HOSA – GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS
AUGUST 2020
Eligibility for International Participation
1. HOSA's affiliated chartered associations offer the HOSA Competitive Events Program at the Regional, Area,
State and/or Country levels, according to the approved HOSA Competitive Events Guidelines (as released
annually in the fall). It is recommended that chartered associations plan and conduct the Annual Conference in
sufficient time to meet the International Leadership Conference (ILC) registration deadline of May 15th. (Note:
The HOSA ILC is held in June each year.)
2. Chartered associations may submit a maximum of three (3) competitors/teams per event per division, with the
exception of Recognition events as noted in Rule #8 of these General Rules and Regulations and with the
exception of National Geographic Learning Academic Testing Center events as noted in rule #6. If ties or event
challenges result at the association level, chartered associations must implement a process to determine which
three (3) competitors/teams per division may register for the international leadership conference.
3. To be eligible for competition at the ILC, a delegate must be a member of HOSA, registered on a chapter
roster, no later than January 1 if the member is enrolled in the Fall semester; Spring enrollees must be
affiliated by March 1 or within thirty (30) days of the beginning of a program initiated during the Spring
semester.
• Chartered associations determine and publish specific competition eligibility deadlines.
• All participants must adhere to the eligibility requirements as specified in the individual Competitive Event
Guidelines.
• Members are not eligible for competition at the ILC if they are not affiliated with HOSA-Future Health
Professionals prior to their respective chartered association’s leadership conference.
4. Competitive event participants must be registered for HOSA’s International Leadership Conference by May
15th. Registered participants may be dropped, or other eligible students may be substituted, until the state
advisor has completed registering the chartered association with competitive events at the ILC. All participants
are officially entered when the HOSA advisor (or his/her designee) verifies the chartered association’s
registration.
5. Individual and team participants must have competed in the same competitive event at the state (country)
level for which they are entered at the international level. The competition must have taken place in the
school year immediately preceding the HOSA International Leadership Conference. (Substitutes on a team
are not required to have competed in the event at the state/country level. See GRR rule #17)
6. HOSA members may enter only ONE regular competitive event at the ILC. Competitors may participate in
one or two National Geographic Learning Academic Testing Center events. In addition, competitors may
participate in as many Recognition Category Events as they wish. Healthcare Issues Exam (HCIE) is
typically scheduled for Wednesday at ILC. If another regular event is scheduled at the same time as HCIE,
competitors must choose between HCIE and the regular event. They cannot do both. Students registered
for Organizational Leadership (the Voting Delegate event) who also wish to take HCIE, may do so by
requesting special arrangements through their State Advisor.
General Rules and Regulations
HOSA – Future Health Professionals
August 2020
HOSA – GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS
AUGUST 2020
7. Event status. Skill events must have a minimum of three (3) states and nine (9) total competitors
(Secondary and Postsecondary/collegiate) in order to have the skills procedures implemented at the ILC the
following year. Events not meeting these criteria may have a written test only. This written test will include
clinical written application or scenarios. For the Middle School division, all events must have a minimum of
three (3) states and three (3) total competitors in order to have the event implemented at the international
level the following year. The event status will be evaluated annually.
8. In Recognition events, each chartered association may register the following number of competitors:
• Healthcare Issue Exam: 25% of the ILC student delegates from the previous year.
• HOSA Service Project: One per chapter.
• Barbara James Service Award: Unlimited.
• HOSA Happenings: One per chapter.
• Outstanding HOSA Leader: One per chartered association.
• Outstanding HOSA Achievement: One per chartered association.
9. All HOSA competitors must be active members of HOSA in good standing as established by HOSA-Future
Health Professionals. In good standing means that they must have a minimum of five (5) members in their
chapter, an advisor, and their affiliation fees paid in full.
Divisions of Competition
10. Definition of divisions - The official definition for middle school, secondary and postsecondary/ collegiate
members of HOSA, for the purposes of Competitive Events registration and participation, is:
Middle School (MS)- A middle school student is one who: a) is enrolled in a state-approved health
science program or is planning to pursue a career in the health professions; and b) has not been
promoted to a secondary institution (grades 9-12) prior to the state’s/country’s annual conference.
He/she must be in grades 6-8.
Secondary (SS)- The Secondary Division shall be composed of secondary students at the junior high
(9th grade) or high school level (9th – 12th).
Postsecondary/Collegiate (PS/C) - The Postsecondary/Collegiate Division shall be composed of
undergraduate students who (a) are enrolled in a state-approved postsecondary program at the
community college level or college level program; (b) have received a high-school diploma (or its
equivalent) or (c) have been out of the continuous, sequential educational system prior to the current
enrollment for two or more years prior to the current year's HOSA International Leadership
Conference and/or enrolled in a health career program in pursuit of a baccalaureate degree.
