The Student Voice Prize
Frequently asked questions!
The Student Voice Prize
Who can enter into the competition?
The competition is primarily aimed at medical students, but anyone studying medical and biological sciences (spanning courses such as medicine, nursing, pharmacy, biology, genetics, biomedical science, pharmacology, kinesiology etc.) will be able to answer the questions.
Entries may be submitted by those studying other courses, but it is recommended that such entries focus on a personal experience with a rare condition.
What can you win?
You can view our full list of prizes for 2022 here.
Who judges the competition?
The competition is judged by a panel of judges with life sciences, medical and patient advocacy backgrounds selected by the SVP team. None of the essays are judged by any member of the SVP team.
Can I enter if I'm PhD student?
You cannot enter an essay into the competition if you are a PhD student currently.
Can I enter more than one essay?
You can only enter one essay overall into the competition per year.
Can I enter again if I've entered in the past?
You can enter the competition year after year, you may wish to explore a new subject and use different case studies with every entry.
Resubmissions will not be allowed.
If I don't win, can I publish my essay elsewhere?
Your essay is your own work and therefore if you do not win the competition or place on any of the shortlists, it is permissible for you to publish or share the essay in other places, the Student Voice Prize team cannot offer you any guidance or assistance in publishing your essay externally.
If you have been paired with a patient group advocate, it is permissible for the patient group to publish the essay on
their website or blog after the competition has finished and the winners have been announced, if the paired student is not a winner, runner up or shortlisted and the patient group gets the permission of the author.
If the essay was written by a winner or runner up we ask that the patient group does not publish the essay in full but rather links to the published essay on the Orphanet or the Biomed Central website in order to drive traffic there.
Do I need to write my essay in English?
Entries should be submitted in English.
We have just launched a Non-native English speaker shortlist for 2022. This means that the entry form asks entrants whether English is their native language to recognise the quality of our international entries into the competition. NB: Essays in this category are still considered for winning and runner up positions as well as for inclusion on the shortlist.
How many words can the essay be?
The essay can be up to 1,500 words in length.
The Patient pairing scheme
Do I get to choose who I'm paired with?
We endeavour for you to get the most out of the pairing as possible, therefore as part of the submission form for the patient pairing scheme you are asked what body systems are of particular interest to as well as being able to notify us of any other areas or rare conditions you are interested in. You can also always get in touch with us at studentvoice@rarebeacon.org with any particular interests.
What questions should I ask?
How you go about asking questions is up to you and is likely to depend on your past experiences and whether you have an idea of which essay question you plan to answer.
However, in general this is an opportunity for you to speak to someone with a uniques experience, uninterrupted for an hour. You are there to learn from them, to reflect on what you’ve learned and use that to not only answer an essay question but to develop your skills for future practice.
Therefore using open questions is a great way to help your interviewee to lead the conversation. Many volunteers giving their time will be familiar with talking about their life experiences and so will be able to talk on all sorts of subjects. So it might be worth establishing early on why they have volunteered their precious time, what do they want you to know? Listen and reflect back what you’re hearing and learning.
It may make you feel nervous to turn up without “a plan”. You can always do research beforehand and note down a few topics you would like to discuss or specific questions you want to ask. After you have used open questions and listened to your interviewee, you can always turn to more closed questions later.
Have a read of the rules and regulations. But in general if you go into the exercise with good intentions and an open mind you will have a really rewarding time. Don’t be scared of making mistakes, we all do it. It’s part of learning.
Can I be paired with a patient and not submit an essay?
The patient pairing scheme is part of the Student Voice Prize, therefore In order to respect the time and energy of the patient group advocate, it is expected that all paired students who have had a conversation with an advocate will subsequently write an essay. This should be taken into consideration when applying to be paired through the pairing scheme.
Will I be paired with a patient or with a patient advocate or parent?
The pairing you receive will depend upon which individual from the patient group has applied to be paired. Most people in the rare community (whether a parent, carer or advocate) is likely to have some level of lived experience and understanding of the patient experience due to being involved in the community and therefore are very valuable to talk to. With some conditions it is more difficult to talk directly to patients as they might be children for example.
You can specify on your pairing form if you would only like to speak to a patient with direct lived experience.
If I don't win, can my patient pair publish my essay elsewhere?
If you have been paired with a patient group advocate, it is permissible for the patient group to publish the essay on
their website or blog after the competition has finished and the winners have been announced, if the paired student is not a winner, runner up or shortlisted and the patient group gets the permission of the author.
If the essay was written by a winner or runner up we ask that the patient group does not publish the essay in full but rather links to the published essay on the Orphanet or the Biomed Central website in order to drive traffic there.
Can I be paired more than once?
We endeavour to pair every student that applies to be paired with one patient or advocate. In order to make sure everyone has access to a pairing, we cannot pair you more than once unless in exceptional circumstances.
If you have any more questions or feedback, don’t hesitate to get in touch at studentvoice@rarebeacon.org