The UTSA HOSA post-secondary chapter took home the gold in the 2016 “HOSA On Fire” State Competition at Galveston, Texas and are preparing to compete at the national level in Nashville, Tennessee on June 22 through the 25.

The UTSA chapter, in its inaugural year, was established by science majors Chirag Buch and Pavela Bambekova. UTSA College of Sciences Senior Associate Dean Craig Jordan serves as faculty advisor.

The organization was founded after Buch and Bambekova had been members during their time at Health Careers High School in San Antonio and realized that UTSA, unlike other big universities across the country, did not have a chapter. The trend continues as many of this year’s officers are science majors in addition to being a part of the FAME and Honors programs.

In total, 7 members qualified to attend the HOSA International Leadership Conference:Suma Ganji, Melson Mesmin, Hyelin Oh, Oscar Tu (HOSA Bowl, 1st Place)

Margaret Cummings  (Physical Therapy, 1st Place & Health Care Issues, top 10 percent)

Sharon Mathai  (Pharmacology, 1st Place)

Shawna Mattathil (Clinical Specialty, 1st Place)

Melson Mesmin, part of the HOSA Bowl team and next year’s UTSA HOSA President admitted “we are back-to-back Postsecondary State Champions! I couldn’t be prouder of how it all turned out.”

In addition to the medals received, Jomari Guerrero, Texas’s post-secondary collegiate vice-president, was awarded Most Outstanding State Officer and the Theodora Justice Memorial Scholarship. Joel Pious, UTSA HOSA’s President was also elected to HOSA State Office.

This makes two UTSA HOSA members’ officers at the state level despite it being only two years old: something larger and long-standing chapters at other UT schools have not achieved in such a short time.