Accommodations
11. HOSA members with disabilities, and non-English speaking competitors, will be reasonably accommodated
in the HOSA Competitive Events Program through event modification as a means of providing them an
equal competitive opportunity. Such members may be allowed to provide and utilize their own special
equipment that HOSA may not be able to provide. Requests for reasonable accommodation must be
indicated on the HOSA International Leadership Conference registration form, or Student Eligibility form in
Special Needs events, and must be submitted to HOSA-Future Health Professionals by the May 15
deadline. HOSA will provide the same accommodations that were provided when members competed for
eligibility to attend the ILC (normally their SLC).
12. English Language - All HOSA events at the International Level are to be conducted in English. This
includes all written or recorded material that is submitted as part of the event for judging, as well as
speaking and presentation events. Failure to submit materials in English for judging may result in the items
HOSA – GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS
AUGUST 2020
not being scored. Translators may be requested, following the outlined process through the State Advisor.
Translators may only be used to translate a test, or to translate in an event in which the competitor’s
speaking is not rated.
Ethics
13. Appointment times are given to competitors in many HOSA events to avoid detaining competitors in holding
rooms for long periods of time. Professional ethics demand that competitors DO NOT discuss or reveal the
secret topic or scenario for ANY event.
14. All competitive event materials (such as presentations, projects, portfolios, etc.) must be the original work of
the competitors.
15. Ethics and Integrity – As future health professionals, HOSA members are held to a higher standard in
regard to their ethical behavior as competitors. HOSA members should follow the HOSA rules and act with
honor at all times. Plagiarism, copyright violation and falsification of information are prohibited. Any attempt
to gain an unfair advantage will not be tolerated. Violation of the ethics rules will be severely penalized.
16. Code of Conduct - Any competitor who violates the HOSA Code of Conduct during the course of HOSA’s
International Leadership Conference may forfeit any award won during the conference.
Team Events
17. Substitutions - A team event must include at least 25% of the members who were on the winning team at the
state/country level. Other "qualified" student members may be substituted or added in the remaining team
positions so that the number of team members is consistent with the rules for that event. (Qualified is defined
as any active HOSA member, and may include members from other chapters. Substitutes on a team are not
required to have competed in the event at the state/country level.)
18. Minimum Team Members - Teams may not compete with less than the minimum number of team members.
19. Participation in Both Rounds - If a team member misses round one of competition, and the team advances
to round two, the missing team member cannot compete in round two. Only team members who participated in
round one are allowed to participate in round two.
Event Content
20. Independent Work - Except for team events, competitors must work independently, without assistance from
judges, teachers, fellow students or observers. Any attempt to gain an unfair advantage will be considered a
violation of the GRR Ethics rules.
21. Content Selection - Competitors should use good judgment and discretion when planning event content.
Procedures, demonstrations, displays or speeches with content that could be interpreted as insensitive or of a
highly personal nature should be avoided and may not be judged.
22. Changing Event Content – When advancing from one level of competition to the next (such as from
state/country to international competitive events), except where expressly prohibited, competitors are
allowed to change/improve their speech, notebook, portfolio, or any other event products as a part of the
competitive event. All changes must be made prior to published deadlines.
23. Notebook Page Clarification - When a section of a notebook or portfolio indicates a specific range of pages,
and a competitor uses fewer than the maximum number of pages, he/she CANNOT add pages in another
section.
HOSA – GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS
AUGUST 2020
24. Material Submission - Unless otherwise noted in the event guidelines, all copies and materials submitted
at the International Leadership Conference as part of the HOSA Competitive Events program become the
property of HOSA-Future Health Professionals. Submission of materials implies consent for HOSA and /or
affiliated partners, with HOSA’s permission, to publish materials in newsletters, websites, blog posts, social
media etc. as deemed appropriate to help market and promote HOSA and/or its partners. HOSA does not
sell competitor information or materials to 3rd party vendors.
25. Content from Year to Year - Content for all competitive events must be unique and new each
membership/school year. Content used in a previous membership year’s competition may not be used
again. The intent of competition is to use new material every year. If a violation of this rule is discovered, the
competitor will receive 35 penalty points. Points will be deducted in Tabulations.
Judging
26. Rating Sheets and Test Scores - Participant rating sheets and test scores are the property of HOSA-Future
Health Professionals and will NOT be returned or released. For more information, please see the Competitive
Events FAQ.
27. Judge Interaction – The distribution of event samples, materials, gifts, or thank you notes to judges, other
than those materials specified in the event guidelines for judges to review, is NOT permitted. During
competition, only those items specified in the event guidelines may be shown to judges (i.e.: portfolio, props,
photographs, etc.) Showing the judges extra materials not outlined in the event guidelines may result in
point deductions.
