As Milford Students put on the gloves and pull out the stethoscope, they also break out the pen and paper as they study for this year’s 2016 HOSA competition.

This year’s competitors seem hungry and restless for the title to be the smartest and brightest young healthcare professional in the U.S and now including some parts of China.

HOSA (Health Occupations Students Of America) is a professional student made organization that brings young adults from all U.S states including Puerto Rico together and allows them to collaborate and compete with their fellow health care peers. Established in November 1976, HOSA has been ongoing and active for almost 40 years. Starting with only a few thousand members, this organization has worked its count  to more than 200,000 active members strong. Students from all over Michigan are choosing a category out of the many solo, partner, or team playlists. To be a member of HOSA you do not have to be in any kind of health science class or program, memberships cost 20 dollars.

The competition starts differently based on the event. Some events have only a written test, other events have a written test and a tested presentation in a certain skill with 2 or more judges. The events that have a skill and an event will show the person or team if they are going to proceed to the next round of the competition based on the score. 70%  is usually the dead line between the make or break spread. Pending on the test score or the event score this will allow you to proceed to the next round or show that you are eliminated from the event. Some may be recorded for their annual HOSA video.

Popular events such as Emergency Medical Technician and Home Health Care shows great relief due to its more easy criteria for this year’s regional round. Sam Coulter (senior at Lakeland High) shows her excitement and confidence as she explains that HOSA is “A very fun experience and mostly challenging”. Held at Farmington High school on December 12th, starts regionals which gives our OSTC students a chance to compete to gain glory in establishing themselves as a professional organization. See more information for all of the events and times at www.hosamichigan.org