The Miriam Friedman Ben-David Award
We are now closed for nominations for The Miriam Friedman Ben-David Award. We will announce the launch of the next round of nominations in January 2025.
Miriam Friedman Ben-David (1938-2004) was one of the great leaders in medical education. Those who had the privilege of knowing her became familiar with her passion and enthusiasm for helping all involved in making teaching and learning both effective and efficient.
She pursued new approaches to the subject, such as a move to outcome-based education and portfolio assessment. The impact of her legacy stretches over different continents and countries worldwide including Israel, US, Spain, Ukraine, Brazil, Italy and the UK. Her collaboration with AMEE has expanded her influence across the globe.
From a human point of view, Miriam left no one indifferent. Everyone who met her was especially impressed by the way she fell in love with the themes she defended and wanted to see implemented in medical education. She felt particularly strongly about supporting the young educators whom she admired and facilitated in an extraordinary way.
Medical education owes a lot to Miriam and that’s why AMEE decided to create The Miriam Friedman Ben-David (MFBD) Award in her memory which was presented for the first time in 2008.
The MFBD Award aims to recognise AMEE Individual members who have made significant contributions within the field of health professions education (HPE) at a local, regional, national, or international level in a relatively short time as new educators. The programme’s aim is also to reward excellence in their achievements to the field.
This year, AMEE is particularly pleased to announce that for the first time there will be an additional award for candidates situated in a resource constrained setting. A list of resourced constrained countries can be found on the AMEE website.
Each award includes £1,000 (this may be subject to bank transfer fees and exchange rates), a certificate, and the opportunity to deliver a future webinar as part of the AMEE webinar programme.
Nomination Process
Candidates can either be nominated by a colleague, or they may self-nominate. Candidates must also be reasonably new educators in the field of HPE, involved for under 10 years post-graduation. Any involvement in HPE before graduation is not a requirement.
AMEE Membership Criteria:
Candidates must hold one of the following AMEE memberships at the point of nomination:
AMEE Individual Membership – For all professionals
AMEE Individual Membership – Resource Constrained Individual (For all professionals situated in resource constrained settings)
AMEE Individual Membership – Concession (For Retired and Early Career Professionals)
This award is not available for AMEE Student membership holders or to those who have joined AMEE on a 3- or 6-month complimentary membership.
Information on AMEE memberships can be found in the membership area of the AMEE website.
Step 1 - Submission of a CV Form
All candidates should complete the following short CV form via the link below. This applies to those self-nominating and to candidates nominated by another individual.
The form will ask candidates for the following:
Personal information – such as name, email address, country, current role
Whether they have applied for the award previously
Education and qualifications
Professional experience in the field of HPE
Major achievements and innovations/impact in HPE
The candidate’s vision as a future health professional educator
Other achievements in the field of HPE including:
– Selected publications/presentations
– Invited teaching (lectures/workshops/seminars)
– Scholarly position(s)(research, teaching, etc.)
– Funded scholarly projects
– Professional membership(s)
A free-text section is available to allow candidates to promote their achievements as well as reinforcing why they deserve to win an award. Appendices may be presented as required and a maximum of three supporting evidence files may be uploaded in a .PDF format. Other CV formats will not be accepted.
The deadline date for the submission of CV Forms will be made available when the next nomination period is open.
Step 2 – Submission of Supporting Letters
Candidates who are self-nominating:
In addition to completing the above CV Form, candidates who are self-nominating must also submit a Personal Letter which summarises why they believe they deserve to win an award. Other CV formats are not accepted. Personal letters may be uploaded in a .PDF format via a field at the end of the CV Form or they can be emailed to [email protected] with the subject line Miriam Friedman Ben-David Award – Submission of a Personal Letter.
The deadline date for the submission of Personal Letters will be made available when the next nomination period is open.
Candidates who are being nominated by a colleague:
For those who wish to nominate a candidate for the award, two Letters of Support must be provided highlighting why your nominee deserves to win the award. The candidate must also complete the above CV form by the stated deadline.
- Letter 1- From an AMEE membership holder
This letter should be from an AMEE membership holder personally known by the candidate. This letter should state clearly why they believe the candidate deserves the award in relationship to their contributions.
- Letter 2- From the candidate’s immediate superior
This letter should state the relationship between the candidate and the person writing the letter. It should also include a statement of why they believe the candidate deserves to win the award.
Both Letters of Support should be emailed to [email protected] with the subject line Miriam Friedman Ben-David Award – Submission of a Letter of Support.
The deadline date for the submission of both Letters of Support will be made available when then next nomination period is open.
Judging Criteria
All members of the MFBD Award Committee will be involved in judging each submission. The decision on the winners will be based on information provided by the candidate in their CV Form.
Recent winners
2024 – Stefano Sandrone, Imperial College London, UK.
2022 – Hannah Gillespie, Queen’s University, Belfast, UK.
2021 – Aimee Gardner, Baylor College of Medicine, USA.