Submit media prize of the German Society for Internal Medicine eV DGIM by February 28, 20022
08.02.2022 17:17
What would have been therapeutically impossible 15 years ago is now part of the standard repertoire of every intensive care unit - technological development, translational research and the ever closer interdisciplinary cooperation between the different medical disciplines ensure that the limits of what is medically possible are constantly being expanded. At the same time, the boundaries between the specialist disciplines as well as the outpatient and inpatient sectors are increasingly shifting. The German Society for Internal Medicine (DGIM) is therefore focusing on “The Limits of Internal Medicine” with its media award, which is also the motto of the upcoming Internal Medicine Congress in 2022. The specialist society calls on journalists to submit their contributions on this topic in the Categories print, online, TV and radio as well as, for the first time, podcasts must be submitted by February 28, 2022. The DGIM awards three prizes worth a total of 8,000 euros.
Medical options are growing. Diseases that were long considered incurable can now be detected earlier and treated better. But what impact do these advances have on patients? Does it really improve a patient's quality of life if all therapeutic options are exhausted to the end - or is there too much medicine? “Such questions can never be seen in black or white. These are borderline areas that require great medical empathy and consensus in medicine and society,” explains Professor Dr. med. Markus M. Lerch, DGIM Chairman and Medical Director and Chairman of the Board of the LMU Clinic Munich. It is important to balance ethical considerations with therapeutic and interdisciplinary issues. “The last few months of the corona pandemic in particular have shown that the media communication of such questions requires a lot of journalistic sensitivity and care in order to balance objectivity and emotionality,” says Lerch.
With its media award, the DGIM is aimed at journalists who deal with the medical-ethical borderline aspects of medicine as well as the challenges for health policy and consequences for the German healthcare system - with a focus on research and future patient care. “The pandemic presents us with new challenges, such as the prioritization of certain medical measures or the financing of the health system,” says DGIM Secretary General Professor Dr. med. Georg Ertl, who also chairs the media prize jury. “We look forward to contributions that also critically and well-researched examine these health policy aspects,” emphasizes Ertl.
In 2022, the DGIM will again award three media prizes: The author of the first-placed article will receive 5,000 euros, the second-placed article will receive 2,000 euros, and the third place will receive 1,000 euros. Contributions are permitted in the categories “print” and “online” (articles in the daily and weekly press, from popular magazines and articles published in online media), “radio”, “television” and, for the first time in 2022, “podcasts”. The selection process will include publications that were published in German-speaking countries between March 1, 2021 and February 28, 2022. Scientific publications in medical journals will not be taken into account when awarding the prize.
Applicants must submit the competition entry and a short CV in tabular form by February 28, 2022 using the contact form on the DGIM homepage https://www.dgim.de/ueber-uns/ehrungen-und-preise/medienpreis/bewerbung/a. Those interested can also find further information, the advertisement and all the key details for the application. A jury headed by the specialist society decides on the awarding of the prize. The prize will be awarded at the 128th Internal Medicine Congress in Wiesbaden (April 30–May 3, 2022). Personal participation of the prize winners is expressly desired (subject to pandemic developments).