The Smooth Obturators Team, representing Canada HOSA and New Jersey HOSA, clinched first place at the prestigious Anatomage Tournament during HOSA’s 47th annual International Leadership Conference (ILC).
“Our name is Smooth Obturators: Obturators like the muscle and smooth like the song ‘Smooth Operator,’” said Sarah Laughton, a Canada HOSA member.
Despite their seamless cohesion, the Smooth Obturators team were merely strangers until the ILC. Laughton and Rachael Young wanted to compete in the tournament but needed two more people in order to qualify.
“My friend and I signed up because we were the only ones coming from our country [Canada],” Laughton said. “We found our lovely partners wandering around the expo, and luckily, we just clicked!”
The Anatomage Tournament is a team-based competition that immerses participants in the intricate world of human anatomy. The Anatomage Table is the only fully segmented real human 3D anatomy platform, allowing users to visualize anatomy exactly as they would on a fresh cadaver. Utilizing the Anatomage Table’s advanced 3D visualization technology, these tournaments transform traditional academic competitions into engaging, gamified experiences.
“A challenge we faced was trying to answer everything within the time restraint. We were able to answer most of them correctly, but we had to skip quite a few and try not to overthink,” recounted Ariana Gandhi, a New Jersey HOSA member. Despite the time pressure, the team leveraged context clues to tackle the application-based questions effectively and excelled in part two of the competition.
Praanjal Gajera, also from New Jersey, highlighted their confidence in the second half’s short answer questions. “We felt most confident in the open-ended ones during the analysis and application, because we were able to talk through them,” she said.
The Smooth Obturators’ victory at the Anatomage Tournament is a shining example of international collaboration in the healthcare industry and the importance of teamwork across borders. Their success underscores HOSA’s core principle of innovation in medical education and motivates the next generation of healthcare professionals to create a brighter, healthier, future for all.
