HOSA, or Future Health Professionals, is an international Career Technical Student Organization.
HOSA’s mission: The mission of HOSA is to enhance the delivery of compassionate, quality health care by providing opportunities for knowledge, skill, and leadership development of all health science education students, therefore, helping the student meet the needs of the health care community. Be part of the future of healthcare – today!
2022 HOSA
A spark. A spark is all that it takes for one person, one student, to make a significant difference in their community. One act of speaking up about an issue or topic is enough to make a change. Our students at our CVHS HOSA club have demonstrated their willingness to impact our community for the better; from creating campaigns to aware others of human trafficking, COVID-19 information, and mental health awareness, to establishing screening services to help those most affected by health disparities.
As students worked, laughs and jokes were always shared to create a welcoming and comfortable environment. Students have pioneered their projects and taken initiative in establishing them at our high school. As you scroll, take a look at a glimpse of what our students are capable of in order to bring a positive change to our community.
Open Heart Surgery
This year, HOSA had its challenges and difficulties. It was performing open-heart surgery as a second-year resident, and your attending surgeon is busy with a heart transplant. Nothing like Grey’s Anatomy or other medical shows. Then all of a sudden your patient is entering ventricular tachycardia. Nothing like heart surgery on a Tuesday afternoon right?
Jokes aside, while we may have encountered challenges our students and staff pushed through together. Students worked deliberately to put together their projects. They continued to persevere throughout the hardships thrown at them. They have learned to overcome their obstacles and continue to push through. This year we have a total of four projects students have cultivated: Human Trafficking- Beware it’s Everywhere, Student Screening Services-Preventative Health Screenings for Our Community, COVID or No-Vid, and Snap Your Way to Being Okay!
Originally we were planning to enter HOSA as an MRC Partnership but unfortunately did not meet deadlines. While it may have looked as if we were not able to perform the surgery on our patient, we were not going to let the patient die. Oh no. We pulled together as a team and entered the Recognition Events; making it to ILC. Preparing for the future conference, 2022-2023, we will come back even stronger.
Human Trafficking: Beware It’s Everywhere
Our students presented their human trafficking campaign at Bobby Duke Middle School faculty meeting as well as Coachella Valley High School faculty meeting.
They provided information about human trafficking including red flags, statistics, and pictures, educating teachers.
Student Screening Services: Preventative Health Screenings for our Community
It’s a commonly well-known fact that heart disease is the number one leading cause of death in the United States and in the world. Why? Is it the lack of information? Is it the lack of access to healthcare? Is it the exponential growth of eating more unbalanced meals? “Eat healthier,” but is that really the answer? These questions can’t be answered as simply as one would imagine.
Living in the Eastern Coachella Valley has made us realize how different it is. Comparing cities like Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, Palm Desert, and Indian Wells is like comparing night and day. We are not saying it is bad living in the Eastern Coachella Valley, not at all. We have our lives here and made beautiful and long-lasting friendships. What we are saying is that we are affected by the inequities caused by racism. Being predominantly Hispanic and Latino, we are marginalized, and oftentimes overlooked. Boundaries are set in place to guarantee money for preventative program funding to the western part while the money ends at Cook Street, denying any money for the Eastern Coachella Valley. (Link to article.)
Another factor to take into consideration is cultural values. Being Latino, Hispanic, and Chicano, there’s a certain stigma surrounding going to the doctors. It’s either too expensive, with a typical routine checkup costing $65, and that’s not including medication or any additional visits or references; sometimes doctor’s hours interfere with busy schedules; there’s also a common fear of what if I’m actually sick, and sometimes the doctor does not provide a comfortable experience, being prejudice and/or a language barrier.
When asking one of our mothers, she responded with the following: “No estoy tan mala, mala.” “Por exceso de trabajo, casi siempre trabaja, hasta el domingo. Trabaja tanto para pagar sus biles.” “No quiero ir para luego saber que tengo una enfermedad.” “Ahora tenemos antes no los daban aseguranza, y ahora no vamos.” (“I’m not sick, sick.” “I’m working a lot, and I even work on Sundays. Work a lot to pay the bills.” “I don’t want to go to later find out, I have a sickness or disease.” “We now have insurance but before we didn’t receive any but we still don’t go.”) -Maria Alvarez.
When talking to one of our group members, mentioned that she had gone to the emergency department for vomiting and stomach pains. The doctor was an older middle-aged white man, and she is Chicana. The doctor asked her if she could understand him. When she said yes, he looked as if he did not believe her. As if due to her being Chicana she would only speak Spanish.
When going to the doctor people are vulnerable and need help. But when people have experiences such as the one our team member had, people will not feel comfortable when going to the doctors.
It’s difficult going to the doctor. So how can we change that? That’s what we sought to accomplish and what we will continue to work on. How can we create a comfortable environment to better suit our community? How can we tailor screening services for them? We are not ending heart disease in one solid shot, we are taking multiple pathways to decrease the deaths resulting from heart disease, beginning in our communities by introducing screening services. Allowing people to know what’s going on with them at no cost. We will provide electrocardiograms, pulse ox, temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol checks.
