately called the nurse. I felt relieved that help was on the way. Dr. J. instructed her to go to the surgery floor and get some special tools. “Normal toenail cutters won’t do it,” he said. And he was right; years of neglect had turned those nails into hard, thick, twisted wood, so fused with the toes that one could not tell where the toes ended and the nails began. He was not even sure of how, but he was on a mission to fix his patient’s problem. “Everything will be alright, Mr. D.,” he said with a smile.

There we were, a seasoned and well-respected doctor and his shadow, looking at those feet lying on the bed and not knowing exactly where to start. “You hold the foot like this, and I’ll start cutting,” he whispered before putting his goggles on. The task proved to be harder than imagined, even with those fancy surgical tools. The patient was silent, perhaps embarrassed by the whole situation. Dr. J. made a few jokes to lighten up the spirits. In fact, he was enjoying his job so much that I could swear he was humming an 80s tune. It was then my turn at the cutter. As I was clearly struggling to cut through the dense keratin bundles, Dr. J. suggested that should my medicine career not work out, I could always open a nail salon. Mr. D. said he would be my first client. We all laughed and continued to chat throughout the procedure, more like a group of friends than people who meet to discuss viral loads, vaccination, and basic metabolic panels.

As Mr. D. stood up and attempted a few steps, tears of joy went down his cheeks. He was now free from the claws that were making his life miserable. This was much more important to him than talking about labs, medications, or dietary changes. Dr. J. and I looked at each other with a complicit smile, knowing that what we had done that day was completely unexpected. Yet, it was the purest manifestation of empathy and compassionate care and love toward a fellow human being. In other words, that day we practiced medicine.

The Arnold P. Gold Foundation holds an annual essay contest to encourage medical and nursing students to reflect on their experiences and engage in narrative writing. The contest began in 1999 open to medical students and expanded in 2018 to include nursing students. Students are asked to respond to a specific prompt in a 1,000-word essay.

For the 2023 contest, students were asked to use the following quote as inspiration to illuminate how the human connection can make a meaningful difference in care.

“I want to give you something, or I want to take something from you. But I want to feel the exchange, the warm hand on the shoulder, the song coming out and the ear holding onto it.”

—Excerpt from the poem “How Far Away We Are” by Ada Limón, U.S. Poet Laureate

More than 530 essays were submitted. A distinguished panel of judges, including esteemed healthcare professionals and notable authors, reviewed the submissions. Three winning essays from medical students and three winning essays from nursing students were selected, along with 11 honorable mentions. Academic Medicine partners with the Arnold P. Gold Foundation to publish selected essays, which exemplify the journal’s commitment to the value of humanism in healthcare. The winning essays will be published in consecutive issues of Academic Medicine and the Journal of Professional Nursing in the fall/winter of 2023.

The contest is named for Hope Babette Tang-Goodwin, MD, who was an assistant professor of pediatrics and an exemplar of humanism in healthcare. Her approach to medicine combined a boundless enthusiasm for her work, intellectual rigor, and deep compassion for her patients.

The Arnold P. Gold Foundation is a nonprofit organization that champions humanism in healthcare, defined as compassionate, collaborative, and scientifically excellent care. This Gold standard of care embraces all and targets barriers to such care. The Gold Foundation empowers experts, learners, and leaders to together create systems and cultures that support humanistic care for all. Learn more at www.gold-foundation.org .

Editor’s Note

The patient’s name and other details have been changed to protect patient privacy .

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Gold Humanism Honor Society

The Arnold P. Gold Foundation initiated the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) in 2001 in hopes that the values of humanism and professionalism would be recognized in individuals that demonstrate excellence in clinical care, leadership, compassion, and dedication to service. There is a growing recognition that a health care provider’s professionalism and humanism directly and tangibly improve the quality of patient care, just as does a physician’s mastery of the science of medicine. In 2007 the George Washington University joined more than 50 medical schools in establishing a chapter of the GHHS. We seek to recognize and validate the importance of empathy, altruism, and professionalism in the establishment of healing relationships between physicians and patients.

We are proud to recognize honorees from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences that have been nominated by their peers and confirmed by members of the staff and faculty as outstanding examples of professionalism and humanism.

• Nebraska Medicine
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Gold Humanism Honor Society

The University of Nebraska School of Medicine Chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) was founded in 2015 with support from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. The UNMC chapter is part of the greater national GHHS organization that recognizes and supports humanistic exemplars in medicine. The inaugural class of medical students, residents, and faculty was elected and inducted in Spring 2015 and all joined together with the common aim of instilling a culture of respect, dignity, and compassion for patients and professionals at UNMC.

