Fun at HOSA Regionals

Pictured+here+are+UAIS+HOSA+competitors+at+Fraser+High+School+on+February+4th.

Pictured here are UAIS HOSA competitors at Fraser High School on February 4th.

HOSA is a prestigious and rigorous medical competition which prepares students to achieve their dreams in the medical field. On February 4th,  58 UAIS HOSA competitors participated in Region 4’s HOSA competition at Fraser High School and represented their school at the best. They competed in a range of events from Medical Photography to Medical Spelling.

HOSA stands for Healthcare Occupation Students of America. It is a student-run organization that gives aspiring students an opportunity to experience the medical field. Through HOSA, students can compete in events that relate to an aspect in the medical field and they can compete for the medals all the way to national. They come in their business formal attire to show the judges that they know their material well and to show that they are serious about the competition.

There are many reasons as to why students join HOSA. HOSA allows students to explore the medical field with the benefit of getting competitive and win medals. Magda Wojtara, one of the juniors that run Medical Club, said that she is very interested in medicine. She explains the beginnings of her interest in medicine, “I grew up watching shows like ‘Untold Stories of the ER’, ‘Botched,’ and ‘CSI.’” This caused her to choose ‘Forensic Medicine’ as her event.

Similarly, Anthony Neubacher, senior HOSA member, joined HOSA because he wants to pursue pre-med. He chose to compete in the rigorous event ‘Medical Terminology’ because he “wanted [a good grasp of medical] terms” before starting college.

With the huge range of HOSA events, they all fall into different categories as what you are expected to do and how you are judged. Some events are spontaneous in which they require competitors to generate a presentation, piece, or conclusion from a case relating to Medicine at the competition with no previous work. Others are solely test-based where competitors should knowing the recommended study material. Magda’s event, ‘Forensic Medicine,’ was a  partner event and it required her to present a conclusion on a real Forensic case and take a Forensic test.  In contrast, Anthony only had to take a test in his event of ‘Medical Terminology.’ Both events were very difficult and they had many competitors. Both UAIS students came out as champions and are planning to go to states near the end of May.

Both students said that the most memorable moment during regionals was when they won in the top ten. Madga and her partner Mary Zylinski got fourth place in Forensic medicine. Anthony received first place in Medical Terminology. Anthony said, “It was cool to win first place. I didn’t expect it, being that it is my first year in HOSA. I was excited and grateful. It felt like a dream because it was so unexpected. I don’t want to say that I was proud but I do feel appreciative because all my studying paid off in the end.”

All in all, HOSA competitors have continued the long UAIS tradition of bringing back metals and making UAIS proud. Hope the best for all HOSA competitors who are going to states. Best of luck! Below is the list of the UAIS competitors who placed in third place or higher.

  • 1st place Biomedical Debate: Joana Lepuri, Shirley El-Fishaway, Paige Benard
  • 1st Place Creative Problem Solving: Hannah Thomas, Anne Joseph, Sandra Andrews, Riya Mathew
  • 1st Place Parliamentary Procedure: Mirna Mika, Hannah Paul, Nikhita Khosa, Ishika Sundar, Sneha Mathew, Jozann Bernal
  • 1st Place Extemporaneous Health Poster: Zuzanna Lutrzykowska
  • 2nd Place Health Career Display: Julia Bienkowski, Shawtaabdee Chakraborty
  • 1st Place Health Education: Dahlia Kathawa, Karolina Lutrzykowska, Dina Qiryaqoz
  • 2nd Place Medical Innovations: Brad Hall, Sahil Jha, Febin Thomas, Rithin Manimaleth
  • 1st Place Epidemiology: Vanessa Steele
  • 2nd Place Medical Reading: Amy Keyorkgy
  • 3rd Place Medical Reading: Rachel Steiber
  • 3rd Place Human Growth & Development: Roxy Sudyk
  • 1st Place Medical Terminology: Anthony Neubacher