McGill Students Excel at 2025 American Osler Society Meeting, Highlighting Medical Humanities Impact

McGill University medical students made a remarkable impact at the 2025 annual meeting of the American Osler Society (AOS) in Pasadena, California, continuing the university's strong tradition in medical humanities research. Three McGill students, Meygan Brody, Paris Dastjerdi, and Reda Hessi, attended the meeting, with Paris Dastjerdi winning first prize for her presentation "Restoring Avicenna's Tomb: A Historical Analysis of William Osler's Efforts" and Meygan Brody receiving third prize for "Justifying Judgment: How Canadian Temperance Textbooks Use Medicine to Teach Morality." Reda Hessi also presented on "Harold Griffith and Sir Robert Macintosh: Untold Stories of Curare's Journey to the Operating Room." Since the inception of the Best Medical Student Presentations awards in 2023, McGill students have consistently excelled, winning six of nine prizes, including first prize all three years.

The meeting successfully emphasized the intersection of medicine and the humanities, with McGill's participation playing a pivotal role in advancing this mission. The contributions of the Osler Library Board of Curators and the Montreal community were instrumental in supporting McGill students' attendance. The event brought together physicians, researchers, and students from around the world to explore the history of medicine and its ongoing relevance today, strengthening the bridge between medical practice and humanistic inquiry.

Established in 2024 on behalf of Faustino Bernadett and his family, The Bernadett Family International Medical Student Scholarship Program provides funding for students to pursue medical humanities research in the United Kingdom. Reda Hessi was one of two recipients, undertaking a four-week research project in London titled "The Reception of Curare in Medicine and the Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry." Hessi commented, "I am immensely grateful for having been selected for the AOS Bernadett Family International Medical Student Scholarship Award. This exceptional opportunity to engage with rare collections in the UK will deeply enrich my research and broaden my perspective." Program details are available at https://www.americanosler.org/content/awards-scholarships/international-medical-student-scholarship-program.

The meeting also featured McGill alumni Brendan Ross, a psychiatry resident at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, serving as both presenter and session chair, and Ali Fazlollahi, a recent graduate and previous Molina award winner. Annmarie Adams delivered the McGovern Lecture, entitled "Maude Abbott: A Life in Ten Spaces", exploring Abbott's pioneering studies on congenital cardiac disease and her enduring relationship with William Osler through a spatial biography approach. These presentations collectively demonstrated how historical medical figures continue to inform contemporary medical education and practice.

The consistent success of McGill students at the AOS meetings highlights the importance of integrating humanities perspectives into medical training. By examining historical contexts, ethical dimensions, and cultural influences on medical practice, students develop more nuanced approaches to patient care and medical innovation. The expansion of scholarship opportunities like the Bernadett Family International Medical Student Scholarship Program, with additional information available at https://www.bernadett.org/, ensures that more students can access international research experiences that broaden their understanding of medicine's human dimensions.