WALTHAM – Trisha Parayil, a student at Boston University’s Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, has been selected as the winner of the Massachusetts Medical Society’s History of Medicine Essay for 2025 with her work entitled “Doctors Without Borders, Licenses with Limits: A Brief History of Foreign Medical Graduate Licensure in the U.S.”
Parayil is from New Jersey and earned her B.S. in Neuroscience and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. After graduation, she joined Teach for America and served as a high school science teacher in Connecticut. As a student at Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, she has spent her extracurricular time conducting research in infectious diseases as well as volunteering at the Barbara McInnis House, a medical respite center.
She enjoys writing - particularly about science and medicine - a skill that she honed as a Richard Casement intern at The Economist. She was inspired to research historical approaches to licensing foreign medical graduates for the History of Medicine contest after learning about the varied licensing practices across U.S. states
The essay contest is sponsored by the Medical Society’s Committee on History and invites essays related to the history of medicine or public health in Massachusetts since the establishment of the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1781. Articles are judged on scholarship, originality, and clarity of expression.
The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) is the statewide professional association for physicians and medical students, supporting 25,000 members. We are dedicated to educating and advocating for the physicians of Massachusetts and patients locally and nationally. A leadership voice in health care, the MMS contributes physician and patient perspectives to influence health-related legislation at the state and federal levels, works in support of public health, provides expert advice on physician practice management, and addresses issues of physician well-being. Under the auspices of the NEJM Group, the MMS extends our mission globally by advancing medical knowledge from research to patient care through the New England Journal of Medicine, NEJM Catalyst, and the NEJM Journal Watch family of specialty publications, and through our education products for health care professionals: NEJM Knowledge+, NEJM Resident 360, and our accredited and comprehensive continuing medical education programs.
