NEWS

Congratulations to CAPT Rob Tossatto, USPHS, for receving the Commissioned Officers Association of the USPHS Health Leader of the Year Award.  Captain Tosatto is the Director of the Medical Reserve Corps, a member of the HOSA-100 National Advisory Council and longtime supporter of HOSA.  The COA Health Leader of the Year Award was established in 1987 to recognize individuals who have made notable contributions to the health of the Nation.  Contributions can be in research, administration, service delivery, or some other area of public health.

Some people love standardized tests. Their scale is impressive – everyone who takes a particular test is scaled against everyone else. This allows schools and employers to see at a glance how you’ve performed on these often content-based, but even more often critical thinking-based, assessments. Other people hate them, saying that they are the epitome of a system that over-tests and results in students who know how to regurgitate information but not how to apply it in day-to-day life or in a future career.

HOSA—Future Health Professionals is pleased to announce the 2016 Public Health Leadership Seminar participants.  The week-long seminar is hosted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) with support from the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General (OSG) and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (USPHS).  

This past Friday, I completed a milestone – perhaps the milestone – in my slow, steady march toward medical school. Although I know that acceptance into a school is merely the start of an even longer journey than the one that I embarked on in 2012 when I entered NYU, I can’t help but see it as a kind of finish line. Maybe it’s a self-defense mechanism as I attempt to comprehend that my collegiate life is still less than half over. In any case, I’m nearly there.
 

Two outstanding HOSA chapters will be recognized for MRC Youth Engagement Awards this month. The MRC Youth Engagement Award honors MRC units that have successfully promoted the utilization of youth in their local mission. They also provided young people with opportunities to participate in public health, preparedness, or response activities.

HOSA-Future Health Professionals, the largest international organization for middle school, high school, and postsecondary/collegiate students with an interest in health professions, is excited to announce that it has reached its goal of 200,000 members in over 4,000 chapters for the 2015-2016 school year. HOSA has chapters in 48 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and at Department of Defense Education Activity schools on military bases in Italy and Germany.
 

To say that HOSA has had a tremendous impact on my life would be an understatement. I can say, very confidently, that my life as a health professional would not be the same without this organization.
 

South Dakota state HOSA secretary and Harrisburg High School HOSA president, Manaal Ali, has been chosen to represent South Dakota as a delegate to the 54th annual United States Senate Youth Program.

 Monday, January 11, 2016