28. Handshakes with Judges – No handshakes are allowed with judges except in Job Seeking Skills,
Interviewing Skills, and Health Career Preparation. In these events, handshakes are allowed both in the
beginning and end of the event. Due to the nature of HOSA competition, there is not time to allow for
handshakes between competitors and judges.
29. Introductions - For events with judges, competitors (teams) will be introduced to the judges by the Section
Leader. At the ILC, for individual events, competitors are usually introduced by name and ID number. For
team events, teams are usually introduced by school and ID number. Time will begin as soon as the Section
Leader introduces competitor/team.
Point Deductions
30. Late Arrivals - All competitors must be at their competitive event at the designated time and place.
a. For non-testing events, ten (10) penalty points may be assessed if the competitor is more than 5
minutes late to their appointed time.
b. For all written tests, a competitor who is late to the event will be allowed to take the test. The
competitor will stop when all other test-takers are stopped and will not receive the full time for taking
the test.
c. For HOSA Bowl and Biomedical Debate, which require a paired match-up, if a team is more than 5
minutes late to their round two appointed time, the team forfeits their right to compete.
d. For Medical Spelling, which is a live spelldown, if the competitor is more than 5 minutes late to
round two, the spelldown will begin without them and they may not be allowed to compete.
e. It is the competitor’s responsibility to arrive to compete as scheduled in the ILC agenda that is in
the ILC Program Book/Program App. Make-up tests or other accommodations will NOT be given
for late arrivals*; missed bus; missed route; missed time; missed location; read the agenda wrong;
etc. *Act of God exception will be considered on a case by case basis with the competitor, State
Advisor, and HOSA Management.
HOSA – GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS
AUGUST 2020
31. End of Time: If the competitor is stopped at the event time limit for any event, there is no additional penalty.
However, anything presented after time is called will not be scored.
32. General Penalty Points - If judges feel there is a rule infraction that is not addressed in the written guidelines
or processes, they may assess penalty points after consultation with HOSA CE Management.
Sections
33. Number of Sections - The Competitive Events Management Team will determine whether (and how many)
sections will be scheduled for each Competitive Event at the HOSA ILC according to the number of
registered participants.
34. Fairness Between Sections - A mathematical formula – called standard deviation - will be used for multiple
sections in selected events. The computer adjusts the judge’s scores to account for judging differences, such
that all sections are considered to be mathematically equal. Such a process provides a statistically fair method
for evaluating students in multiple sections with multiple sets of judges. The formula can be found in
Appendix A.
35. Sections - Separate sections of each event shall be conducted for middle school, secondary and
postsecondary/ collegiate unless stated otherwise. Competitors/teams may have the same section number
or may demonstrate their skills for the same judges, but the divisions will not compete against each other.
Individual and team competitor numbers will be randomly assigned by the computer.
Skill Events
36. Scenario Development - The Competitive Events Management Team will determine which skills are to be
performed for skill events, based upon criteria which include space arrangements and condition of available
sites, availability of equipment and similar factors pertaining to operation of these events in a particular year.
37. Points and Time with Combined Skills - When multiple skills are used and steps in skills are duplicated
on the rating sheet but not in practice, points will be awarded one time only. In such cases, the amount of
time allowed for the total skill may be adjusted by the Competitive Events Management Team. Competitors
will be notified of total time allowed via the written scenario. For example, in CPR/First Aid - If a victim has a
burn and fracture, the competitor would only call 911 one time and would only receive points for that step
one time.
38. Verbalization of Skills – It is the competitor’s responsibility to communicate fully and effectively with
judges. For skill events, this may include “thinking out loud” so that judges are clear on why the competitors
are doing what they are doing. In some event guidelines competitors may be asked to verbalize steps, but
no credit will be given for verbalization when the competitor does not bring required equipment per the event
guidelines. When equipment is present, competitors must perform the applicable part of the skill and will not
receive points for verbalization alone.
39. Skill Event Scenarios – Events that require the performance of a health-related skill use a written scenario
to give information to the competitor about the setting and skill to be performed. The timing of the skill
performance begins when the competitor (team) is given the scenario. Competitors must read quickly and
begin the skill performance promptly. Competitors may keep the written copy of the scenario as a reference
as needed during the performance of the judged skill. For events that use a scenario and are specifically for
competitors with special needs (Life Support Skills and Personal Care), the scenario will be read out loud to
all competitors. Sample skill event scenarios can be found here.
40. Off-site Events - Due to the distance between the hotels and skill event sites in some skill events,
HOSA – GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS
AUGUST 2020
competitors should be prepared for an extended stay. It is strongly suggested that competitors bring
recreational materials. Food and/or snacks may be available for purchase at the sites if at all possible. Just
in case, the competitor should be prepared and have his/her own snacks available.
41. Highest Level of Training – Competitors should compete in skill events at the highest level of training. An
example would be students enrolled in Emergency Medical Technician course should compete in the
Emergency Medical Technician event and not in the CPR/First Aid or CERT Skills event.
