When Zainab Ahmed first began exploring healthcare careers, she thought she already knew where her future was headed. Like many students interested in healthcare, she had her sights set on becoming a physician. But it wasn’t until she stepped outside the classroom that she truly began to understand the breadth of opportunities available—and where she fit within them. Through Michigan HOSA’s Clinical Specialty competitive event, Ahmed shadowed several professionals before discovering which experiences best aligned with her goals.
“I shadowed a Pharmacist, an Internal Medicine Physician, and a Dentist. It helped me discover what aligned with my goals—and what didn’t,” Ahmed said. “Because of Clinical Specialty, I was able to experience different specialties and learn more about where I wanted to go.”
Her experience illustrates an important lesson for educators: students can’t pursue careers they don’t know exist.
Healthcare is one of the most diverse career fields, encompassing hundreds of professions that support patient care. Yet many students only recognize a handful of them before making important decisions about high school coursework, college, or career and technical education. Providing opportunities to explore healthcare careers early helps students connect classroom learning to real-world experiences while building confidence in their future.
Sometimes, those experiences confirm a student’s original dream. Other times, they open the door to possibilities they had never considered. That was the case for Dhanya Chugh, a junior at Northville High School.
Chugh entered high school convinced she wanted to become a physician. After attending the HOSA Washington Leadership Academy, however, conversations with healthcare professionals, policymakers, and peers introduced her to an entirely different path—health policy.
“HOSA helped me narrow down what I wanted to do. But even more than that, it taught me how to connect with professionals, lawmakers, and peers,” Chugh said. Today, she hopes to pursue a career improving healthcare through policy and advocacy, helping shape systems that improve health outcomes for entire communities.
Experiences like these demonstrate that career exploration is about more than helping students choose a profession. It helps them discover purpose, understand the many ways they can contribute, and develop skills that prepare them for whatever path they ultimately choose.
For Peter Sanin, the 2024–2025 Michigan HOSA State President from Detroit Catholic Central, some of the most valuable lessons had little to do with medicine itself.
Leading a statewide student organization taught him how to communicate effectively, collaborate with others, and navigate the responsibilities that come with leadership.
“Being part of a state officer team taught me how to communicate early, often, and clearly,” Sanin said. “The ability to work in a team environment and make sure I’m understood when I communicate has been one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned.”
Those are exactly the types of skills healthcare employers in nearly every industry continue to seek. Leadership, teamwork, communication, critical thinking, and professionalism are developed through experiences that challenge students to step outside their comfort zones and work toward meaningful goals.
“Even if you don’t go into healthcare, the skills you learn through Michigan HOSA—leadership, communication, networking, and teamwork—stay with you,” Ahmed said.
That perspective is especially important as schools prepare students for an increasingly complex workforce. Whether students ultimately become physicians, nurses, therapists, healthcare administrators, policymakers, researchers, or pursue careers outside healthcare altogether, early career exploration helps them better understand themselves, develop transferable skills, and make informed decisions about their futures.
Organizations like Michigan HOSA provide schools with meaningful opportunities to make those experiences possible. Through competitive events, leadership development, networking, community service, and connections with healthcare professionals, students gain hands-on exposure to careers while building confidence, curiosity, and a lifelong commitment to learning.
The future healthcare workforce doesn’t begin on the first day of college. It begins the moment a student realizes, “I can see myself doing this.”
Sometimes that moment happens while shadowing a healthcare professional. Sometimes it happens during a competitive event or leadership conference. And sometimes it happens through a single conversation that introduces a student to a career they never knew existed.
By helping students explore healthcare careers early, schools aren’t simply preparing them for future jobs—they’re helping them discover purpose, develop leadership skills, and build brighter futures for themselves and the communities they will one day serve.
To learn more about bringing Michigan HOSA to your school or helping students explore healthcare careers, visit www.michiganhosa.org.