Introducing HOSA: Redwood’s New Healthcare Club

Get to know Redwood High School’s club of Health Occupations Students of America, otherwise known as HOSA. 

By: Liliana Madrigal

You might know that Redwood already has a Future Healthcare Professionals club and Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) sounds akin to it. But, HOSA is different by its goal of letting students that are interested in the medical field learn more and be able to attend competitions that test their skills. 

Emma Grace Diaz, ‘27, the president of the club, says that she was inspired to start the club because she feels that “it’s important to bring back to our communities by providing this club.”

Before the club was formed, the club officers had to do a bit of research in order to figure out what information was vital in knowing the do’s and don’t do’s of what the club should be doing.

HOSA’s treasurer, Paula Caffarel, ‘27, says, “HOSA’s official page helped a lot with finding that information.” 

All officers agree that HOSA’s official page helped direct them in the right direction towards making the club the most successful. 

Though the club was formed in the middle of the second semester, they want to advertise their club by expanding their social media and word around the school. 

In the 2025-2026 school year, HOSA plans to be involved in club day and other events that Redwood does to spotlight clubs. 

Vice president Abigail Rodriguez, ‘27, says, “Next year we’re going to start actively applying for competitions, and it’s kind of building our team and helping educate people on their respective categories and subjects.”

Students who were to join HOSA would be able to compete in events of different medical topics, as it is “like Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA); HOSA is basically a medical version of that,” says Caffarel. 

In competitions, members would be able to be in “over 80 different competitive events. Competitions go from the regional levels, state levels, to international levels, so I think students will be interested in that,” says Diaz.

“There’s many different types of competitions. The regional ones, most of them are online, so students would have to take a multiple choice test or there’s ones where you would submit a video, such as a PSA for healthcare,” says Diaz.

All club officers are interested in a medical career. Caffarel wants to be a surgical pathologist because she is “really interested in diseases and analyzing tissue.” Rodriguez wants to be a neurologist, as she and her family have always loved science. Diaz wants to become an orthopedic surgeon. She figured this out by researching the job of a surgeon and was captivated by the job’s description. 

This is a club for future healthcare professionals, formed here at Redwood by future healthcare professionals. Overall, Redwood’s HOSA club wants to fulfill Ranger’s needs in learning more about a healthcare career that they’re interested in. 

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