VIPSIG Essay and Video Prizes

Find out more about the VIPSIG's prizes and competitions below.

VIPSIG Essay Prize

This prize was established to promote interest and encourage excellence in volunteering (UK or abroad) and international psychiatry.

Entrants are invited to submit an original essay of their choice. Submissions may include (but are not limited to): a description of a clinical or charitable experience or project; elective report; reflective essay; editorial; research; audit; or literature review.

  1. Essay of no more than 3,000 words, which must be the entrant’s own work.
  2. The spirit of the prize is to promote interest and encourage excellence in volunteering in psychiatry (UK or abroad) and/ or international psychiatry.
  3. Essays will be judged on their overall quality and value, and relevance for professional development. Preference is likely to be given to essays involving some volunteer work.
  4. The prize will be judged by a panel of three judges appointed by the VIPSIG, and awarded to the best entry or shared between joint best entries.
  5. Consideration will be given to an entrant’s seniority and expected level of experience.
  6. A project involving collaboration with psychiatrists or any other discipline may be submitted, but the prize will be awarded to a single entrant. Where collaborative work is submitted, there should be a clear indication of the contribution by entrant and collaborator(s).
  7. Please include on your submission: name; grade/ seniority; email address; RCPsych membership number, and declaration of the role of any funding and potential conflicts of interest.

Medical students, foundation trainees, psychiatry trainees, SAS and specialty doctors.

  • Winner: £200 and a certificate of achievement, as well as complimentary attendance at the VIPSIG Annual Conference
  • Runner-up: £150 and a certificate of achievement, as well as complimentary attendance at the VIPSIG Annual Conference

    The 2023 VIPSIG competition is now closed. The deadline for 2024 submissions will be added to this page once the competition opens.

    Entries should be submitted to sigs@rcpsych.ac.uk.

    Please include on your submission: name; grade/ seniority; email address; RCPsych membership number, and declaration of the role of any funding and potential conflicts of interest.

    VIPSIG Video Pitch Prize

    The video pitch prize has been established to facilitate sharing ideas, thoughts and innovations in volunteering in UK and abroad in an accessible manner with technology at hand.

    Entrants are invited to submit a two-minute video pitch of their choice. Submissions may include (but are not limited to): a showcase of a clinical or charitable experience or project; elevated speech; act of micro volunteering, interview, psychoeducation, microdocumentary on harm or benefit of volunteering etc.

    1. The video must be no more than two minutes.
    2. The spirit of the prize is to promote interest and encourage excellence in volunteering in psychiatry (UK or abroad) and/ or international psychiatry.
    3. The prize will be judged by a panel of judges appointed by the VIPSIG, and awarded to the best entry or shared between joint best entries.
    4. Consideration will be given to an entrant’s seniority and expected level of experience.
    5. A project involving collaboration with psychiatrists or any other discipline may be submitted, but the prize will be awarded to a single entrant. Where collaborative work is submitted, there should be a clear indication of the contribution by entrant and collaborator(s).
    6. Please include on your submission: name; grade/ seniority; email address; RCPsych membership number, and declaration of the role of any funding and potential conflicts of interest.

    Medical students, foundation trainees, psychiatry trainees, and all practicing and retired psychiatrists based in UK.

    Up to 5 prizes of £100 each, plus a certificate of achievement, as well as complimentary attendance to the VIPSIG Annual Conference.

    The 2023 VIPSIG competition is now closed. The deadline for 2024 submissions will be added to this page once the competition opens.

    Entries should be submitted to sigs@rcpsych.ac.uk.

    Please include on your submission: name; RCPsych membership number, grade/ seniority; email address; and declaration of the role of any funding and potential conflicts of interest, as well as a brief overview of your pitch.

    Pitches must be no more than two minutes in length.

    Past winners of the VIPSIG Essay Prize

    We're announcing this year's winners on May 25 on the wishes of Dr Zafrina Majid, whose essay received a commendation. This is in memory of her sibling Dr Syad Arshad Abbas, who passed away on this date in 2011. We've included a few words from her below.

    Winners

    Shaheen Sardar. Familial Relationships: A Protective or Detrimental Factor against Psychiatric Conditions in Female Refugees? (Medical Student)

    Sarah Parry. Mental Health Services in Cambodia: research and reflection.

    Runners-up

    Gunjan Sharma. East vs West: Psychiatry in the Himalayas. (CT1)

    Natalie Cook. SKIP: Emotional Wellbeing Interventions. (ST4)

    Commendations

    Fiona Martin. Volunteering in a mental health service in Uganda: challenges and rewards. (ST4)

    Zafrina Majid. What Appears to be the End, May Really Be a New Beginning. (ST4)

    "May 25, 2011 will remain forever etched on my mind. On that fateful day, Dr. Syed Arshad Abbas, my sibling, left us suddenly without saying a goodbye. He was accompanying a critically ill patient in an air ambulance which crashed in New Delhi; there were no survivors in that air crash.

    At 34, he had a mission for promoting voluntary health related work, benefitting some of the poorest of the poor. In keeping with his mission, I have travelled to my parental home in Kashmir, every year since 2011, to carry out voluntary work for a charitable trust established in his memory. I am grateful to the RCPsych team for considering to publish my article, based on this work, on May 25, 2020, which coincides with his death anniversary. Getting published on this date will give me an immense sense of comfort and fulfilment and recognition that it is worthwhile sharing such work internationally and continuing his mission in future.

    A special thanks to Mark Tuner, Mandip Jheeta and Kit Richardson for making this happen."

    Winner

    Runners-up

    Commendations

    • Claude Shema. Outreach Psychiatry Volunteering Experience with Aboriginal Communities in Canada. (MSc)
    • Andrea Meredith. Mental health services in Cambodia. (ST5)

    Past winners of the VIPSIG Video Pitch Prize

    Read more to receive further information regarding a career in psychiatry