HOSA-Future Health Professionals Washington Leadership Academy Trip
Pictured above is the Wisconsin State Officer Team with the HOSA-FHP International Executive Council at the conference venue. Photo from HOSA.
Kate Powell (WI State Vice President) and Kevin Phalphouvong (WI State VP of Membership Development)
“Different perspectives are vital to improvement, innovation, collaboration, and strengthening our weaknesses.” Clifton Strengths Coach, Jennifer McNelly, preached this message to her audience at the HOSA-Future Health Professionals Washington Leadership Academy Conference which took place in Washington DC from September 25-28, 2021. Coach McNelly was asked to speak at the WLA conference to a group of HOSA representatives from states across the country as well as a few international representatives. This conference was intended to develop leadership in future healthcare professionals, and two Hamilton students, Kevin Phalphouvong and Kate Powell, had the honor to attend as Wisconsin State Officers.
Pictured above alongside Kevin and Kate is the Wisconsin State Officer Team, (from bottom to top) State Vice President of Public Relations, Sofie Pletsch from Kenosha, Wisconsin, State President, Jared Lemminger from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and State Secretary, Sarah Mounajjed from Middleton Wisconsin.
Kevin serves as the Wisconsin HOSA State Vice President of Membership Development. In this role, Kevin is responsible for seeking out innovative ways to grow membership in HOSA throughout the state of Wisconsin. Various tasks that Kevin has done in his role include launching an ambassador program giving members the opportunity to send out emails to schools about launching HOSA chapters, attending a company meeting to promote a potential partnership with Wisconsin HOSA, and promoting HOSA at a Milwaukee Public Schools district meeting in order to form HOSA chapters at the high school level of several MPS schools.
Kate serves as the Wisconsin HOSA State Vice President. She works closely with the State President to plan meetings and oversee the State officer team. She holds a position on the Board of Directors for Wisconsin HOSA, where she attends meetings to help make important decisions for the State organization. Kate is also part of the Membership Engagement Program of Work, in which she works to promote membership excitement and involvement at both the state and local levels. Recently, she has been working on organizing and promoting the State-wide service project competition for BeTheMatch, a bone marrow transplant organization.
After an early morning of travel, Kate, Kevin, and the Sussex-Hamilton HOSA advisor, Ms. LaBlanc, touched down at Washington Dulles International Airport at 9 AM Eastern Time. They arrived at the conference venue, the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Hotel, located 20 minutes out of Washington DC. After checking into their rooms, Kate and Kevin were reunited with most of the Wisconsin State Officer Team, who live across the State. The team is pictured below, aside from the Vice President of Service Projects, Kris Lee, who was unable to attend the conference.
Pictured above (from left to right) is Kate Powell, Ms. LaBlanc, and Kevin Phalphouvong in front at the Jefferson Memorial, facing the Washington Monument.
Prior to attending the conference, the officers were asked to complete the Clifton Strengths assessment which provided the attendees with their five personal core leadership strengths. Over the first two days of the conference, the officers took a close look at their individual strengths in the Clifton Strengths leadership sessions with Coach McNelly. Not only did this provide context for leadership styles and decisions, but it gave insight on how to work with a group of diverse leadership styles and qualities to maximize effectiveness and team success. This was a huge benefit to the Wisconsin State Officer team, as they are kicking off the 2022 competitive season and will work toward planning and leading the State Conference.
Throughout the conference, Kate and Kevin got to meet and network with many other State Officers and International Officers, including the International Executive Council.
On the second night of the conference, the attendees went on a twilight tour of Washington DC, which included seeing the Jefferson Memorial, the Roosevelt Memorial, Martin Luther King Memorial, and the White House.
Pictured above is the Wisconsin State Officer Team in front of the Martin Luther King Monument while they were on the Twilight Tour. Photo from HOSA.
On the following morning, there was a Public Health Panel of healthcare professionals who talked about current healthcare issues, as well as ideas on how we can innovate to combat these issues in the future of medicine. One overarching message of this discussion was that deliberate action can be taken to promote long-term, all around wellness for society. Health is complete mental, physical, and social well-being, and therefore we must expand healthcare to cover all of those areas. For the past decades, medicine has been fueled by the idea that economy drives industry, and therefore disease is equivalent to profit.
One of the panel speakers said that, “Right now, we have a system that fixes people who are broken, and for a high cost. That is not enough.”
This was a harsh, yet empowering message strategically delivered to a room of high school and college students aspiring to be future health professionals. It led to questions and discussion on how healthcare can be made more accessible to prevent socioeconomic disparity, and how healthcare can be shifted to focus on mental health and physical health equally. Another panel speaker added that, “If you can’t change it, you can influence it. With persistence, you will have the power to change how our country approaches healthcare.”
Following the Public Health Panel, the attendees went to the Smithsonian Museums and Arlington National Cemetery, where the HOSA-FHP President, Sricharan Pusala, and President-Elect, Kartik Tyagi performed the Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The HOSA-FHP WLA Conference in Washington DC was an experience filled with knowledge, insight, and opportunity. Kate and Kevin were honored to attend as representatives for the State of Wisconsin, and also as students of Hamilton High School.
