Congratulations to Harry Adams, winner of the Paola Domizio Undergraduate Essay Prize 2020. Harry is a final year medicine undergraduate at Newcastle University.

You can read Harry’s full essay on our essay competitions page.

'I am absolutely thrilled! It has come as a real surprise to me and I am so excited by it'

We asked undergraduates to answer the question ‘Could pathologists soon be replaced by robots?’. Entrants were encouraged to consider the potential benefits and challenges posed by technology, as well as the impact on patients and on pathologists’ work lives.

Thank you to everyone who entered this year’s competition and to the judges, Angharad Davies, Hasan Rizvi and Richard Byers, who had the difficult job of choosing a winner from the 127 anonymised essays, all of which were of an extremely high standard.

We asked this year's winner, Harry, a few questions about the competition.

Why did you enter this essay competition?  

Due to the lockdown imposed in response to COVID-19, I was unable to complete my immunology research project, which was the final part of my MRes intercalation. Entering this essay competition allowed me to continue developing my writing and research skills, in a topic that interested me.  

What do you like about pathology?  

I like the idea of how through understanding fundamental disease processes, a pathologist pieces together clinical and laboratory findings to arrive at a diagnosis, ultimately helping to understand the presentations of different patients and guide treatment.

What do you hope to do in the future?  

I am still undecided! I loved learning more about immunology over the last year and am torn between the academic and clinical approaches to medicine. 

What would you say to students who are considering entering this competition?  

Give it a go! It is a great opportunity to practice essay writing skills and appreciate topics not usually taught at university.  

The Paola Domizio Undergraduate Prize, along with the Hugh Platt Foundation Essay Prize, are annual essay competitions open to undergraduate and Foundation doctors respectively. Both competitions will be open again in Spring 2021, so watch this space!