BSPRM Medical Student Essay Prize 2026: Winner and Runners-Up Announced

The British Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (BSPRM) is delighted to announce the winner and joint runners-up of the 2026 Medical Student Essay Prize.

The annual prize is open to all UK medical students and invites entrants to submit a 2,500-word essay on a subject relating to Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine from a medical, biological or sociological perspective. Essays are expected to include a review of the relevant literature, with particular credit given for original thinking and reflections based on personal experience.

🥇 Winner

Congratulations to Gabriel Ind, winner of the 2026 BSPRM Medical Student Essay Prize for:

The Life Within the Living: Rehabilitation Medicine and the Quality of Life

Gabriel received a £250 prize and certificate, presented at the BSPRM Annual Scientific Conference on 30 September 2026.

⭐ Joint Runners-Up

Three essays were also recognised as joint runners-up, with each runner-up receiving an award:

Eesa Farooqui
The Half of Rehabilitation We Sleep Through

Emma Braithwaite
Overlooked Dysautonomia: Early Screening With the NASA Lean Test (NLT) to Detect Orthostatic Intolerance Syndromes in Fibromyalgia

Ling Gang
How Can We Improve Cardiac Rehabilitation for Patients With Genetic Dilated Cardiomyopathy?

BSPRM warmly congratulates Gabriel, Eesa, Emma and Ling on their achievements.

📚 Read the 2026 Essay Submissions

We would also like to thank everyone who entered this year’s competition. The standard of submissions was excellent, covering a diverse range of important and thought-provoking topics and reflecting the breadth of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine.

All essays submitted for the 2026 prize are now available to read. We encourage you to explore the winning and runner-up entries, as well as all the excellent essays submitted.