MADISON – The field of medicine is fortunate to have a new generation of health care workers of high caliber, like the students in HOSA at Bob Jones High School.

HOSA students in Bob Jones chapter demonstrated their dedication to the field at the recent HOSA State Leadership Conference. HOSA focuses on learning opportunities for students in healthcare, volunteering and competition.

More than 1,600 students and teachers attended the conference in Montgomery in late February. The participants pursued two days of competition and leadership study.

“Students determined to succeed and willing to pursue excellence by preparing for their event have this beneficial opportunity,” HOSA Historian Hannah Evans said. “The conference is important not only for its competitions but also for its inspirational speakers and leadership workshops.”

“In my experience, the leadership conference is one of the best parts of HOSA because it gives students a goal to work towards and a reward for hard work,” Evans said. “I learned things that I had never heard of before, like subconscious communication from guest speakers in addition to learning information for my event, Medical Reading. This is really great because it broadens my knowledge about the medical field and what is happening in healthcare.”

“One such thing I learned about was ‘Be the Match,’ which is a National Marrow Donor Program that operates the Be the Match Registry of volunteer donors. This program connects patients with their donor match for a lifesaving marrow or blood stem cell transplant,” Evans said.

Bob Jones has one of the largest HOSA chapters in Alabama. With 45 students competing this year, Bob Jones had 26 students that placed in the Top 6 of their event. Bob Jones competed in 19 events in 60-plus possibilities.

Students ranking in the top 3 in each event are guaranteed a spot at International Leadership Conference.

Six Bob Jones students claimed first place in their category:

* Thais Arslanbekov — Behavioral health.

* Elaine Bao – Nutrition.

* Benjamin Gunasekaran – Pathophysiology.

* Soorya Ramesh — Medical law and ethics.

* Connor Nguyen — Pharmacy science.

Second-place winners:

* Gwendolyn Sexton — Medical law and ethics.

* Jackie Sullivan — Biomedical laboratory science.

* Pranav Ramesh — Dental science.

* Alecia Walker — Physical therapy.

* Areej Gouda, Maribel Marrero, Dhara Patel — Biomedical debate.

* Anna Grider, Maanasi Limaye — Forensic science.

Third-place winners:

* Puja Chopade – Pathophysiology.

* Emma Kate Lindsey — Biomedical laboratory science.

* Xueer Chen, Swetha Jakka, Thomas Nguyen, Aubteen Pour-Biazar — Biomedical debate.

Winners in the Top 6 of their category:

* Angel Anderson, Morgan Dunham, Morgan Meyers — Creative problem-solving.

* Anna Butler – Pathophysiology.

* Hannah Evans — Medical reading.

* Emma Karl – Epidemiology.

Emma Karl, Nini Nguyen and Samanvi Vootukuri received the Alabama HOSA Scholarship. Nini Nguyen earned the Barbara James Service Award.

Emily Lee will be the next 1st Vice President and Secretary for Alabama HOSA. Katie Laferrera was the third-place Goosechase winner.

Kara Koler sponsors HOSA. For the biomedical pathway, she teaches Biomedical Innovations, Human Body Systems and Principles of Biomedical Science.

Numerous HOSA students from Bob Jones qualified for the international competition in Nashville, Tenn. on June 22-25. The 2022 theme will be “Shatter Your Expectations.”

In community service, Bob Jones HOSA will conduct a blood drive on April 22 in the small gym from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. “The United States is struggling to keep up with the constant need of blood for transfusions and surgeries. Due to the season, there is a current national shortage of blood,” Evans said.