Elizabeth Carnesi-Hudson The Future of Health Ep. 12: Leading With HOSA

The health workforce shortage is real, but the pipeline isn’t just about filling jobs, it’s about developing leaders who can communicate, collaborate, and earn trust. George talks with Elizabeth Carnesi-Hudson Executive Director of Washington HOSA and Chair-Elect for the HOSA Western Region, about how a student organization can shape careers from the first competition to the first hire and beyond.

We trace Elizabeth’s path from joining HOSA as a high school student to leading at the state and regional level, and we get specific about what actually moves the needle: mentorship with honest feedback, building sustainable programs by recruiting champions in education, government, and industry, and expanding access so students across an entire state can participate. She shares how Washington HOSA addressed geographic barriers by creating new leadership opportunities, then aligning partners so students can see clearer pathways into healthcare careers.

Elizabeth also makes a strong case for “soft skills” as core healthcare skills. Interviewing, resume writing, patient communication, and professional presence often decide who gets the opportunity even when technical skill is high. With her public health background in health systems and policy, she explains why public health thinking matters for the future of healthcare, from breaking down silos to focusing on social determinants of health and upstream interventions shaped by the COVID era.

If you care about healthcare leadership, public health careers, career readiness, and building a stronger healthcare workforce, you’ll leave with practical ideas and a lot of hope. Subscribe, share this with a future health professional, and leave a review with the soft skill you think schools should teach first.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Welcome to the HOSA Future of Health Podcast. Today I am honored and privileged to have with me Chair Elect, HOSA Board of Directors, the Western Region, State Advisor, Board Representative, Executive Director, Washington HOSA, and HOSA alumnus Elizabeth Carnese. Elizabeth, welcome.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Hi, George. Thank you so much for having me today.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

You know, Elizabeth, you joined HOSA as a high school student in 2012. Seems like yesterday, right?

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

And you later served as the International Executive Council president. Elizabeth, how did your experiences in HOSA shape your leadership style and your career in public health?

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Absolutely. So HOSA really shaped my leadership by giving me a place to practice a lot of those leadership skills that we really want our HOSA members to develop. And it really highlighted the importance of mentors in giving me the feedback that I needed in order to grow and become a better leader. And this has also moved forward with me as I have started working with students myself and really giving them space to practice their leadership skills, but also giving them that constructive feedback about how they can continue to grow their own leadership skills. And specifically around public health, I really credit HOSA for introducing me to what the whole field could be. Specifically, HOSA had a program called the Public Health Leadership Scholars Program, where I spent, I think it was a week in Washington, DC at different government agencies in public health that really helped to open my eyes to just the wide variety of different careers in public health that I didn't even know were available. And so I really credit HOSA for that introduction and for sort of setting me down the path that I am on today.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

And so, you know, that's incredible perspective, first of all. And so having led state associations in both Arizona and Washington, Elizabeth, what lessons have you learned about building strong, sustainable organizations to support future health professionals?

SPEAKER_01 2:42

Yeah, I have a couple actually. And just finding champions that are really excited about HOSA and the mission and the work that we're doing, and finding them in various places. So whether they're in education, whether they're in the government, or whether they are business and industry representatives, finding our champions and giving them reasons to want to talk about HOSA with their partners. Another lesson was finding ways to increase access to opportunities. In Washington, for example, when I came on, Washington only did one fall leadership conference in the west side of the state. And when I was kind of looking at who was attending that conference, I realized that there was a huge divide in access to that specific opportunity for students on the east side of the state. And so we really worked to increase access by creating a whole new fall leadership conference in the eastern side of the state. And so that gave more of our students this opportunity to engage with our programming and to engage with the opportunities that we have for our members in Washington. Additionally, we've just been working with our partners to try and make sure that all of our students, regardless of where they are in the state, have similar or you know, very close to the same opportunities as you know, students that might live in the greater Seattle area where, you know, a lot of opportunities are.

