HOSA Bowl Guidelines (August 2022) Page 1 of 9
New for 2022 - 2023
Clarification has been made to tiebreaker rule #30.
There will be NO verbal announcements during testing.
Editorial updates have been made to the guidelines for clarity.
Event Summary
HOSA Bowl provides members with the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills on various topics and situations in
health, current health topics, HOSA, and parliamentary procedure. This competitive event consists of 2 rounds and
each team consists of exactly four (4) members. Round One is a written test. Top scoring teams advance to Round
Two and compete by giving appropriate responses to items presented by a moderator in a “buzzer style” round.
These items may be in the form of questions, incomplete statements, and/or definitions and may be multi-answer
items. Winners will be determined by a series of elimination rounds as described in the event tournament bracket.
This event aims to inspire members to be proactive future health professionals and motivate them to participate in
teams, while learning about health, HOSA , current health topics and parliamentary procedure topics.
Dress Code
Competitors must be in official HOSA uniform or in proper business attire. Bonus points will be awarded for
proper dress in Round One. All team members must be properly dressed to receive the bonus points. Teams
who are not dressed appropriately for Round Two may not be allowed to compete.
General Rules
1. Competitors in this event must be active members of HOSA in good standing.
2. Eligibility Divisions: Secondary and Postsecondary / Collegiate divisions are eligible to compete in
this event.
3. Competitors must be familiar with and adhere to the “General Rules and Regulations of the HOSA
Competitive Events Program (GRR)."
• Per the GRRs #11 and Appendix H, HOSA members may request accommodation in any
competitive event. To learn the definition of an accommodation, please read Appendix H. To
request accommodation for the International Leadership Conference, submit the request form here
by May 15 at midnight EST.
Competitors Must Provide
Photo ID
#2 lead pencils (NOT mechanical) with eraser
HOSA Bowl Guidelines (August 2022) Page 2 of 9
• To request accommodation for any regional/state level conferences, please work with your local
and state advisor directly. Accommodations must first be done at state in order to be considered for
ILC.
4. All competitors shall report to the site of the event at the time designated for each round of
competition. At ILC, competitor’s photo ID must be presented prior to ALL competition rounds.
Official References
5. All official references are used in the development of the written test and buzzer rounds.
6. Simmers, L, Simmers-Nartker, K., and Simmers-Kobelak, S., DHO: Health Science. Cengage Learning,
Latest edition.
7. Ehrlich, A., and Schroeder, C.. Medical Terminology for Health Professions, Cengage Learning.
Latest edition.
8. Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, Edited by Donald Venes, M.D., F.A. Davis Company. Latest
edition.
9. NIH Medline Plus Magazine: Publications (current school year editions).
10. Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised In Brief, Latest edition.
11. Content from the HOSA website including HOSA publications, HOSA Handbook, HOSA and HOSA,
Inc. Bylaws, Policy and Procedures Manuals, current edition of the ILC Guide (published in February
each year) and editions of the HOSA E-Magazine for the current school year.
ROUND ONE: Test
12 Round One Test Instructions: There will be a maximum of 60 minutes to complete the 50 item
multiple choice test.
13. The team test score average from Round One will be used to qualify the team for Round Two. The
teams progressing to Round Two will be seeded according to their scores in Round One. A tiebreaker
is determined by ten (10) pre-selected questions. The test is only used to advance teams to Round
Two and is NOT part of the final score.
14. The percentage of questions for both the written test and Round 2 – 6 questions will be as follows:
• HOSA Related…………………………………………. 20%
• Parliamentary Procedure……………………………… 10%
• Current Health Topics…………………………………. 10%
• Health-related…………………………………………... 60%
o Health care systems
o Health careers
o Legal and ethical issues
o Medical terminology
o Anatomy and physiology
o Nutrition and diets
o Safety
o Infection control
o Math Conversions
15. TIME REMAINING ANNOUNCEMENTS: There will be NO verbal announcements for time remaining
during ILC testing. All ILC testing will be completed in the Testing Center and competitors are
responsible for monitoring their own time.
