Dakota HOSA (Health Occupation Students of America), is a student leadership organization for students enrolled in the medical academy. Students get to compete in several different rolls in several test to observe their skills and how it can apply to their future career in health care. Beginning with a competition in January, students compete in a region conference to test their skills in preferred fields and to advance to the state conference. Students get to select their topics to showcase and create a presentation on how they can contribute to the health care community.

One group from the Dakota chapter, have created a presentation on the growing epidemic of misuse of opioids in our community. They each felt that opioids have become more and more dangerous to our community and want to educate those around them before further damage can be done. The four girls stay after school and work weekends to create an easy way to inform those around them of the danger of the misuse of opioids. Along with their teacher’s help to supply information, the girls have researched for the past four months about the growing misuse of opioids in the world.

“People are getting hooked on opioids without knowing the real danger,” said Mikaylyn Grewe. Trinity Granzow added, “There have been countless stories of people becoming so dependent on the drug that they cannot live without it any more, similar to nicotine or tobacco.” The side effects appear harmless at first but over time can become more severe with an increased dependence. Already, two million opioid users have become dependent to the drug that is used for relieving pain after surgery or injury. Nevertheless, 21-29% of users misuse opioids because they do not properly know how to use the medication  or continue after the time allotted to use.

All four girls agreed that helping others understand medical issues is an important aspect as why they became interested in the career path. Although HOSA is a great program that looks good on applications, informing their community about dangers is more important to the girls.

The four girls compete on January 20th with their presentation with hopes of continuing on to States and Nationals afterwards.

The team consists of Trinity Granzow, Mikaylyn Grewe, Jaley Kane, Maddy Aude