Cinco Ranch’s Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) Club recently competed in the Texas Area HOSA competition on February 7th and 8th which resulted in five students advancing to the State competition. Seniors Fareeha Alam and Indy Khan, competed in the Community Emergency Response Team(CERT) Competition taking second place. Senior Taha Ismail advanced in second place in the Biomedical Laboratory Science. Senior Caren Koh and junior Chantelle D’mello both took first in the Sports Medicine and Dental Terminology competitions respectively. 

“Most events started with online testing,” Koh said. “Which tests the general information for your event. The top 10 highest scoring competitors in the region then moved to Area, but in events with only one round, the top three advanced straight to State. At Area, we were tested on our skills -generally in the form of an unknown scenario or an on the spot sort of quiz- and the top 3 with skills and online testing scores combined advanced to State.”

Recently, Koh tore her ACL and had to have knee surgery, and Koh’s participation in Taekwondo also contributed to her competing in Sports Medicine.

“After tearing my ACL and having knee surgery,” Koh said. “I realized orthopedics/sports medicine is where I’m headed as a future doctor, so I decided to compete in sports medicine to learn more about it, and sure enough, I love everything I’ve done.”

Koh, along with the others that advanced, will compete on May 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the Texas HOSA State competition. 

“For things I [have] to memorize,” Koh said. “Quizlet was an absolute lifesaver. We also had competition practices after school every week for competitors, so I would go there to practice taping other people’s limbs or ask Mrs. Carter, our sponsor, any questions I had since she’s actually an athletic trainer.”

The main goal of HOSA is to allow for anyone hoping to pursue a career in medicine may have a community in high school that promotes learning in this field. HOSA shapes itself up to be a great way for students to pursue medical field experience prior to college, and seems to set up students for a great career. 

“I really want future HOSA members to really see themselves as the future health professionals they say they are and to really commit to everything they do, ”Koh said. “From competitions to volunteering to even just getting to know each other at our various socials.”