Supporting future health professionals
DANB and the DALE Foundation partner with HOSA to award scholarships
The international student organization HOSA-Future Health Professionals named its scholarship recipients for 2020 during its virtual International Leadership Conference, held June 24-27. Among the winners were Tiana Pham and Riya Shah, who were selected to receive this year’s HOSA scholarship for future oral healthcare professionals cosponsored by the Dental Assisting National Board (DANB) and its affiliate, the DALE Foundation.
The 2020 scholarship recipients are HOSA members who have exemplified an unwavering drive and commitment to reinforcing HOSA’s core values to learn, lead, serve and innovate. During the HOSA virtual ceremony, scholarship partners, including DANB and the DALE Foundation, were recognized for their generous contributions supporting the education of future health professionals.
DANB and DALE Foundation Executive Director Cynthia C. Durley, M.Ed., MBA, expressed gratitude to HOSA, particularly for the opportunity to participate in the virtual conference and awards ceremony. She also congratulated the accomplished scholarship winners: “These two young women both are deserving recipients of the 2020 HOSA Scholarships sponsored by DANB and the DALE Foundation.”
About the DANB/DALE Foundation HOSA Scholarship winners
The DANB/DALE Foundation HOSA Scholarship recipients were chosen based on criteria including grade-point average, HOSA activities and leadership, other school activities, honors in HOSA and other school activities, community service, professionalism, reference letters and a personal statement. They each won $1,000, plus access to the OSAP-DALE Foundation Dental Infection Prevention and Control Certificate Program™.
Tiana Pham, who recently graduated from Benson Polytechnic High School in Oregon, has been involved with HOSA-Future Health Professionals since November 2018, serving since January 2020 as vice president of the Benson HOSA chapter in Oregon. In March 2020, she earned first-place awards in dental science and terminology issued by the Oregon HOSA State Leadership Conference. Since April 2019, Pham has been performing dental assisting duties for Pacific Dental Care, PC, and she plans to attend the University of Oregon in pursuit of becoming a dentist or an orthodontist.
“I believe the competitive fire in me will help me get through all the needed predental requirements successfully,” Pham shares. “Also, I hope to start a collegiate-level HOSA chapter at the University of Oregon and become president of the predental club there. I envision the soft skills I learned during my HOSA experience in helping me to be a more compassionate and dedicated oral healthcare provider to my patients, and in helping me to work collaboratively with my fellow staff in the future. I hope to be a leader in advocating for great oral health for all.”
Riya Shah, who recently graduated from Bartlett High School in Illinois, has been involved with HOSA-Future Health Professionals since August 2017, in capacities including organizing blood drives, running meetings, and planning fundraisers, among other activities. Shah has won awards in biomedical debate, creative problem-solving and epidemiology through the Illinois HOSA State Leadership Conference. In addition to her many notable activities, in summer 2018 she worked as a Loyola University Chicago research assistant, focusing on the effectiveness of mosquito repellent.
Shah plans to pursue a career in healthcare — specifically, in public health. “Before my involvement in HOSA, I did not have a direction I wanted to go in the healthcare field,” Shah shares. “I assumed I wanted to go to medical school and become a doctor. HOSA taught me that there are many careers in the healthcare field that I could choose from. I was not just restricted to one option.” Now, Shah dreams of having a career in dentistry and helping her community.
“My decision to go into public health would not have been solidified without HOSA,” Shah adds. “HOSA is not just an organization to help you choose a career, but an organization that gives you lifelong skills.”
To learn more about HOSA, visit www.hosa.org/about.