HOSA is a national career and technical student organization endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education and the Health Science Education Division of the ACTE. HOSA's two-fold mission is to promote career opportunities in the health care industry and to enhance the delivery of quality health care to all people. HOSA's goal is to encourage all health science instructors and students to join and be actively involved in the HSE-HOSA Partnership.
HOSA provides a unique program of leadership development, motivation, and recognition exclusively for secondary, postsecondary, adult, and collegiate students enrolled in health science programs or interested in health science careers. HOSA is 100% health care!
Since its inception in 1976, HOSA has grown steadily reaching over 120,000 students through forty-eight (48) affiliated state associations and over 3,250 chapters in the 2009-10 membership year.
HOSA is not a club to which a few students in school join. Rather, HOSA is a powerful instructional tool that works best when it is integrated into the Health Science curriculum and classroom. Health Science instructors are committed to the development of the total person. Those who join the HSE-HOSA Partnership recognize the importance of providing students with training far beyond the basic technical skills needed for entry into the health care field. The rapidly changing health care system needs dedicated workers who, in addition to their technical skills, are people-oriented and capable of playing a leadership or followership role as a member of a health care team.
HOSA's mission is especially critical when considering the acute shortage of qualified workers for the health care industry. It is essential that the HSE-HOSA Partnership maintain its momentum and encourage all Health Science instructors to integrate HOSA into their curriculum and classrooms.
The purpose of HOSA is to advance the education and welfare of its members in the following ways:
"To enhance the delivery of compassionate, quality health care by providing opportunities for knowledge, skill and leadership development of all health occupations students; therefore, helping the students to meet the needs of the health care community."