HOSA Bowl Guidelines (August 2022) Page 3 of 9
16. Sample Round One Questions
1. What type of shock is due to a decreased blood volume caused by internal or external bleeding?
(Taber’s pp 1194)
A. Anaphylactic
B. Hypovolemic
C. Cardiogenic
D. Septic
2. When is it appropriate for a President/Chairman of a group to vote? (RRORNR IB pp 69)
A. During an election of officers
B. If the motion deals with allocating funds
C. To make or break a tie vote
D. When the vote pertains to the organization bylaws
3. All of the following are included in the HOSA mission statement to empower HOSA-Future
Health Professionals to become leaders in the global health community, except which one:
(HOSA)
A. Collaboration
B. Experience
C. Education
D. Recognition
ROUND TWO: Buzzer Competition
17. Beginning with Round Two, two (2) teams compete against each other.
18. The number of teams selected for Round Two is determined by the number of entries in order to avoid a
"bye" in the second round. There are usually 32 secondary and postsecondary/collegiate teams seeded
for Round Two.
19. If using a 8 team bracket, the 9
th
and 10
th
ranked teams shall be the alternate teams. If using a 16 team
bracket, the 17
th
and 18
th
ranked teams shall be the two alternate teams. If using a 32 team bracket, the
33
rd
and 34
th
ranked teams shall be the two alternate teams.
20. Round Two requires 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 in accordance with the GRRs.
21. ALL teams (including alternate teams) must report to and remain in the holding room until their numbers
are called for them to compete.
22. During competition, teams are seated at a table facing the moderator. Each individual team member has
a buzzer to respond to the moderator's question. Before each round begins, each team member should
be asked to check his/her buzzer to confirm that it is working correctly.
23. Each of the four (4) team members will be identified as “Team Member A, Team Member B, Team Member
C, and Team Member D”. Letter identification cards will be drawn by each team member prior to the start
of each round, and will be placed on the table in front of each team member.
24. For eight (8) minutes Team Members from each team will compete head-to-head against each other with
questions alternating between the four team members - Team Member A vs Team Member A , Team
Member B vs Team Member B , Team Member C vs Team Member C. and Team Member D vs Team
Member D. The last two (2) minutes of the 10-minute round are open to all four team members and the entire
team will be competing against the other team. During these final two (2) minutes, any of the four (4) team
members may buzz and answer questions.
25. Subsequent rounds will be 10 minutes total and include up to 50 questions.
HOSA Bowl Guidelines (August 2022) Page 4 of 9
26. The moderator presents one item and then:
A. Five (5) seconds is allowed after the moderator has finished presenting each item for a
team member to push his/her buzzer.
B. The team member who pressed his/her buzzer has five (5) seconds to respond.
C. If a team member pushes the buzzer prior to the completion of the question, the moderator
will stop reading immediately and the competitor must answer in five (5) seconds. If a team
member buzzes in when it is not their turn, it will be treated like a wrong answer, and the
other team will be given a chance to respond according to rule #26F.
D. Only the first answer given by the team member is to be judged. If the team member has started to
respond when the 5 second timer buzzes, the judges may allow the team member to complete his/her
response.
E. If answered correctly, the team earns one point.
F. If the answer is incorrect, or if the team member does not respond in five (5) seconds, the
question will be reread in full for the other team, and the other team will have five (5)
seconds to buzz in, following the same steps noted in 26A and 26B. This is the only
instance in which an item may be repeated unless the judges specifically ask for an item to
be re-read.
G. If no team member pushes the buzzer before five (5) seconds have passed, no points are
given and the next question will be read.
27. Team members may talk to one another during the final two (2) minutes of the round only (not during the
first 8 minutes), however, they are cautioned to speak softly enough to avoid being overheard by the
other team, and to be mindful of the timing noted in rule #26. Teams are not permitted to use or write
notes.
28. The same list of questions are asked of each team in each section during a round starting with
question 1A. The team that has the highest number of points in a ten (10) minute match is declared
the winner of that match. The timekeeper will announce when there are two minutes remaining in the
round and all team members may answer. If the ten (10) minute time is completed in the middle of an
answer, the team is allowed to respond to the item. If missed, the other team is allowed to answer per
rule 26F.
29. The points shall be kept by the judges on a rating sheet. Scorekeepers may also be
used so that the team and the audience can see the scores.
30. In the event of a tie score, five (5) tiebreaker items are asked. During the tiebreaker round any of the four
(4) team members may buzz and answer questions. If at end of the first tiebreaker, the round remains a
tie, the highest averaged test score will be used to determine which team advances in the bracket.
31. The moderator will not give the correct response to an item if neither team can answer correctly.
32. All members of the winning teams of each match, must return to the holding room until recalled. Waiting
winning teams are not allowed to communicate with other teams.
33. Please refer to the GRRs regarding the use of study materials in this event.
Final Scoring
34. SEMI-FINAL ROUNDS: When there are 4 teams remaining in the event, the semi-final rounds begin.
There will be two matches. The winning team from each match returns to the holding room to face each
other in the championship round. The two losing teams return to holding to face each other to determine
3
rd
and 4
th
place in the consolation match of the final round.
