Frequently Asked Questions

JOINING HOSA

WHAT IS HOSA?

• HOSA is a global student-led organization whose mission is to empower those interested to become leaders in the global health community.
  Click Here to Learn More About HOSA

IS HOSA A CLUB?

• HOSA is often referred to as a club, but it is really a chapter because students who join and pay their dues are not only members of their local HOSA Chapter, but they are affiliate members of both Connecticut HOSA and HOSA International. We encourage you to make it co-curricular in your classroom and use some of the suggested HOSA materials for your classroom and/or your after-school.
• Feel free to invite various health professionals from your community to speak about topics that interest your HOSA members.

WHO CAN JOIN HOSA?

CT HOSA membership/affiliation is open to both public and private schools, and we have had Connecticut HOSA Chapters in middle schools, high schools, and colleges and universities

• Students interested in healthcare can join HOSA, including middle school (6-8th grades), high school (9-12th grades) and post secondary students (college)
• Anyone interested in professional development, community service and competition among peers can also join HOSA
• Students can only join HOSA via their school and requires permission from their school administration and an adult advisor within the school that will be committed to becoming a chapter advisor. A student may not join on their own.
• Professional (Advisor plus other professionals in the community)
• Alumni–for former members who graduate from their school the cost is free for life. All HOSA members graduating from a school should take advantage of registering with HOSA’s Alumni Program during the year they expect to graduate. When registering to become a HOSA alumnus, please ask the students to use a personal email they plan to keep after graduation, not a work or school email that will change when they leave.
  Click Here to Learn More About Membership

WHERE ARE HOSA MEMBERS LOCATED?

• It depends; in Connecticut, we strive for HOSA to be co-curricular, but it tends to be primarily an after-school program. In Connecticut, our comprehensive high schools have less emphasis on career studies and more focus on preparing for college. One thing, as you look over the literature about HOSA, they refer to Health Science classes and teachers. Ideally, HOSA is a co-curricular class, which means that HOSA is part of the student’s classwork. In Connecticut, HOSA and other Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) like DECA, FBLA, FFA, etc., are NOT allowed to go into any State-run Technical High Schools, e.g. Kaynor Tech, Abbott Tech, etc. Some comprehensive high schools offer health career-related courses, such as Certified Nursing Assistant, Emergency Medical Technician, etc., that certified Health Science Teachers teach, but not as many as are in other states.

HOW DOES HOSA FIT INTO THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM?

• Where are the members of HOSA located? HOSA has grown steadily since its inception in 1976, reaching over 300,000 members through 56 chartered HOSA Associations, the United States, American Samoa, Canada, China, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and South Korea.
  HOSA Chartered Associations
• Therefore, in terms of working with high schools, we work primarily with comprehensive and magnet high schools. Many of the comprehensive high schools do not have a health science program, but they do have a robust science department. CT HOSA has some high schools with English teachers who have become local HOSA Advisors. Our philosophy is that as the local advisor is willing to help and support the students, understands and supports the goals and the rules of CT HOSA and HOSA International, and is ready to put in the work, we will work with them. More than half of our local chapters run their HOSA meetings after school.

DO I NEED AN ADVISOR FOR MY HOSA CHAPTER?

• YES. Although HOSA is a student-led organization, an advisor is required. The role of your advisor will be to communicate and liaise between CT HOSA and the students. The advisor is often in charge of planning transportation to conferences, paying invoices and registering students for competitions.
  Click Here for a List of Advisor Roles and Responsibilities

DOES IT COST MONEY TO JOIN HOSA?

• YES. Students and advisors who wish to come members, must pay a $20 affiliation fee per person. Half goes towards National HOSA and the other $10 towards CT HOSA. There will be additional charges for leadership and state conferences.

CAN I CANCEL MY HOSA MEMBERSHIP?

• NO. Once you submit your affiliation application online, you are responsible for paying the $20 affiliation fee. National HOSA has a strict No Refund Policy. You will remain a HOSA member for one year. Every fall, students are required to affiliate again. The membership does not renew automatically. We encourage advisors to have the $20 from students BEFORE affiliating them in the system, that way they can ensure the invoice will be paid in full.
• Please note that you can always go in and affiliate members at ANY TIME during the HOSA season. It does not need to be done all at once, therefore, if you have a student who has not yet committed or given you their fees, you can add them at a later time (they just need to be affiliated before you can add them to a conference).

