HOSA is one of Darlington’s clubs, which helps students prepare for a future health professional career including special competitions and trips for all the members. The State Leadership Conference will be held from Feb. 28 to Mar. 2.
“The State Leadership Conference (SLC) is the second biggest conference associated with HOSA,” club president and sophomore Rayna Lee said. “It is a time when over 4,200 members and advisors from Georgia HOSA compete in various competitions, attend workshops with speakers who share their different experiences in the medical field, participate in exhibits and engage in fun activities.”
First starting as the American Health Occupations Education Student Organization-AHOESO (later changed to HOSA), the first official conference took place in 1975 in Arlington, Texas.
“HOSA is a global student-led organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and several federal and state agencies,” Lee said. “It provides a unique program of leadership development, motivation and recognition exclusively for secondary, postsecondary, adult and collegiate students enrolled in health science education and biomedical science programs, or who have interests in pursuing careers in health professions.”
The club offers various opportunities for Upper School students, especially for those who strive for careers as healthcare professionals.
“HOSA provides future health professionals the chance to develop knowledge and skills in health-related careers, meet and cooperate with other students who share the same future goals, help find career choices, and learn and experience leadership skills,” Lee said. “Additionally, Darlington HOSA provides speeches from health professionals in various fields and volunteer work opportunities associated with health care.”
To join the club and to participate in the competitions, some requirements are needed.
“To compete in the competitions, you first need to be an official member of Georgia HOSA and qualify from the State Qualification Test (SQT),” Lee said. “The SQT is a written multiple-choice test that requires knowledge of anatomy, biology and a specific topic of your choice. Only the top five teams from each region qualify from the SQT test. The competition consists of two rounds: the first round comprises 50 written multiple-choice problems, and once you advance from the first round, you proceed to the second round, which is the skill test.”
Through the school year, the HOSA program participates in events and trips.
“I refer to every conference and event organized by Georgia HOSA as ‘HOSA trips,’” Lee said. “There are six major conferences/events in a year, including the Officer Jumpstart (which helps advisors and leaders prepare for the new year), Fall Rally (a gathering for fun times), the State Conference and the International Conference.”
If students are interested in joining the HOSA club there are different steps they can take.
“There are two sites to visit for students who are interested. One is Georgia HOSA, and the other is HOSA,” Lee said. “You can find out more about the competitions and you can see all the details about HOSA events. Every Darlington student is more than welcome to join Dar-HOSA whenever they want to.”
The meetings take place weekly with support from certain teachers.
“Dar-HOSA advisors are Mrs. Toni King and Mr. Mike Hudson,” Lee said. “We meet every Wednesday during club period to discuss the conference coming up, we plan on speaker speech, blood drive, donation or volunteer work.”