SPEAKER_00 5:55

As executive director of Washington HOSA, Elizabeth, how are you also helping to bridge the gap between the education and healthcare workforce? And also, what skills do students need most to succeed in today's ever-changing, ever-evolving health landscape?

SPEAKER_01 6:18

Absolutely. Um, one of the ways that I sort of see uh Washington HOSA working to bridge that gap is through partnerships with industry, our government, and our educational partners. Um, what I've kind of noticed is that sort of HOSA lies at the intersection of obviously education industry, uh, healthcare, um, and then you know, industry. And there seems to be this huge disconnect. Um, you know, health workforce doesn't necessarily want to go into the K-12 space, the K-12 space isn't sure how to get into the health industry space. Um, and so HOSA really sits at this great intersection where there's a lot of opportunity to serve as a bridge and to act as a connector between these industries and sort of highlighting that, hey, we have these students that are getting certifications and can immediately kind of hop into the workforce, whether that's so that they can, you know, work their way through an undergraduate degree while being a CNA or a medical assistant or a dental hygienist, um, but also to really just get them started in a career so that they can become that next generation of future health professionals. And a lot of the time, um, HOSA students really do bring those uh, you know, skills that our employers are looking for. And specifically our students, you know, they need a lot of skills, but they definitely need those soft skills that you know everyone is talking about, it's a buzzword. Um, but it's something that I see that HOSA gives our students practice with. Um, and I was really thinking about this question, and I really thought about, you know, you can be the most talented, the most technically talented provider of care in the entire world. But if you cannot interview well, or if you don't have those soft skills in order to share that you are the best in the world, you will not go far. Um, and you can lose some opportunities, you know, because you're not able to market yourself well and have those soft skills. And I see HOSA addressing some of those soft skills and giving students opportunities to build them, whether it's through literally having them work on those soft skills, through, you know, creating a resume and you know, practicing their interviewing skills through our competitions like job seeking skills and interviewing skills, um, or by having students you know practice their soft skills through scenarios and our other competitive events, um, like making sure that when they are interacting with a mock patient, they are introducing themselves. They are walking a patient through, hey, you know, I'm going to be wrapping your ankle. Here's, you know, step one, here's step two, here's what I am doing, and here's why I'm doing it. Um, and so it's something where we're giving them those opportunities and we're making sure that we are instilling in them the importance of those soft skills. Uh, because again, you can be the most technically skilled person, but if you don't have those soft skills, you just won't go very far.

Public Health And Stronger Systems

SPEAKER_00 9:36

Exactly. The soft skills are so, especially in the healthcare profession, so vital. And I believe that that's what is part of what the HOSA Future Health Professionals mantra is, is to help with also that leadership and communication, which is game-changing. It's absolutely game-changing. And so, with our master of public health in health systems and policy, Elizabeth, how do you see public health shaping the future of healthcare? And what role can students play in helping to strengthen our healthcare systems?

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Absolutely. Um, public health as a whole is just so incredibly interdisciplinary in a way that, you know, as I was kind of going through my master's of public health, I didn't fully realize. Um, and so uh public health just in general has a huge role to play in connecting our different health systems and connecting our different areas of health and giving, you know, an opportunity for providers and for health systems to not be so incredibly siloed, but to work interdisciplinarily and working together to address problems. Um, and I think that you know, students can really play a role in strengthening these health systems by bringing their unique perspectives to their careers and health. And so, I mean, our students today have lived through COVID, they've, you know, lived through uh a ton of different things that, you know, I never, you know, lived through when I was a young person. And so um they can really take their experiences and can continue to learn about, you know, topics like social determinants of health and upstream interventions that can really help create a stronger health system so that when they are the leaders of that system, they can make the changes that you know they see uh as needing to be implemented. Um, and so students really do have sort of that role of uh taking up the mantle of leadership and really working to make changes that just haven't been made so far.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

That's right, and so incredible and such an exciting moment for you, the the chair-elect of the HOSA Western Region. What, Elizabeth, are your priorities and how do you plan to elevate opportunities for members and state advisors across the region?

