AMWA Early Career Award
AMWA supports the professional development of writers and editors who develop health and medical content for the mainstream press, consumers and health professionals.
To help aspiring writers enter the field of medical writing, AMWA facilitates an annual Early Career Award.
2026 Entries Now Open!
Entries will close Monday 27 July
About the Early Career Award
The AMWA Early Career Award aims to assist members to transition from tertiary education or other employment to a career in medical
writing. AMWA members with fewer than two years’ experience in medical writing are eligible to apply.
Applicants for the AMWA Early Career Award will be assessed on a piece of writing of no more than 1000 words.
Submissions should focus on a topic that is strongly related to medicine and/or health.
Applicants must be current members of AMWA and the sole author of the work they submit (previously published pieces may be submitted).
Benefits of the Early Career Award
- $1,000 cash prize
- Complimentary registration to the AMWA Annual Conference (if applicable)
- Publicity via the AMWA website, e-newsletter and social media channels
- Advice and support from AMWA members already established in the field of medical writing
Application process
Applicants should include a short personal biography of no more than 400 words, detailing:
- Why they are interested in medical writing
- Any previous writing experience they have had
- What they hope to achieve in their career as a medical writer
- What role they see medical writers as having in society
All submissions must adhere to the following formatting and presentation requirements. Submissions that do not comply with these
guidelines may not be considered.
Format Requirements:
- All entries (both biography and award submission) must be submitted as a PDF document.
- Use Times New Roman, 12-point font throughout the documents.
- Text must be double-spaced, including quotations and references (if applicable).
- Standard margins (2.5 cm on all sides) are recommended.
- The award submission must include a clear title at the beginning of the document.
- All pages numbered.
Anonymity:
- The award submission must be completely anonymous. Do not include your name, organisation, logo, or any identifying details within the document or file name.
- The biography can contain your name and other information you wish to share.
Word Count:
- Biography: No more than 400 words
- Award submission: No more than 1000 words
Please note:
Although generative AI tools are increasingly used to improve efficiency and support high-quality
work, the AMWA committee has decided that Early Career Award entries should reflect the original ideas, writing styles and narrative voices
of the entrants.
Therefore, candidates may only use generative AI tools to help with grammar and spelling. AI must not be used to generate ideas, research
citations, writing structure, or writing style. The voice, style, and structure of the submission must be your own.
Assistive technologies built into desktop writing programs (add-ins), including (but not limited to) Grammarly, PerfectIt, or ProWritingAid,
should also only be used for spelling and grammar checking.
Judging criteria include:
- Ability to convey the importance of the topic to the intended audience
- Interest, appeal and relevance
- Accuracy and objectivity
- Originality
- Writing ability
Entries for the 2026 Early Career Award are now open!
Previous winning submissions:
2025
Early Career Award Winner - Halimat Atanda
2024 Early Career Award Winner - Alexa Arganda
2023 Early Career Award Winner - Amy Kelly
2022 Early Career Award Winner -
Carol Chapman
2021 Early Career Award Winner – Manuela Callari
2020 Early Career Award Winner –
Georgina Taylor
2019 Early Career Award Winner – Natalie Parletta
2018 Early Career Award Winner – Nidhi Sodhi