The Louis E. Goodman, MD. Award was created at Johns Hopkins University to foster the sensitivity of prospective doctors to ideas and matters beyond the realm of medicine. Specifically, it was designed to encourage applicants to pursue their interests in the arts and letters for personal enrichment. This was and always will be the award’s primary objective, because Goodman believed such endeavors would help make more well-rounded and compassionate physicians.

Service to the community was not part of the original intent of the award and therefore is not a requirement for the application. If, on the other hand, service is fundamental to a candidate’s interest or is a consequence of a proposal, the committee will give such applications full consideration.

Preparing Your Proposal

The purpose of the Goodman Award is to facilitate personal enrichment in a discipline (arts and humanities) that may not otherwise be addressed/pursued by the recipient.

• Current juniors are eligible to apply.
• Proposals do not have to contain a medical component, nor does having a medical component improve one’s chances of receiving an award.
• Proposals should effectively and concisely convey your project. The narrative summary of your project should not exceed one page.
• There is no preferred time period/duration of project. However, projects should not exceed one year in length.
• The proposed project should transpire/be executed while still at JHU and must be completed by the end of intersession, senior year.
• Individual award amount(s) vary depending on the itemized request(s) outlined in the submitted proposal(s) and the number of viable applicants. It is crucial that you itemize and research your budget thoroughly.

How to Apply
Submit a pre-application by October 28, 2024 (optional but strongly recommended), and a final application by December 9, 2024. Click here for an overview of the application process.

About Louis E. Goodman, MD

Although his original interests were psychiatry and internal medicine, Goodman began his career in the late 1930s as a surgeon. By the 1950s, he undertook training in oncology. For the remainder of his professional life, Goodman practiced general surgery with a subspecialty in oncology. As his expertise in oncology developed, Goodman found himself practicing as much medicine—chemotherapies—as surgery in those early days, all while concurrently running the tumor clinic at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. Goodman was always keenly interested in the arts, especially music. Additionally, he sculpted, made jewelry, and weaved rugs as a means of relaxation and self expression. Goodman died of cancer in 1987.

Recent Goodman Awardees’ Projects

Exploring Art in Paris
Isioma Nwonye ’25, Medicine, Science, and the Humanities

The Poems Our Body Carries
Michelle Cho ’23, Biophysics