Being a member of GHHS is a significant honor and GHHS status is recognized [by residency Program Directors] as comparable to selection into other medical honor societies such as Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA).

Donate to the Gold Humanism Honor Society

The mission of the Gold Humanism Honor Society at the University of Nebraska Medical Center is to model, support, and advocate for humanism in medicine. We will pursue our mission through fostering compassionate patient-centered care, cultivating student-resident-faculty relationships, and providing student and physician outreach opportunities for the betterment of patients’ lives. We will recognize and award students, residents, and faculty who embody humanistic principles in their profession now, with the goal of continuing to nurture and support these principles throughout their future careers.

Humanism in health care is characterized by a respectful and compassionate relationship between physicians, as well as all other members of the healthcare team, and their patients. It reflects attitudes and behaviors that are sensitive to the values and the cultural and ethnic backgrounds of others. The humanistic healthcare professional demonstrates the following attributes (“I.E., C.A.R.E.S.”):

• Integrity: the congruence between expressed values and behavior
• Excellence: clinical expertise
• Compassion: the awareness and acknowledgement of the suffering of another and the desire to relieve it
• Altruism: the capacity to put the needs and interests of another before your own
• Respect: the regard for the autonomy and values of another person
• Empathy: the ability to put oneself in another’s situation, e.g., physician as patient
• Service: the sharing of one’s talent, time and resources with those in need; giving beyond what is required.

Each Spring, medical students are asked to nominate their peers and residents for induction into the UNMC Chapter of GHHS. Students who receive the top 20% of votes are asked to send in a Curriculum Vitae and complete an essay answering the following questions:

• How do you exemplify the characteristics of the GHHS (provide examples)?
• If you are selected to be a member of GHHS, how will you help to promote compassionate, patient-centered care at our institution?

Based on the CV and personal essays, selection committee members make the final determination regarding membership into the GHHS UNMC Chapter. A formal induction ceremony is held in the Spring and includes the traditional pinning ceremony.

Chapter Activities

Emotionally supporting a patient during their most difficult of times will always be an aspect of being a physician. This is an enormous honor, but can also take a toll on health care providers. On the other hand, experiencing powerful and uplifting moments in the hospital or clinic is also an aspect of being a physician. In order to help improve resiliency, we host a weekly journal club. These sessions start with a prompt given by Dr. Bud Shaw. Students take some time to write a response then share their writing with a group of students that may be dealing with similar situations. These sessions are a safe place for students to share burdens or difficulties they may face. It is our hope that through writing we can learn to better take care of our patients and ourselves. If interested or for more information, contact: [email protected]

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to many lonely days for patients at hospitals because of visitor restrictions. The members of GHHS were looking for ways to remain helpful in the medical field and in our local community during these difficult times, so we developed a Pen Pal Program for patients at UNMC. The students write their well wishes to patients that may be facing difficulties and have them delivered every month. Patients have the option to write back to the students if they wish to keep the conversation going. We hope that these letters will help bring some joy into patients’ lives during these trying times. Contact [email protected] if interested in more information

Several times a year, we organize dinners hosted by interested faculty for students. We aim to bring together medical students, residents, and faculty in an effort to combat the compassion-fatigue that can develop in the process of our education, training, and careers. It is our hope that these dinners will be a forum through which we can discuss our experiences, give and receive advice, and support our fellow students and colleagues in every level of professional training. By supporting and growing with each other, we also mold each other into positive, compassionate people who prioritize advocacy for patients. Groups will be limited in size in order to preserve a sense of camaraderie and familiarity amongst attendees. Contact [email protected] if interested in more information.

The hospital is filled with a diverse array of patients. Some rooms are filled with family and friends, cards and pictures, balloons and flowers. Other rooms, unfortunately, remain empty. The goal of Sunday Rounds is to tend to these patients. We gather a group of volunteers to visit these patients, whether virtually or in person, twice monthly. This gives us the opportunity to listen, talk, and support these patients. Our hope is that a short visit from us will bring them some joy. One of the goals of GHHS is to foster compassionate, patient-centered care; we believe that visiting patients for the sole purpose of hearing how they are doing is a large step towards this goal. This project also gives students the opportunity to experience patient interaction early in their medical careers while providing patients with a much needed respite from the constant discussion of only their medical woes. Students from all four years of medical school are welcome and encouraged to participate in this project whenever they are able. If interested or for more information, please contact: [email protected]

Each year, a member of our group gives a speech at the White Coat Ceremony for incoming first year medical students emphasizing the importance of being compassionate when caring for patients. Each student also receives a letter written by us and a Gold Humanism pin for their white coats. This will serve as a reminder to continue to practice patient-centered care. Our goal is to instill the importance of patient-centered care early on in order to keep pushing students to be the best they can be for their patients.

