This is the 5th year in which the Texas Heart Institute has granted an Award for Undergraduate Writing in the History of Cardiovascular Medicine and Surgery. The purpose of the award is to stimulate interest in medical history among medical students, and every paper is considered for publication, regardless of whether or not it wins an award. The winner receives an honorarium, a plaque, and publication of his or her paper in the Texas Heart Institute Journal.
The winner of the 2001 award is Chander Mohan Mittal, an 8th-semester student in the MBBS curriculum at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. Mr. Mittal is from Ambala in the state of Haryana in the north of India, where his father is an engineer and his mother a high-school teacher. His formative schooling was at St. Paul's High School and later at DAV (Dayanand Anglo Vedic) Public School, both in Ambala.
From childhood, Chander Mohan Mittal has wanted to become a physician. In due course, he appeared for his medical entrance examinations and was fortunate enough to be chosen for admission to AIIMS, which is thought by many to be the best medical center in south Asia. The recipient of numerous awards and scholarships throughout his academic career, Mr. Mittal has worked on the quantification of the effect of exercise on latency of autonomic functions and on various research projects involving the manifestations of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection on cardiac function, heart-rate variability, and the cardiovascular system in general. His eventual goal is to become an interventional cardiologist.
The 2002 competition is open to all undergraduate students enrolled in medical schools in the United States or abroad. For more information on the award, please visit the Texas Heart Institute Web site (www.texasheartinstitute.org/journal.html) or write the Executive Editor, Texas Heart Institute Journal, 1–194, P.O. Box 20345, Houston, TX 77225-0345 USA. E-mail on this subject should be addressed to jbagg@heart.thi.tmc.edu. Specific information on entry requirements can be found on the preceding page.
Figure. Chander Mohan Mittal 2001 Winner