HOW DO I AFFILIATE / REGISTER MEMBERS?

• To affiliate members in the HOSA Conference Management System (CMS), go to https://apps.hosa.org/#home. You will need your charter number and password to login. If you do not know your charter number and password, please contact CT HOSA.
• The affiliation process must be completed by the HOSA advisor or by chapter officers with the advisor’s permission.
• Once you are in the HOSA CMS, select “Complete Affiliation Application.” Follow the prompts and fill out the appropriate information. Remember, you must select DONE at the very end of the application process in order for students to be affiliated AND after everything is submitted, students cannot be deleted and you are responsible for the paying the affiliation fees.

HOSA CONFERENCES

WHAT CONFERENCES DOES CT HOSA HOST?

• CT HOSA participates in four conferences per year. In the fall, students are invited to attend the Washington Leadership Academy (WLA) along with other HOSA members through out the country. In November/December, CT HOSA hosts its Fall Leadership Conference (FLC) for CT members. The CT HOSA State Leadership Conference (SLC) takes place in March/April and is an opportunity to award students for their Competitive Events. Students who qualify at the State Conference, are invited to attend the International Leadership Conference (ILC) in June.
  Click Here for More Information about Events and Conferences

WHEN IS REGISTRATION FOR EACH CONFERENCE?

• Registration is typically 3-4 weeks before each conference. After the deadline, no refunds will be provided. Late additions and substitutions are allowed. Please contact CT HOSA with any changes after the registration deadline.
• Your State Advisor will send more information directly to Chapter Advisors and officers, in addition to posting details on this website.

HOW DO I QUALIFY FOR ILC?

• The top 3 medalists from each competitive event are the first ones eligible for ILC. If first, second or third place competitors cannot compete at ILC, we then allow the “bump process” which we will then reach out to the fourth, fifth, sixth, etc. placings to compete.
• You may also attend ILC if you are running for National HOSA Executive Council.

COMPETITIVE EVENTS

WHAT ARE COMPETITIVE EVENTS?

• The Competitive Events (CE) Program is designed to motivate HOSA members and provide a system for recognizing the competencies developed by members through Health Science and Biomedical Science class instruction, related job training, and HOSA related activities.
• A complete list of HOSA Competitive Events and their guidelines can be found below. Please note that CE Guidelines are reviewed, revised and edited by the National Competitive Events Committee every year.
  Click Here for a List of CT HOSA Competitive Events

WHAT ARE THE CE GUIDELINES?

• CE guidelines are VERY IMPORTANT! These are essential to understanding how your competitive event will be run, evaluated and the rules of the event. If you have a question about your competitive event, make sure you check your guidelines first.
• CT HOSA refers to the guidelines when running regional and state competitions, but because the guidelines are written for the international level, there are some things we are not able to implement or accommodate for. CT HOSA will create event modifications for each conference which will be shared upon registration.

CAN I COMPETE IN MULTIPLE EVENTS?

• NO. Our CT HOSA policy is that students can only compete in ONE competitive event. No exceptions.
• Students can compete in several Recognition Event along with their competitive event.

HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN COMPETE ON A TEAM?

• A team must compete with the number of people listed in their competitive event guidelines. For most teamwork events, it is a range of people, for example 3-5 people. Therefore, you must have at least three people, but no more than five. If you are only allowed two, then you must have two. No exceptions.
• if your my teammate(s) cannot compete the day of the competition, YOU STILL MUST COMPETE WITH THE NUMBER OF COMPETITORS LISTED IN YOUR EVENT GUIDELINES. Please keep this in mind when deciding who your teammate(s) is or before choosing an event with teammates.
• If this happens the day of competition, the competitor can either choose to do a different event (take a different test) or join another event that needs a teammate replacement. You will still be allowed to participate in only one event if you are joining as a last-minute substitution.

IF MY COMPETITIVE EVENT INCLUDES SKILLS TESTING, WILL I KNOW THEM AHEAD OF TIME?

• CT HOSA will post the skills that will be evaluated the night before the competition. Therefore, students need to be prepared for all skills prior to the conference.
• For the international level, they DO NOT tell competitors what skills will be evaluated ahead of time. Competitors will need to practice all skills in advance for they will not know what skills will be evaluated until they are given the event scenario at the competition. Practice and be prepared for any of the skills!
  Click Here to Learn More About CE Guidelines