The Future Health Professionals (HOSA) members competed in this year’s Area 3 Competition on Feb. 17-18 at Frisco Centennial High School in Frisco with four members coming away with awards.
“The HOSA competitions are a way for all HOSA members, who aspire to be future health care professionals, to exhibit their strengths in a formal albeit competitive format,” junior Rohit Prasad said.
With a large number of events ranging from Researched Persuasive Writing and Speaking all the way to Medical Laws and Ethic, the annual event has a variety of different competitions that bring together a diverse body of students who have an interest in the medical field.
“This has been my first year being involved in HOSA at West, so I didn’t really know what to expect other than being told by seniors that it is extremely competitive,” junior Zoie Fan said. “Despite its challenging aspects, I’m still very excited about being involved and doing well in the last competition.”
Competing in HOSA requires a lot of hard work and dedication. Students familiarize themselves with many different topics, whether it be the numerous Latin roots and deadly diseases that make up the Medical Terminology event to the range of medical issues necessary for the Researched Persuasive Writing and Speaking Skills event.
“From my experience in the Medical Assisting Skill, HOSA is definitely something that requires you to spend time outside of class on it if you wish to be successful in it,” senior Sana Khan said.
The challenges of the competition depend on each event. For example, competitors in events such as Healthy Lifestyle, Forensic Medicine, Epidemiology and Medical Math must study for an online competition in order to compete in the Area competition.
Being able to communicate effectively is very important in the competition as many events such as the one Prasad is involved in Researched Persuasive Writing and Speaking which he won to advance to the State conference in Corpus Christi.
“The first round of my competition is writing a persuasive piece about a medical topic and taking a position on that topic,” Prasad said. “Round two of my competition is to present my piece through a speaking format on the same topic from the first round.”
Along with Prasad, both Khan and Fan qualified for the State conference in their respective categories along with Sanjna Bhatia who qualified in the Jobs Speaking Skill competition.
The Area competition provides students with an opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of health and its many career paths. It provides students with an opportunity to develop leadership qualities and skills in an environment that caters to those interested in the field of medicine.
“I believe the HOSA competitions benefit everyone as it prepares us for the rigorous experiences we will likely encounter in college and our lives in general,” Khan said. “To be successful in the workforce, you need ambition and the ability to cope with pressure which HOSA has helped me handle.”