Haven’s one and only healthcare club has arrived.
HOSA, which stands for Health Occupations Students of America, is a national student-led program recognized by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education.
According to their official website, the program was created in 1976 at a Constitutional Convention in Arlington, Texas, made up of six states with about 6000 students involved. Now, the program has grown to support an estimated 260,000 members worldwide.
The club was brought to Haven by sophomores Lavanya Dixit and Rheya Singh, who serve as the co-presidents. The first meeting was on November 21 in science teacher Mr. Tim Styer’s room.
Dixit admits that bringing HOSA to Haven was time-consuming, leading to the club’s later start in the second quarter.
“It’s much harder than just starting a club at Haven. You have to go through an external level of starting something because we have to start a chapter with the actual organization,” Dixit said.
The national HOSA organization provides volunteer opportunities in the healthcare field to help members become avid parts of their communities while expanding their interests and concepts of a potential career. They also sponsor several competitions where students can demonstrate their knowledge of healthcare.
Dixit and Singh hope to begin attending competitions with the club in the spring, with signups coming out in January. Dixit notes that these competitions have a category for everybody.
“There are a ton of different categories, combining healthcare with other interests. If you’re interested in public speaking and healthcare, there’s an event for that, if you’re interested in photography in healthcare, there’s something for that,” Dixit said.
Sophomore Ella Brook is excited to be a part of HOSA and points out that memorizing information for these competitions will help her advance in her healthcare knowledge and future career.
“I know we will be learning more about healthcare and different careers in that, and also, if I do decide to compete, that would be really helpful because I would have to study for it,” Brook said.
HOSA plans to meet on certain Mondays, usually every other week, mainly in the spring, when competition season will gear up. Students interested in joining the club can join the Schoology group.
Though HOSA strives to provide plenty of opportunities and healthcare enrichment for students, Singh stresses the overlying goal of the club.
“We want to give everyone [the] healthcare experience that wants it,” Singh said.
