The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners

Congratulations to Dr Greg Judkins of Auckland who is the winner of the College’s inaugural Short Story Competition. Greg’s story ‘The Mask’ is about a new mother’s battle with post-natal depression.

He wins three bottles of wine from Forrest Wines in Marlborough and some other goodies.

The judges also awarded three highly commended awards to:

• Feilding’s Dr Warren Nicholls for his two entries – ‘Mr P’ and ‘The School Bag’;
• Otago’s Dr Trevor Lloyd for ‘Closing the Gaps’; and
• Christchurch’s Dr Rochelle Phipps for her story ‘A Dream of India’.

Each receives a bottle of wine from Forrest Wines and some chocolates.

The judges – College CEO Karen Thomas, author and communications professional Trina Saffioti and College GM Communications Leigh Parker – say they were extremely impressed with the high standard of entries.

“There were some fresh, authentic voices and a variety of styles with some vivid characters and an absence of clichés. The stories, as a collection, help provide a human face to the medical profession,” says Trina.

Thank you to all those who entered the competition, and thank you to Dr Brigid Forrest from Forrest Wines for donating the prizes.

The winning stories will be run in upcoming issues of GP Pulse.