Prêmio João XXI

A prize has been organized by the Association of Portuguese Catholic Doctors and will be continued for as long as judged useful; it will be awarded by the International Federation of Catholic Doctors (FIAMC) according to the following rules:

Article 1: It will be called “The International Prize of Medical Ethics and Deontology João XXI” consisting of a special medal with the effigy of this Pope and Portuguese Doctor, and a diploma.

Article 2: The João XXI Prize is meant to stimulate the study of Medical Ethics and Deontology in different countries and to reward, in that field, the best original work written or published in the interval of two International consecutive Congresses of Catholic Doctors.

Article 3: Only works, which adhere to the following conditions will be admitted to the competition.

1. By the choice of the competitor, the work should be linked with Medical Ethics or Deontology fields and the most debated ethical or deontological questions at the time of the competition.
2. Each time the International Federation of Catholic Doctors considers it useful, the Federation will be able to indicate in advance, from the vast fields of Medical Ethics and Deontology, the theme or themes on which the competition will be based.
3. The works must be original, preferably those which have not yet been published. Studies of work already published or of borrowed extracts will not be accepted.
4. The works must be written in the original language, but when that is not French or English, they must be accompanied by a translation in one of these two languages which will be the author’s responsibility.
5. All text, including the abstract and reference list, should be prepared in single column and double-spaced format. Manuscripts are recommended to be submitted in Microsoft Word. Use a normal, plain font (e.g., 12-point Times Roman) for text. The text should be between 20 to 30 pages including abstract, references, figures and tables.

Article 4: The competitors will have to  submit the work digitally to the Secretariat of the International Federation of Associations of Catholic Doctors through the appointed media/system three months before the International Congress of Catholic Doctors.

1. The approved texts may be published in the Journals of the Associations of Catholic Doctors; it will suffice to ask for it at the Secretariat of the International Federation of the Associations of Catholic Doctors.
2. As for the work which wins the prize, the Association of Catholic Portuguese Doctors reserves the right to publish it fully in its periodical “Acção Médica“. It can also be published in a special edition by the Federation of the Association of Catholic Doctors.

Article 5: The following will not be accepted for the competition:

1. Works which take a view contrary to the doctrine of the Catholic Church.
2. Works belonging to members of the judging panel.

Article 6: The Board of the International Federation of Catholic Doctors will choose, well in advance, four well-known and respected personalities from international Catholic circles, who, with the President of the International Federation, will work on the judging panel, which will assess the works presented at each competition.

1. The five members of the judging panel will have to be, as far as possible, from different countries, but there must be a Portuguese appointed by the Directors of the Association of Portuguese Catholic Doctors, since the prize has been set up by a Portuguese Institution.
2. One of the members of the judging panel must be a priest with deep knowledge of ethical and deontological problems, and one other member, at least, Professor of Medical Ethics or Deontology in a faculty of medicine.

Article 7: The month after the closing of the competition, each member of the judging panel will be sent a copy of the submitted papers.

Article 8: There will be no appeal against the decisions of the judging panel, which will be passed on a month before the date of Congress by a majority vote (absolute or relative). Once the decision is known, the President of the Judging Panel will pass on its opinion duly authorized, to the Association of Portuguese Catholic Doctors.

Article 9: The prize is indivisible. The judging panel has the right not to award it if the works presented seem to it inadequate for the objectives of the initiative, or in disagreement with the demand set up and whenever the medical ethical or deontological literature is not impressive.

Article 10: The Prize João XXI will be awarded in an official ceremony at the opening of each International Congress of Catholic Doctors, to the competitor or his representative.

Article 11: In case there are no entries for the competition, the judging panel may award the Prize João XXI to the paper presented at the International Congress of Catholic Doctors, which, in his opinion, does best meet the criteria established in Articles 2 and 3.

Article 12: It is the task of the International Federation of the Associations of Catholic Doctors to apply this ruling and to deal with contested cases, always in agreement with the Directing Body of the Association of Portuguese Catholic Doctors.