GHHS Leadership and Membership

Gold Humanism Honor Society: UMass Chan Medical School Chapter

Purpose:  The Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) is guided by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation’s vision statement: “Healthcare will be dramatically improved by placing human interests, values and dignity at the core of teaching and practice.”

As such, the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School Chapter consists of select medical students, residents, and faculty recognized for their qualities of:

Student members from the UMass Chan chapter work with residents and faculty members to champion a culture where humanism is the cornerstone of medicine. 

Scope:  Members serve as role models for humanistic care, providing:

• Mentorship to peers
• Opportunities for community to participate in humanism
• Support for healthcare professionals and students to continue empathetic and integrous patient care
• Acknowledgement of community members who promote and embody humanism
• Outreach to communities in Worcester and other communities served by UMass Chan
• Innovation to match the needs of students and the community.

Endeavors: 

Promotion of Humanism in Medicine:  Solidarity Week  | What Matters to You?  | “Get to Know Me” Patient Boards |  Highlights in Humanistic Medicine  | Co-leading Small Groups during Palliative Care Day  

Healthcare Community Support: Resident Appreciation Day  | Intern Care Packages | Anthology  | Wellness Week

Community Engagement:   Doc ‘n the Shop  | Patient Memorial Service

Selection Process:  The top 25% of peer-nominated medical students are invited to submit an application consisting of a resume and a brief essay on how to further promote humanism at UMass Chan. The applications are reviewed and voted on by an ad hoc committee made up of GHHS members (students, residents, and faculty), clerkship directors, and deans. The top 15% of the class will then be inducted into GHHS, and members will serve a one-year term until graduation. 

Faculty Advisor: Michael Ennis, MD

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The Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS)

A community of medical students, physicians, and other leaders who have been recognized for their compassionate care. GHHS reinforces and supports the human connection in healthcare, which is essential for the health of patients and clinicians. GHHS is an active organization with a diverse membership. GHHS members in medical school lead initiatives that foster humanism, and GHHS members throughout their careers are expected to be humanistic leaders. Inspiration for GHHS came from medical educators and residency program directors who expressed a need for a way to identify applicants to residency training programs who had outstanding clinical and interpersonal skills.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Berrie Foundation, and an anonymous donor gave generously to launch GHHS. We are grateful for their crucial support. Since its inception in 2002, GHHS has grown in influence to become a vital part of medical school and residency training program cultures throughout the US.

Burnett School of Medicine GHHS CLASS OF 2025

Claire Duican

Class of 2025

Jason Evans

Peyton Moore

Sofia Olsson

Lexy Richards

Anand Singh

Burnett School of Medicine GHHS CLASS OF 2024

Emma DiFiore, M.D.

Class of 2024

Jack Healy, M.D.

Anne Shirley Hoselton, M.D.

Antonio Igbokidi, M.D.

Patrick Powers, M.D.

Thomas Redman, M.D.

Sam Sayed, M.D.

Rebecca Sobolewski, M.D.

How are the students nominated?

The students are nominated by their peers via a series of questions provided via survey. Some of the questions consist of the following: “What classmates would you like to have work at your side in a medical emergency? Or The classmate you would want to tell your closest friend that they have terminal cancer.”

How are finalists selected?

Finalists are selected based on peer votes.

How are the winners selected?

A secondary vetting process that reviews the candidates for academic success and professional behavior is done by a selection committee. The Selection Committee is typically comprised of faculty, administrators, past two award winners, and/or GHHS student and resident members. Students nominated in the primary process are evaluated during this step on the basis of academic eligibility, program director evaluations, and an additional essay, interview or other indication of the nominee's willingness, interest and motivation to serve, work, and lead. To make clear the responsibility for service as part of GHHS membership, consider an essay prompt such as, “If selected to GHHS, how will you encourage your peers to practice compassionate, patient-centered care at our institution?” From this group, the final 10-15.0% of the class are selected to become GHHS members.

What are the benefits of having a GHHS chapter?

The values of GHHS closely align with the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU’s Empathetic Scholar® Model. Having a chapter helps to reinforce the model and encourages students to strive towards this ideal.

With the support of the Gold Foundation and GHHS supporters, GHHS funds educational events, supports research, promotes professional growth and creates opportunities for GHHS members to network with others who share their values and beliefs.