35. FINAL ROUND: The two semi-final losing teams play each other. The winner is 3
rd
place and the losing
team is 4
th
place. Following the consolation match, the two undefeated teams play each other in the
championship match.
HOSA Bowl Guidelines (August 2022) Page 5 of 9
36. During the semi-final and final rounds only, audience members may observe. Communication between
the audience and team members or event personnel is NOT permitted.
37. Audience members are:
A. NOT allowed to enter or leave the room while teams are in competition (only between
matches).
B. NOT permitted to record, document, or communicate anything (including any use of electronic
devices); and will be removed from the room if suspected of doing so, at the discretion of event
personnel.
C. allowed to applaud teams only at the completion of the match.
38. The questions shall not be given to a participating team prior to the competitive event. Judges will be
furnished with a copy of the questions. Judges make all rulings. A lead judge will respond to the
competitors' answer by saying correct or incorrect. Only judges are allowed to challenge answers
(competitors may not challenge any answer or the event process). Judges will call time to make a ruling.
39. The ten (10) finalists will be the eight (8) teams remaining at the beginning of Round 4 plus the two teams
that did not advance from Round 3 with the highest test average score from Round 1. The placing of the
5
th
through 8
th
, and 9
th
and 10
th
, place finalists will be determined by the Round One test score. The third
(3rd) place team will be determined by playing a consolation round between the losing semi-finalist
teams. The first (1st) and second (2nd) place will be determined in the final round.
HOSA Bowl Guidelines (August 2022) Page 6 of 9
HOSA BOWL SCORE SHEET
Round: Section: _______
Red Team = ID # _______ Green Team = ID # _____
Question #
2
5
6
7
8
9
10
13
15
16
17
18
19
20
Red Team
Green Team
Question #
22
25
26
27
28
29
30
33
35
36
37
38
39
40
Red Team
Green Team
Question #
42
45
46
47
48
49
50
53
55
56
57
58
59
60
Red Team
Green Team
Winning Team = ID# _______________
Judge's Signature: ________________________________
TOTAL SCORE
Red Team ________
Green Team ________
HOSA Bowl Guidelines (August 2022) Page 7 of 9
HOSA Bowl Seeding Chart for 8 Teams
Team #
Score
1
Semi-Finals
Finals
1
Highest
2
8
3
4
5
5
6
4
7
Championship
8
3
Match
1st Place
6
7
2nd Place
2
Consolation
Match
3rd Place
4th Place
Instructions: Add the scores of team members to arrive at a team total, and then divide by the number of team members to get the team average. Sort
team averages from highest to lowest scores. The team with the highest score after the test is seeded #1, the team with the next highest score is seeded
#2, and so on until the chart is filled with the top 8 teams.
Note: The electronic version of the HOSA Bowl seeding process is available at the CE Useful Tools page.
HOSA Bowl Guidelines (August 2022) Page 8 of 9
HOSA Bowl Seeding Chart for 16 Teams
Team
Score
1
Semi-Finals
Finals
1
Highest
2
16
3
4
9
5
6
8
7
8
5
9
10
12
11
12
13
13
Championship
1
st
Place
14
4
Match
15
16
3
14
11
6
7
2
nd
Place
10
15
Consolation
Match
3
rd
Place
2
4
th
Place
Instructions: Add the scores of team members to arrive at a team total, and then divide by the number of team members to get the team average. Sort team totals from
highest to lowest scores. The team with the highest score after the test is seeded #1, the team with the next highest score is seeded #2, and so on until the chart is filled
with the top 16 teams. The winners of each bracket play for 1
st
and 2
nd
place, the winner of the consolation match is the 3
rd
place team.
Note: The electronic version of the HOSA Bowl seeding process is available at the CE Useful Tools page.
HOSA Bowl Guidelines (August 2022) Page 9 of 9
HOSA Bowl Seeding Chart for 32 Teams
Team
Score
1
Semi-Finals
Finals
Semi-Finals
2
1
Highest
2
32
31
3
4
17
18
5
6
16
15
7
8
9
10
9
10
24
23
11
12
25
Championship
Match for 1
st
& 2nd
26
13
14
8
7
15
16
5
6
17
The two teams who
did not make it to
the Championship
match play in the
consolation match
18
28
27
19
20
21
22
21
22
12
11
23
24
13
14
25
26
20
1st Place
19
27
28
29
30
29
2nd Place
30
4
Consolation
3
31
3rd Place
32
4th Place