Gold Humanism Honor Society
at the University of Minnesota
Welcome to the UofM Chapter of GHHS!
The mission of the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) is to recognize individuals who are exemplars of humanistic patient care and who can serve as role models, mentors, and leaders in medicine. The power of the Society lies in bringing together like-minded individuals to sustain their own humanism and to inspire and nurture humanism in others. GHHS honors medical students, residents, fellows, role-model physician teachers, and others who demonstrate excellence in humanistic clinical care, leadership, compassion, and dedication to service. We at the University of Minnesota take this mission seriously. Our membership strives to facilitate educational events and service opportunities that promote wellness and humanism in our medical community.
Our Values
Compassion // Collaboration // Scientific Excellence // Humanism // Respect // Integrity
GHHS FAQ
What is the Gold Humanism Honor Society?
This is a national honor society that was started in 2002 as a humanistic response to “Academic Honors” societies. The University of Minnesota chapter was started in 2003, shortly after its inception. The intention behind GHHS is to recognize those students who consistently go out of their way to demonstrate compassion, empathy, and humanistic ideals in their interactions with peers and patients.
How many people can be inducted into GHHS?
The National GHHS foundation dictates that only 15% of a class may be inducted into GHHS each year. Therefore, this translates to 35-40 students total for both the Twin Cities and Duluth campuses, depending on total class size. Membership distribution consists of the top 15% Twin Cities (~26-27) + top 15% Duluth (~9-10) + top 15% MD-PhD students (~1-2).
How do you determine the top 15% of students/How am I inducted?
Membership is determined purely by peer nominations. In January, there will be a survey on MEDIS consisting of six questions developed by a GHHS faculty member who “validated” this survey and published their findings. You will be able to nominate up to three people from your class for each question. After voting ends, the number of times individuals are nominated will be tallied up by the Office of Student Affairs. Additionally, all names are sent to faculty advisors and the Dean of Student Affairs for nomination approval (generally, all names pass approval). Those with the highest number of nominations and within the top 15% of their program will be inducted.
Throughout the next several months on your rotations, we encourage you to look for and consider peers who exemplify the values seen in these questions.
Please note that neither current GHHS members nor its faculty advisors, Dr. Power and Dr. Holbrook, have any impact on the nomination, tallying, or approval process.
What six questions are on the survey?
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The classmates who best personify the quote: “The secret to good patient care lies in caring for the patient.”
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The classmates who have contributed to the greater community outside the Medical School, whether locally, nationally, or internationally.
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The classmates you would like to call on to discuss a personally disturbing event
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The classmates you would trust most to deliver bad news to a patient, e.g. a diagnosis of terminal cancer.
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The classmates who most demonstrate respect for colleagues and the health care team.
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The classmates you would want as the doctor for yourself or a loved one.
Can I vote for myself?
No - that is antithetical to the mission of GHHS. The Office of Student Affairs will check for this when votes are tallied up.
What does GHHS do?
GHHS is more than an award! There are several committees within GHHS that participate in education, service, national GHHS initiatives and more. Everyone nominated to GHHS is expected to actively participate on a committee.
Why does the University of Minnesota continue to participate in GHHS?
We believe that this is a rare opportunity for you to actively participate in honoring those within your class who have gone above and beyond in their interactions with you. As peers, you have had the unique insight of observing each other over the course of years, both inside and outside of the clinic and classroom. Therefore, you are the best judges of character for each other. Ultimately, this award is also reflective of your values as a class in who you choose to nominate. Based on inductions in recent years, this peer nomination system has been successful in generating increasingly diverse cohorts.
We would like to acknowledge the humanistic characteristics we all share as individuals pursuing medicine. Because of this, all medical students are eligible for GHHS induction, however the nomination process aims to highlight those who visibly surpass expectations of what it means to be compassionate and reinforce the human connection in medicine. Though we strive towards an equitable approach for nomination, individuals worthy and deserving of this recognition may be excluded; we are committed to improving this process each year.
We are thankful that the dean’s office continues to support our participation in this honor society by paying the chapter fee of $3,500 per year on our behalf.