SPEAKER_01 12:32

Absolutely. So I think that it's really uh fun to look back at my own HOSA story. Um, I was at the 40th anniversary of HOSA's. Um, that was actually when I became president. Um, and so what I think is really interesting is that, you know, I've been involved with HOSA for the last decade plus, um, and want to make sure that HOSA is, you know, ready to move into the 60th anniversary, 70th, 80th, all the way through the 100th anniversary. Um, and so I think that part of what I am most excited about is sort of getting creative about how we grow and how we partner with different organizations to truly create the most valuable experience for our members across the board. And that value will then, you know, encourage other students to join and get involved. Um, and really just working to elevate different opportunities to just find what's out there that is available for our students and for our advisors, um, different, you know, things that they might not know exist right now, but that would greatly benefit them, their students, um, and just our membership globally. So I'm just really excited to continue to work with HOSA and then work towards obviously, you know, the 60th anniversary and so on.

Solving Workforce Shortages With HOSA

SPEAKER_00 13:59

Well, now that's exciting. The 60th anniversary, I mean, wow, it's just incredible to think about. And so, Elizabeth, in your view, how does HOSA contribute to addressing the national and the global healthcare workforce challenges? And why is the HOSA mission more important now than ever?

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Absolutely. We know that there are health workforce shortages across the board nationally and globally, and HOSA really is part of the solution to that global workforce shortage. Um, not only does HOSA's mission and our partners and our and who we work with really bring attention to careers that are either underrepresented or are brand new and are working on developing workforce, um, but it really does prepare students to be the next generation of not only like workers, but to be leaders and change makers. And that is so incredibly important as you know, we look to the future where there are a lot more people that are retiring and moving into, you know, older care uh than there necessarily are people to replace them. And so we're working with you know students that want to be leaders and want to work towards making this health workforce and our uh health systems a lot better. And so HOSA really plays a huge role in that um the health in addressing the health workforce shortage. I think that without HOSA, you know, there are ways to address the health workforce shortage, but they're not going to be nearly as sustainable or as successful as including HOSA in the planning to address health workforce shortages.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

Elizabeth, looking back on your journey from HOSA member to national leader, what advice would you? What is that critical piece of advice that you would offer to students aspiring to make a meaningful impact in healthcare, public health, and their general communities across the country and across the world?

SPEAKER_01 16:16

Absolutely. I would encourage students to try out different things that interest them truly. Um, some of the most interesting classes, opportunities, experiences that I have had have come through non-traditional routes. And being a more interdisciplinary healthcare provider is only going to make you more valuable and give you different perspectives on how to address issues that you will face. So I would work toward and would encourage students to really focus on, you know, becoming a jack of all trades and not really, you know, putting themselves into such a narrow silo and really um working to find a wide variety of experiences and educational opportunities that will take them far in healthcare and in public health. Um, the more opportunities that they have, the more experiences that they can bring to the table, the more that they will be able to make larger changes in our health system and the bigger impact that they will have.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

And so looking back on your journey on your entire journey, what's the final word you'd have to say as advice and just perspective for the future?

SPEAKER_01 17:37

Yeah. I know that I am very excited for the future, very similarly to our partners. Um, whenever I see our students in action, um, you know, it just fills me with hope and with happiness. Um, and so what I would just encourage our members and students to do is really just keep going and to really continue to stretch their skills and build their, you know, build their opportunities and resumes and to just really continue to work towards the future that they want, um, and to work towards a future that you know we can all look forward to.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

And there you have it, that's leadership defined. Elizabeth Carnici, Chair Elect HOSA Board of Directors, Western Region State Advisor, Board Representative, Executive Director of Washington HOSA, HOSA alumni, and of course, global leader. Thank you, Elizabeth.

SPEAKER_01 18:48

Thank you so much, George.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

Always a pleasure.