42. Highest Standard of Care - In the performance of a skill scenario, competitors are required to follow the
highest standard of care when treating victims/patients. Competitors should follow the steps on the rating
sheets unless the highest standard of care required differs from the steps on the rating sheet. Judges will
know when the treatment of victims/patients differs slightly from the rating sheet and when the competitors
provide medically acceptable care, and will award points accordingly.
43. Mercury & Latex Exclusion - HOSA does not use thermometers, sphygmomanometers, or any other
equipment that contains mercury. HOSA does not use latex gloves and competitors with latex allergies are
requested to notify event personnel.
44. Equipment Preview Time – HOSA Management and event personnel have the option of providing one
additional minute to the skill event interval prior to the scenario for competitors to preview the equipment
that is provided for the event. Competitors will be told prior to their skill time beginning, if they have been
given this additional time.
Tests
45. Higher-Order Thinking Skills - Written tests will measure knowledge and understanding at the recall,
application or analysis levels. Higher-order thinking skills will be incorporated as appropriate.
46. Use of Calculators - Competitors may NOT use calculators when taking any written test, unless permitted in
the individual event guidelines.
47. Test Security – Tests and word lists for HOSA-Future Health Professionals competitive events are
developed from the HOSA secure test bank for that event. At all levels, HOSA tests are the property of
HOSA-Future Health Professionals and should never be taken, copied, or shared with HOSA members or
chapter advisors. HOSA tests are provided exclusively for use by chartered associations in good standing
for their competitive events and at the ILC.
48. Test Plan and Resources – The test plan and list of resources in the guidelines are designed to help the
competitor prepare for the test. Approved chartered associations have the option of using the previous
year’s ILC tests for their state competition use, and the previous year’s state tests for Regional/Area events.
For that reason, tests by chartered associations for their competition at all levels may reflect the test plan
and/or resources from the previous year’s guidelines.
When a resource lists “latest edition”, this is the latest edition available as of the initial writing of the guidelines
in August. Any edition released after that time will be used in the following year’s resource list. After the initial
release, only editorial changes are made to guidelines, unless there is an error that would affect the
outcome of the event or how competitors prepare. In this case, updated guidelines are posted online with a
note to membership explaining any changes.
49. New Testing Events – For any new event that requires a 100-question test, the regional and chartered
association tests will be 50 items for the first year.
HOSA – GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS
AUGUST 2020
50. Pencils – For all written tests it is the responsibility of the competitor to bring pencils to the event.
Mechanical pencils are discouraged for use on Scantrons.
Equipment
51. Failure to Bring Equipment in Skill Events - Competitors who fail to bring the required material/equipment
as specified in the Competitive Event guidelines for any skill used in any event will be allowed to compete but
will not earn points for all or part of the skill(s) that require the missing material/equipment.
52. Equipment Failure - It is the competitor’s responsibility to assure that the equipment they bring to the event
and use as a part of the event is in good working order. Equipment failure (when the equipment is provided by
the competitor) may result in an inability to judge all or part of an event that involves the use of equipment. This
includes battery operated laptops.
53. Podium - When a podium is provided during an event, the use of the podium by the competitor(s) is
optional.
Other
54. Inquiry Process - A process is established to provide an opportunity for a competitive event participant to
submit constructive inquiries and recommendations to the Competitive Events Management Team at HOSA’s
International Leadership Conference via completion of a "Competitive Event Inquiry Form." This completed
form must be signed by the HOSA competitor and the HOSA State Advisor and turned in to Competitive
Events Headquarters within two (2) hours after the competitive event concludes (see Appendix B).
55. Personal Articles - Competitors will be asked to place personal articles (purses, bags) under their chair during
a test or an event. They may not obtain anything from their personal article until the test/event is complete.
Event personnel will NOT collect or hold competitors’ personal articles during an event.
56. NO Study Materials are allowed in testing rooms, but are allowed in holding rooms and on event buses to
skill sites.
57. Observers - There will be no observers in any of the events at the ILC except for the semi-finals and finals
of HOSA Bowl. Demonstration and Pilot events may allow observers. Additionally, the HOSA conference
photographer is allowed in event rooms, as applicable.
58. Chartered Association Autonomy - Chartered Associations are encouraged to follow the competitive
event processes and event guidelines used by HOSA. But they have the discretion to do things that meet
the needs of their chartered association; therefore, HOSA members should check with the State Advisor for
all processes and event modifications being used at the Area/Region/State level.
59. Extenuating Circumstances – It is the intention of HOSA to fairly and consistently enforce all rules and
event guidelines. On rare occasions when circumstances are beyond the control of the competitor, such as
a canceled flight, a rule can be appealed to the Competitive Events Management Team.