Benefits include: - International recognition of humanistic achievement - Special recognition on the ERAS residency application form - Leadership development opportunities - Chapter awards and grants - Networking and mentoring connections - Professional conferences, lectures, and workshops - Resources to promote humanistic care in their community

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The Gold Foundation infuses the human connection into healthcare. We engage schools, health systems, companies, and individual clinicians in the meaning and joy of humanistic healthcare, so that health professionals and staff have the strength and knowledge to champion and deliver humanistic healthcare and services and so that patients and their families can be partners in collaborative, compassionate, and scientifically excellent care.

Keeping Healthcare Human requires persistent and determined efforts dedicated to maintaining the human connection in modern medicine . Our Community of Caring is made up of like-minded individuals who support humanism in medicine,  and  who want a place to connect, share,  and  advocate for the cause.

Humanistic medical care is not simply compassion. It is the best of medicine. When skilled physicians build caring, trusting and collaborative relationships with patients,   studies reveal   more appropriate medical decisions, better patient adherence with treatment plans, and less costly healthcare outcomes.

-excerpt taken from the GHHS website

Here at the UUSOM, we induct up to 15% of the senior class into the national Gold Humanism Honor Society. Toward the end of their 3rd year, students are nominated by their peers and go through an interview process to determine who should be inducted into GHHS.

Each new member of the University of Utah School of Medicine is gifted a GHHS pin to wear on their White Coat throughout their time in school. We hope this helps inspire our students and sends them a reminder of compassionate care in medicine.

Our GHHS chapter here at the UUSOM is very active during Solidarity Week , including our home-grown project entitled "Hearts of Gold", Thank a Resident Day , and the Tell Me More project . 

        View this profile on Instagram                       GHHS Utah Chapter (@ ghhs_utah ) • Instagram photos and videos

For more information on the University of Utah School of Medicine's involvement in the Gold Humanism Honor Society, please reach out to [email protected].

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Gold Humanism Honor Society Application Essay - On Humanist Medicine

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• PMCID: PMC5592384

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Similar articles

• 2010 Humanism in Medicine Essay Contest: second place: The white coat. Tang R. Tang R. Acad Med. 2010 Nov;85(11):1764-5. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181f5cf45. Acad Med. 2010. PMID: 20980866 No abstract available.
• 2010 Humanism in Medicine Essay Contest: third place. Miller E. Miller E. Acad Med. 2010 Oct;85(10):1628-9. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181f11ce8. Acad Med. 2010. PMID: 20881684 No abstract available.
• 2018 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest: First Place Medical Student Essay. Esce A. Esce A. Acad Med. 2018 Dec;93(12):1804-1805. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000002449. Acad Med. 2018. PMID: 30489308 No abstract available.
• 2019 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest: Second Place Medical Student Essay. Verma N. Verma N. Acad Med. 2019 Nov;94(11):1720-1721. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000002951. Acad Med. 2019. PMID: 31663958 Review. No abstract available.
• A Methodological Review of the Assessment of Humanism in Medical Students. Buck E, Holden M, Szauter K. Buck E, et al. Acad Med. 2015 Nov;90(11 Suppl):S14-23. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000000910. Acad Med. 2015. PMID: 26505097 Review.
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Gold Humanism Honor Society

The mission of the Gold Humanism Honor Society, which was established in 2001-2002 by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Board of Trustees, is to recognize individuals who are exemplars of humanistic patient care and who can serve as role models in medicine. The power of the society brings them together to sustain their own humanism and to inspire and nurture humanism in others. The Society is organized under the auspices of the foundation, and, as such, financial support of the Society shall be provided by the foundation through its annual budget and with funds raised specifically for the Society through endowment, annual campaign and voluntary foundation membership dues.

Medical Students

Medical students nominate their peers to be inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society in recognition of their "excellence in clinical care, leadership, compassion and dedication to service." The 2018-19 inductees include​:

• Meha Semwal
• Meryl​ Colton
• John Hallett
• Kathleen Raskob
• Blake Volkmer
• Reade Tillman
• Bijan Ghaffari
• Eric Sasine
• Elizabeth Bloemen
• Shayer Chowdhury
• Fred Gonzales
• Robin Harland
• Srinidhi Radhakrishnan
• Catherine Ard
• Saikripa Radhakrishman
• Indira Sriram
• Michael Dittmar
• Tyler Reinking
• Erin McGonagle
• Daniel Slack
• Olivia Charlier
• Paul Eigenberger
• Joshua Mares
• Wafik Sedhom
• Matthew Cataldo
• Taylor Lynch
• Giselle McIntyre

The 2017-18 inductees include​:

