Over the week of 1 to 9 May 2021, MGCI swept the floors once again at the Spring Leadership Conference (SLC) hosted by HOSA Canada. HOSA is an organization that prepares students with the necessary skills for a future in the healthcare industry. Every year, it holds Canada’s largest health science competition, providing a chance for future health professionals to learn medical knowledge, develop technical skills, and obtain leadership opportunities. There are over twenty-five different events for both individuals and teams, with demonstration activities like Sports Medicine, prepared presentations such as Medical Innovation, and exam events like Medical Law and Ethics. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MGCI HOSA’s training sessions were moved online, with events having their own meeting schedules and training structures. This, however, didn’t affect the diligence and discipline of the hardworking and enthusiastic members. Since October, they have been meticulously studying and practicing for the SLC. 

In 2020, from 6 to 12 December, the club participated in the Fall Leadership Conference. The conference was an opportunity for members to get a feel for the competition and prepare for SLC. Twelve individuals and teams from MGCI placed in the top ten for their events. In the months that followed, the students kept up their hard work and continued to study and practice, drilling information into their minds.

SLC officially welcomed HOSA members from all across Canada over the first week of May. At the grand opening ceremony, keynote speaker Dr. Azad Mashari, a cardiovascular anesthesiologist at the Toronto General Hospital, began the event with an enlightening talk about 3D imaging and its impact on medical device advancements. 

Then, the moment arrived for the competition to formally begin. Exams for all events were written between 1 and 6 May. Then, round two qualifiers–for events with more than just an exam–competed on 8 and 9 May. MGCI did not disappoint. 

“Since my event was pre-prepared, I had to spend quite a bit of time on the research paper portion of it,” said Amy Jia, a Grade 10 student who ranked second in the Researched Persuasive Speaking event at SLC. “The topics HOSA gives are usually very open-ended so I spent a lot of time making sure I could cover everything I was able to! I also spent the week before SLC practicing for my speech until I had as much memorized as I could. Overall, it took a lot of effort but it was definitely worth it!”

In addition, numerous free-of-charge workshops were generously offered to students by healthcare professionals. 

By the end of the conference, MGCI HOSA secured a grand total of sixteen top ten rankings from both individuals and teams, with seven students placing in the top three of their event, qualifying for the International Leadership Conference which is the next stage of the competition. Despite it being a year all virtual, MGCI students delivered, and it was surely one to record in the books for the chapter.

“With all the challenges and setbacks that this year has presented, the executive team is incredibly proud of how well all of our students performed,” said Lavan DeSilva, one of the club’s co-presidents. “We hope that everyone that participated was able to take away something from this experience.”

 

The Reckoner would like to recognize the following students who received awards:

Sarah Li and Colleen Chang: 5th place for CPR/First Aid

Elizabeth Wei and Donna Zhang: 7th place for CERT Skills

Pyper Rajaratnam and Sarah Rodrigues: 9th place for CERT Skills

Nishtha Patel and Allyson Wu: 8th place for Forensic Medicine

Allan Li, Amy Li, William Lin, Emma Liu: 3rd place for HOSA Bowl

Carrie Jiang, Bill Yan, Cullen Ye, Tony Zhang: 7th place for HOSA Bowl

Stephie Liu: 2nd place for Pharmacy Science

Amy Jia: 2nd place for Researched Persuasive Speaking

Maruti Singh: 9th place for Epidemiology

Anne Liu: 5th place for Medical Law and Ethics

Angela Xu: 10th place for Medical Law and Ethics

Alex Shen: 6th place for Medical Math

David Walji: 2nd place for Medical Spelling

Brian Li: 4th place for Medical Spelling

Nina Mah: 6th place for Medical Spelling

Evelyn Jiang: 8th place for Nutrition