We are excited to announce our 2024 premier partnership with Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) to enhance respiratory care and nurture future health care leaders. The partnership aims to educate and inform students on the different opportunities in respiratory care. Together, we aspire to create a brighter, healthier future for respiratory therapy.
“HOSA is a global student-lead organization recognized the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services and several federal and state agencies. HOSA’s mission is to empower HOSA-Future Health Professionals to become leaders in the global health community, through education, collaboration, and experience. HOSA actively promotes career opportunities in the health industry and to enhance the delivery of quality health care to all people.” – HOSA
Getting Started
There’s no doubt that the world needs more RTs, so the AARC Board of Directors has invested monetarily by purchasing HOSA’s top-tier partnership for 2024. The AARC kicked off its first of many events with HOSA back in June, by attending their national conference in Dallas, where 12,000+ high school students attended.
Since that event, the AARC Workforce Recovery Taskforce has been hard at work alongside AARC staff to nail down a path moving forward. AARC VP of Internal Affairs and head of the taskforce, Teri Miller, MEd, RRT, CPFT, FAARC, has been working directly with HOSA to begin creating a respiratory therapy curriculum which will eventually be shared in high school classrooms around the country.
“This is just the beginning,” said Miller. “It is going to be so important for Respiratory Therapists, those in our affiliates and our RT educators to engage with HOSA, support local conferences, and local HOSA chapters in their communities. As we share the story of the Respiratory Therapist, we need to do it nationally, but also on the state and local levels, too. Inviting HOSA groups to tour an RT program and laboratory, serving as a volunteer at a local HOSA event, or exhibiting and sponsoring a workshop at a state HOSA meeting are all examples of ways Respiratory Therapists can connect early with our future colleagues. Now is the time and we need to connect with these students and share. I am so excited about the potential of this collaboration!”
One part of our partnership with HOSA includes access to their HOSA-100 National Advisory Council. This month, Teri will be attending their annual meeting in Washington, DC, to present the profession. This presentation is a big deal, as having HOSA advisors backing as we move forward will increase our success tremendously. More updates will be made available at the conclusion of this meeting.
We’re All in This Together
As we look to the future, we will need help from all respiratory therapists, especially our state affiliates. Our state affiliates have the unique opportunity to have their ear to the ground in local communities. Our goal is to begin spreading the word of respiratory therapy via HOSA events at the local level.
We’ve created an entire landing page on our website dedicated to all things respiratory therapy and HOSA. On this landing page you will find what you need to get started in participating at the local level. No matter if you’re a program director, at the bedside, or retired, you can be a part of finding the next generation of RTs.
