Seminole High School is proud to announce that some of its students from HOSA are finalists for the Health Occupations Students of American (HOSA) regional competition. HOSA is an international club that promotes healthcare for all and provides gateways to health-related careers for interested high-schoolers. The partnership of students, health organizations, and institutions such as the U.S. Department of Education and the Health Science Education (HSE) allows intrigued future healthcare workers to directly impact the industry at a young age, opening pathways and arranging beneficial opportunities.

The goals that HOSA believes are vital to each member are:

• To promote physical, mental, and social well-being.
• To develop effective leadership qualities and skills.
• To develop the ability to communicate more effectively with people.
• To develop character.
• To develop responsible citizenship traits.
• To understand the importance of pleasing oneself as well as being of service to others.
• To build self-confidence and pride in one’s work.
• To make realistic career choices and seek successful employment in the health care field.
• To develop an understanding of the importance of interacting and cooperating with other students and organizations.
• To encourage individual and group achievement.
• To develop an understanding of current health care issues, environmental concerns, and survival needs of the community, the nation, and the world.
• To encourage involvement in local, state, and national health care and education projects.
• To support Health Science Education instructional objectives.
• To promote career opportunities in health care.

(taken from the HOSA website)

In the format of a normal extracurricular or high-school club, HOSA helps build not only knowledge and experience with healthcare, but also leadership qualities, character, and necessary motivation and team skills. In addition to providing necessary characteristics, HOSA imparts recognition to its members. Those involved in the club are recognized by all levels of education-secondary, postsecondary, adult, and collegiate students. There are leadership positions available for qualified students at the state and national level as well. Most members of HOSA have gone onto being successful healthcare professionals that are praised for their skills.

In the regional competition for Seminole county, numerous students were able to qualify for state championships. One of these students included IB sophomore, Jiya Bhatt.

Bhatt competed in the Pathophysiology knowledge exam, placing second and qualifying for the state championships. The exam was testing her knowledge of diseases in the human body. It was an individual event, and Bhatt thoroughly enjoyed studying and preparing for it as she started having a future investment in the topic. It was not an easy feat to place. The competition is intense and Bhatt had to learn a lot of information, including a basic understanding of detailed anatomy. But the outcome was worth it, and she claims that HOSA is a wonderful opportunity for those interested in healthcare.

“I enjoy the various HOSA events that we can participate in. Even if I am not proficient in medical terminology and other related health subjects, I still have a variety of projects that I can involve myself in. I’ve learned a lot from the HOSA events that I’ve competed in. Last year, for example, my partner and I competed in the health career display, and I was able to perfect my research and project work competence. This year, I’ve focused more on the knowledge side of medicine. As a student in IB, I feel that HOSA allows me to pinpoint subjects that I’m interested in, regardless of my academic decisions.”, explains Bhatt.

Bhatt firmly believes that HOSA is a perfect foundation for high school students in healthcare. The large range of events provides enough choices for everybody, and she states that for those who are interested, HOSA sets you up for success by “understanding what you want to accomplish [through] assessing your strengths [and weaknesses]”.

Bhatt and other regional finalists will go on to compete in the HOSA state championships in March. However, the format is different this year due to covid-19. For safety precautions and health concerns, the conference will be completely virtual. The state testing window will be open from March 4 to March 15.

For more information on HOSA or the upcoming state conference, contact alumni Mary Stump or Tami Bradley:

mary_stump@scps.k12.fl.us

bradletl@scps.k12.fl.us