AUPHA Doctoral Student Essay Competition

AUPHA's Doctoral Student Essay Competition Now Open

Submissions will be accepted for AUPHA's Doctoral Student Essay Competition beginning in late September. Cash prizes will be awarded for the top three essays, as well as the opportunity to present them at the 2026 Annual Meeting in San Diego, California. Full details for the scholarship requirements and eligibility requirements may be found here. 
 
This is a great way to receive recognition for your scholarship, get more involved in AUPHA, and attend the AUPHA Annual Meeting in San Diego at no, to very little, cost!

Applicants for the Doctoral Essay Competition must meet the following requirements:

·        The competition is open to students currently enrolled in a doctoral program in health services, healthcare management and leadership, health policy, or other related healthcare management and policy degrees at any accredited university. AUPHA is a global organization that welcomes all academic programs and people from the healthcare management and leadership and health policy academies worldwide.

·        To be eligible, entrants must be an AUPHA Doctoral Student Member - either as a student in an AUPHA Doctoral Level Member Program or an Individual Doctoral Student Member. Students in an AUPHA Doctoral level program member are eligible for three years of AUPHA membership at no cost. Doctoral students from other universities may join AUPHA as an Individual Member and receive three years of benefits for the price of one year of regular individual membership. For information on AUPHA membership types, visit here. To check to see if your Doctoral program is a member, click here.

·        The Competition is open to students in both traditional, in-residence doctoral programs and those in executive doctoral programs designed for working professionals. 

·        Essays must be the product of one individual (a single-authored work). Joint efforts will not be accepted. Essayists may recognize the contributions of faculty mentors and other research collaborators in the Acknowledgment section, along with disclosures of funding and other support, IRB approvals, etc.

·        There is no limit to the number of students submitting essays from any academic program or university. 

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The submission period for the Doctoral Essay Competition will open in September each year.

Essays submitted to AUPHA will be thoroughly reviewed by a committee composed of academic faculty and practitioner-scholars, co-chaired by Drs. Tory Hogan of The Ohio State University and Michele McGowan of King’s College. The committee will employ five equally weighted criteria:

·        Clearly articulated statement of purpose with necessary supporting evidence and integration of relevant evidence or arguments throughout the essay 

·        Essay clearly articulates the significance of the subject/topic to the field of Health Services, Healthcare Management, Leadership, and Policy 

·        There must be a section of the paper devoted to coverage of healthcare management or health policy practice implications

·        There must be a section of the paper devoted to coverage implications and usefulness for guiding teaching of the subject matter (what to teach and how to teach it), generally or at the undergraduate, masters, and doctoral level(s)

·        All clarity, conciseness, and elegance of the written word, including correct grammar, punctuation, and overall writing quality

Applicants will be reviewed and selected by the Doctoral Essay Committee. 

If any part of the application is incomplete or a supporting document is missing at the deadline date, the applicant/application will be disqualified. The application form and all supporting documents must arrive to AUPHA on or prior to the deadline. No exceptions will be made.

Applications are now open for the Contest. All applications must be submitted by January, 9, 2026, 11:59 Pacific Time.

Eligible doctoral students may submit their application here.

For inquiries related to the Doctoral Student Essay Competition, please contact Kelsey Kvandal at kkvandal@aupha.org.