• Ben Flitter
• Carrie Myers
• Cecelia Johnson-Sasso
• Christina Farid
• Claudia Temmer
• Cody Brevik
• Emily Garban
• Erica Martinez
• Gaylan Dascanio
• Julia Newman
• Katherine Lind
• Kathryn Guinn
• Kelly Finnegan
• Kevin Quackenbush
• Lauren Oberle
• Luke Baldelli
• Nazanin Kuseh Kalani Yazd
• Oren Gordon
• Paola Casillas
• Parsa Ghasem
• Richard Froude
• Robert Flick
• Sarah Williams
• Timothy Miller
• Tristan Dear
• Tuan Dung Nguyen
• Caitlin Felder-Heim
• Michael Berger​

2016-17 inductees include:

• Jaleh Akhavan-Yekta
• Sarah Axelrath
• Brenna Benson
• Michael Berger
• Van (Mimi) Chau
• Robin Christian
• Thomas Clagett
• James Engeln
• Clayton Garthe
• Emily Hause
• Daniel Hecht
• Caitlin Heim
• Christopher Johnson
• Sonia Khatter
• Regina Kwon
• Meara Melton
• Magdalena Reinsvold
• Benjamin Saccomano
• Jason Santiago
• Maithri Sarangam
• Vera Staley
• Alexander Steinberg
• Kenji Tanabe
• Jacqueline To
• Rachel Wojcik

2015-16 inductees include:

• Tyler Anderson
• Brittany Badesch
• Claire Bovet
• Natasha Cabrera
• Thomas Califf
• Sarah Cebron
• Brittany Cowfer
• Phillip Hannan
• Erin Hickey
• Andi Hudler
• Emily Johnson
• Kelsey Luoma
• Alexandra Ly
• Abagail Nimz
• Seerat Poonia
• Bianca Pullen
• Shamita Punjabi
• Romany Redman
• Stacy Romero
• Ramy Sidhom
• Sarah Teitz
• Gabrielle Whitmore
• Gabriel Williams
• Elizabeth Wood

The 2014-15 inductees include:

• Nathan J. Ansbaugh
• Erik P. Arellano
• Lauren E. Ayres
• Joshua F. Bailey
• Julie R. Dyer
• Courtney A. Eichengreen
• Carlie S. Field
• Michael R. Frank
• Laura C. Kennedy
• Christopher E. Kennel
• Patrick R. Minot
• David L. Murphy
• Eric H. Petersen
• Joel Roberts
• Sammie Roberts
• Ethan J. Rosenberg
• Michael R. Rudolph
• Lucas A. Salg
• Stephanie N. Sandhu
• Jane Stewart
• Rebecca E. Thomson
• Timothy H. Ung
• Alyssa M. Yang

The 2013-14 inductees include:

•  Nicholas Berlin  
• Joshua Bollan  
• Nicholas Breitnauer  
• Margaret Emmott  
• Christopher Haas 
• Francis Hall  
• Joedy Hulings  
• Vimal Jhaveri  
• Jeffrey Lewis  
• Caren Millard  
• Upasana Mohapatra  
• Christina Osborne  
• Christopher Piatz
• Sara Scannell
• Lindsey Schaffer
• Carmen Sepulveda
• Matthew Shirazi
• Igor Shumskiy
• Brooke Thurman
• Stephen Wills
• Chelsea Wolf

I pledge by all that I hold dear as a Physician: I will Care for my patients with Compassion, Respect, Empathy, Integrity and Clinical Excellence; I will Listen to my patients with my whole being; I will Advocate for each patient as a unique individual; I will Serve as a role model and mentor to promote humanism in health care; I will Remember always the healing power of acts of caring; I will Dedicate myself to joining with others to make health care optimal for all.

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The Arnold P. Gold Foundation champions humanism in healthcare, which we define as kind, safe, trustworthy care. This Gold standard of care embraces all and targets barriers to such care. We empower experts, learners, and leaders to together create systems and cultures that support humanistic care for all.

Call for Abstracts: 2025 Gold Humanism Summit

Interested in sharing your work around humanism in healthcare? Apply to present at the 2025 Gold Humanism Summit: The Person in Front of You, taking place September 17-20, 2025, in Baltimore.

It’s White Coat Ceremony season!

The Gold Foundation is the home of the iconic White Coat Ceremony. Explore our toolkits for free templates and tips to make your event a success, plus request pins for your ceremony at least one month in advance.

GHHS Members: Access the Gold Member Portal

As the Gold Humanism Honor Society community continues to grow, the Gold Member Portal is the place to be! It’s your hub for community, education, opportunity, and support.

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2024 Gold Humanism Summit Photo Gallery

The white coat: scientist’s uniform, spiritual garment, symbol of care and great responsibility