Lauren Anderson (20) and Hilary Vaughn (20) competed in Extemporaneous Health Poster. “In that competition, we chose any medical profession that we wanted, we chose anesthesiology, and created a poster and gave a speech on it,” Anderson said. This was done at one of the competitions.
Exploring the Healthcare Field
HOSA Helps Students with Careers
The current officers of HOSA attended the Fall Leadership Conference in Lincoln. “I have attended the Fall Leadership Conference, and I plan on attending the HOSA Expo again this year,” Vaughn said. The conference is only for officers.
The Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) is an organization that educates students about careers in the healthcare industry. It also prepares students for a career within the industry providing opportunities for students.
“The main thing that HOSA does to prepare students is that there are lots of opportunities to go to conferences,” HOSA advisor Mrs. Shauna Stauffer said. “You can learn about college programs, you can learn about different skills and then in March is the state competition.”
The meetings are used to inform members about upcoming opportunities for students to attend. Similar to the National Honor Society meetings, HOSA students get together briefly, unlike other clubs where the meetings are used to get everything done.
“Our HOSA meetings are really just times to find out what’s coming up, what’s going on,” Mrs. Stauffer said. “We don’t specifically talk about career fields in our meetings. It’s more time to just kind of get information out there.”
HOSA helps students learn about careers in healthcare by giving them exposure to the field. The healthcare industry is giant and is continuing to grow as more medical advancements are made.
“If you go into the healthcare field, HOSA prepares you and gets you exposed to many different careers within the field,” senior Hilary Vaughn said. “Through HOSA there are also competitive events where you are able to practice, research and do a presentation over a health career, or something healthcare-related.”
There are conferences every year that students can attend. One of them is the HOSA Expo in Lincoln. Other conferences include State HOSA and the Fall Leadership Conference.
“The conferences are a very fun way to build your leadership and learn a lot,” senior Lauren Anderson said. “There are several sessions you can choose to attend at conferences that appeal to your interests, lots of free prizes given out, and a great opportunity to meet people from other schools.”
Along with conferences, there are competitions that students can compete in. There are different events to compete in. Some are medical terminology, extemporaneous writing and health career photography.
“There are “test” competitions about various health-related topics, skill tests, presentations, essays, and so much more,” Anderson said. “ Last year I completed in Medical Terminology which consisted of 100 multiple choice questions regarding different terms. I also competed in Extemporaneous Health Poster with Hillary Vaugn, and in that competition, we chose any medical profession that we wanted, we chose anesthesiology, and created a poster and gave a speech on it.”
There are numerous careers in the healthcare field besides doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. For example, a bachelor’s degree in Radiology can open up other doors for different jobs besides an x-ray technician. Some examples are an MRI technician, pediatric radiographer and cardiovascular technologist.
“People should know that the healthcare field is giant,” Vaughn said. “You might think you know what you would like to do in it, but in reality, there are so many more careers under one branch.”
HOSA helps students by letting them explore careers and learn what it means to be in the healthcare field. Careers are always growing, and students have a larger variety to choose from. HOSA helped students take initiative to research and prepare themselves while they are in high school for a career in the healthcare industry.