HOSA’s (Future Health Professionals) State Competition, known as the State Leadership Conference, took place on April 1st and April 2nd. The events ranged from individual to group competitions, all centered around healthcare-related topics. Many challenged participants to tackle real-world problems in the medical field. High school students from across Montana, from ninth through twelfth grade, gathered to compete in the HOSA State Conference, showcasing their knowledge, skills, and passion for healthcare.
On the first day, April 1st, the State Leadership Conference took place at Montana State University Billings (MSUB). Students arrived at 1:00 pm, events started at 2:00, and ended at 6:00. The events for day one were leadership and group events. These events are more of a presentation with posters or medical innovations, where students present their inventions. Following the events, competitors met for dinner at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center. At the dinner, there was a hypnosis show, and people eagerly signed up for symposium workshops for the next day, Wednesday, April 2nd. Going into the first day, people who had events were nervous: “When I went into HOSA state, I thought it was going to be really stressful and crazy but it turned out to be really fun and there was no pressure. Sure, Mrs Cunningham wanted us to do our best, but she also wanted us to have fun,” freshman Vanessa Sheridan said.
On April 2nd, the events were at Rocky Vista University, starting at 9:00 am and ending at noon. For people who weren’t competing, there was an exhibition fair which schools from all over Montana came and set up. There were many things to do from VR headsets that were made to set up medical problems that people could help solve, to exhibits demonstrating how to swaddle a baby. The exhibition fair was made for students interested in a career in medicine. The events that took place on this day were a lot more technical with mock simulations. When the events ended, students attended symposiums at Rocky Mountain College in the afternoon. The day culminated with an awards ceremony. Four individuals and one group from Central placed. Patryk Starosta placed first in biotechnology, Ella Fairbanks placed second in health career photography, Olivia Guenthner placed second in pharmacy science, and Joshua Strydom placed third in clinical lab science. Greyson Pisano, Lucy Baker, Brynn Soggard, Teaghan Vaira got first place in the public service announcement.
Hosa State is a place where students can show off their work that they’ve been working on for the whole year. “My favorite part about Hosa state is seeing all their hard work pay off, its really fun for me as a teacher. Seeing them meet the goals that they set is really incredible” Mrs. Cunningham states.
