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Man in a lab coat looking through a microscope in a lab

Co-Curricular Ways to Help Students Pick Competitive Events

I have found HOSA students tend to be intimidated or overwhelmed in picking and preparing for some of their HOSA events. I think if they get a head start on these skills in the classroom, it gives them a better idea of what to expect and empowers them in knowing they have already started preparing their events without it being extra work in their busy schedules. For example, did they do one of the soft skills already in a class that they could use? Could they build off of a service or community project your chapter is already planning?  In another blog post I mentioned adding some of the soft skill events in for project based learning, but maybe you don’t teach any courses that align with those standards. Are there ways you can blend in HOSA technical skills from the health professions/emergency preparedness event categories with things you already teach? For example, if you are teaching joint actions in anatomy, can you tie in and teach the “joint action and maximum range of motion identification” from the sports medicine guidelines as a way to link A&P curriculum to healthcare skills? Do you teach other lab based science classes and could you do a lesson using the biomedical lab sciences event on preparing a lab solution? When you teach microscopes or micropipettes can you tie in the rubric from biomedical lab sciences? How many of you teach about diabetes during feedback loops or somewhere in your curriculum? Do you do the synthetic urine testing lab? It is one of the skills in medical assisting. Many of you might teach taking vital signs in your classrooms or maybe use vital signs to collect data in an A&P lab- could you also teach how to document and record that so they could use it in the CNA event? There are lots of ways to link the science they are learning back to how to apply these skills in the medical professions. Another big thing you might be integrating this year is OSHA training and proper use of donning and doffing PPE- many of the HOSA technical skill events have a skill related to aseptic gowning, gloving, and hand washing. The rubrics make an easy way to test these skills in the classroom or allow students to use the evaluation tools in helping and teaching others. 

 

How about other teachers in your building? Are other teachers in your building already teaching these in their curriculum and could they remind students how it plays into HOSA events? For example, does your biology teacher(s) do a blood typing lab and/or work with micropipettes and microscopes? Can you give them a copy of the HOSA event rubric so they can connect with students on these skills in the classroom? How about sports medicine- can you ask the teacher for this class to integrate some of the taping procedures used in the HOSA rubric? Do you or your PE department teach CPR? How about first aid? That could be a good start for both the CPR/1st Aid event or the CERT skills event. 

 

A lot of these skills already fit into your curriculum so you are not reinventing the wheel. In fact I have found tieing what I am teaching back to practical skills application and/or HOSA brings more life and engagement into my lessons. It has also been a great HOSA recruiting tool for me to be able to expose students to the many skill events they could choose from and have them feel like they already have a head start on their preparations.