An important note, while we may be solely talking about Hispanic and Latino communities, we hope to reach and tailor to other communities. We talk mainly about these communities because our group understands our difficulties and struggles more. We feel more capable of talking about them being Chicano. What we need to also establish is the fact that we are not ending heart disease, we are not seeking to diagnose anyone or end the issue of racism in the Eastern Coachella Valley. We are going to be able to provide screening services by our educated students under the supervision of their Health Academy lead teachers, in order to identify any underlying issues and inform people, people who don’t have access or the availability to go to the doctors to receive or pay for these services.
A lot of planning went on behind the scenes. At times we were stressed and overwhelmed with all we had to do, from contacting clinics, to mimicking a patient room for the benefit of our community as comfort. It hasn’t been easy, since currently the board at our school doesn’t envision the bigger picture choosing to see problems that we have tackled, but this is a small roadblock on our highway. We will continue with our project and hopefully, see it through to the end.
COVID or NO-Vid?
With similar signs as COVID, the flu, and the common cold, which is it? With our project, our goal is to find ways people can know the difference between having either COVID or the flu and ways you should protect yourself and others when not knowing which one it is. As we all may know COVID has been a part of our lives for almost three years now.
Snap Your Way to Being Okay!
A two-week break all of a sudden turned almost two years. It was fun being away from school for a while but then things changed. Classes were now in our home and teachers have shrunk to be in a small square. Classes and sleep seemed to blend into one. School wasn’t the same. It wasn’t the same as laughing with your friends in class until you are smacking the table from how hard you are laughing. It wasn’t the same, students are not the same. Living through a pandemic, suffering in silence to now be thrown into school and expected to return to regularity. How can we? We are not the same students we were two years ago. With all this being said, how can we create resources to help others like us reach the help they need?
see the article link HERE
Resources and Additional Information
Clínicas de Salud Del Pueblo, Inc. In Mecca partnered with the Student Screening Services. When we are able to fully open to the public, people will be referred to our partner clinic. If people do have insurance they are asked to go to their local health provider.
Here is a document created by the Student Screening Services with the help of Mr. Moore, in order to address certain problems brought up. The main issue was the topic of potential lawsuits. This document created notifies people that we are interpreting information not diagnosing them.
The team, Snap Your Way to Being Okay!, partnered with Desert Health and One Future to be able to obtain and provide accurate data.
Samples of portfolios
HOSA, or Health Occupations Students of America is a Career Technical Student Organization (CTSO) that prepares students to be “Future Health Professionals.” In order to increase the participation of students in HOSA, and to offer the opportunity for students to be more academically focused on health careers, JUMP – or Junior Up and Coming Medical Professionals – provides middle school students with a middle school version of HOSA.
VIEW HOSA 2018 Video
Use the HOSA Teams photo link to ADD or download photos from your team event HERE
HOSA 2019: We are proud to announce that our CVHS wins at the 2019 HOSA state leadership conference in Sacramento Convention Center Four Coachella Valley High School student teams claim medals at the 32nd Annual Cal-HOSA State Leadership Conference.
HOSA 2018:
We are very proud to announce our CVHS win at the 2018 HOSA State Leadership Conference in Anaheim!
Three CVHS HOSA-Future Health Professionals teams claimed Gold and two Silver medals at the annual Cal-HOSA State Leadership Conference in Anaheim, CA
These three teams competed in Dallas Internationals in June. MRC Team made Top Ten (8th place). Thank you for all of your support!
As Lead Advisor, I cannot fully express my humble pride for these students. They knew the odds were against them, yet they pressed on, and prevailed!Simon Moore, M.Ed., MHA, EMT
HOSA 2017 State Leadership Conference
Junior Simon Thomas Moore was elected 2017-18 president of the State of California chapter of Health Occupations Students of America.
HOSA 2017 CA State Conference video
CVHS also won a state medal for the third year in a row. The team of Dominguez, Gallegos, Montoya & Ramires won Bronze third for their Public Health presentation. They will travel to Orlando, Florida for HOSA Internationals this June.
HOSA 2018 Region 5 RLC
2017 HOSA State President Candidate video
CVHS HOSA media
CVHS HOSA Instagram: @coachellavalleyhosa
Photo Gallery 2018
Photo Gallery 2017
Photo Gallery Region 5 Conference RLC 2017
View 2017 HOSA video
View HOSA 2016 video
HOSA History at CVHS
- 2012 CVHS HOSA Chartered
- 2015 Silver HOSA California State Leadership Conference
- 2016 Silver HOSA California State Leadership Conference
- 2016 Bronze International Leadership Conference
- 2017 Bronze HOSA California State Leadership Conference
- 2017-18 CVHS secured California State President — first Coachella Valley state president in 30 year history.
- 2018 CA SLC Silver medals; 1st Gold.